Attendance 2025

Attendance continues to be a top priority for the government , which has set a target of 80% of students attending school for more than 90% of the term by 2030. To achieve this, schools need to aspire to reach an average daily attendance rate above 94%.

A new interactive daily attendance dashboard went live last week on the Education Counts website to increase awareness around lifting school attendance. Our attendance data needs to be updated everyday and sent to the Ministry in the afternoon. This data is then uploaded to Education Counts.

What we are doing to support attendance?

• Both Springs and Waiōrea have new Attendance Officers
• You will receive a text message period 1 if your child is absent from school
• If they are still absent period 2 and it is unexplained you will receive further communication from the relevant Attendance Officer ( text/ email/ phone call/ home visit)
• Heads of House and whānau teachers will also follow up on attendance
• Chronic attendance concerns do require a referral to the Ministry Of Education Attendance Service

An important part of attendance is arriving at school on time, and we have initiated a programme with the Principal to affirm this with students who arrive late. Mr Davis’ message to late arrivals is simple and straightforward:

1. This school starts later than any other school in Auckland…and still you arrive late!
2. Arriving late and drifting into class late disrupts the learning of other students.
3. Arriving late is disruptive to your teachers who prepare lessons for you and have to double back to get you up to speed because of your late arrival.

What can you do to support your child and the school?

• Make sure you phone or email in any absences or appointments for your child.
• Ensure your child is at school before 8.50am when our first warning bell rings in the morning for both Waiōrea (karakia bell at 8:47am) and Springs (first warning bell at 8:50am).
• Period 1 starts at 9.00 am and students should be in class and prepared for lessons to start by then, hence our 8.50 am warning bell.

Introducing our new Attendance Officers for Springs & Waiōrea

Jordan Leota – Springs Attendance Officer

Jordan is local to the area – he attended MAGS and the University of Auckland. Jordan has a Masters in Architecture and will retrain to be a Technology teacher in 2026. We are very lucky to have Jordan as part of our Learning Support and Attendance teams this year.

Keri Gardner – Pouhono Kura (Waiōrea Attendance Monitor)

Whāea Keri is a familiar face to our Waiōrea ākonga and their whānau. She has been an instrumental part of our Rūmaki communities for over 20 years, establishing strong and lasting relationships. Whāea Keri plays a key role in both Learning Support and the Attendance Team. With her caring nature and firm expectations, she is the perfect fit for this role, and we are fortunate to have her on our team.