Attendance Procedures

The Ministry of Education has set an attendance target for all schools of 90%. At Waiheke High School, we have a systematic approach to how teachers, whānau teachers, Deans and SLT will work together to identify and address students that have concerns over attendance, Truant (T) and lates (L).

Teacher Procedure

1. Classroom teachers are expected to complete their daily rolls accurately and in a timely manner, within the first 10 minutes of a class.
2. When a student is missing, mark the student as ? and this will be followed up by the whānau teacher – focus on your class and the lesson at hand.
3. When a student is 5 minutes late or more (including 55 minutes into a lesson) they must be marked L. This attendance should be amended during the lesson.
4. An email notification will be sent to teachers when the roll has not been completed
   HOF’s and SLT in charge of attendance will follow up on teachers who have incomplete rolls, or those who are not completing rolls on time.
5. The teacher should put consequences in place for the student to catch up on the missed work due to lateness. E.g. lunchtime or interval catch up time.

Whānau Teacher Procedure

1. Whānau teachers are notified via email when students in their whānau class have been marked as either ? or T on the daily roll. They must address this with students in a timely manner, ideally the next day. This involves seeking explanation for absence from both the student and from whānau or caregiver and changing the code directly in Kamar.
2. Where a student has missed more than one class (for truancy or lateness) in a two week period, whānau teacher must call home (an email will not suffice).
3. If a student missed more than three classes (for truancy or lateness) in a two week period, the whānau teacher and Dean should meet with parents together.

Dean and SLT Procedure (SLT = Senior Leadership Team)

1. Deans are expected to keep a regular oversight of the whānau class attendance and will actively challenge whānau teachers to keep whānau class attendance up to date. Attendance will be tracked and discussed in every motu meeting (every two weeks).
2. SLT and Deans receive a list of 15 students each week who have the poorest attendance in their house. SLT and Deans must discuss intervention strategies for the worst attendees. This includes phone calls home to parents and parent meetings.
3. All students who fall under 80% will be referred to Jane Scorey for follow up.
4. Students who have chronic absence will be referred to A.C.E.S (Auckland City Education Service) or other outside agencies. SLT will send a notification explaining that the student has been referred to A.C.E.S.

Student Procedure

1. Students are expected to take responsibility for their own attendance. E.g. If they think the entry is incorrect they should address the teacher directly.
2. Students will receive an email notification when they have been entered as ? or T in our Student Management System. They must either bring notification from home as to why they were absent or have home notify the school.

Whānau and Caregiver Expectation

1. Parents, whānau and caregivers are expected to notify the school, in advance where possible, when a student will be absent. This can be via School Apps, email or phone call.
2. Parents, whānau and caregivers are able to check student attendance at any time using the Waiheke High School Parent Portal.

Attendance Rewards and Consequences

90% attendance will be a requirement for several in school events such as:

• Senior Ball and Year 7/8 and 9/10 Prom
• Rewards Trips (E.g. Rainbows End)
• Graduation (Year 8, Year 10, Year 13)

Those who have not met attendance requirements will not be eligible for these events. Course selection may also be affected for students in the senior school.

Rewards will be in place for those who meet our attendance expectations:

• Staff: Weekly prize draw for staff with fully up to date whānau attendance
• Students: End of term draw for 90% attendance