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Hora Hora School students Melita Faumuina, Mina Karetai-Mahanga and Mauitekoha Witana featured in the campaign in 2022, saying they miss their friends when they’re away from school.
A truancy campaign featuring local students is credited with helping attendance rates soar in Northland, which had the worst school attendance in the country.
In August 2022, Northland schools and the Tai Tokerau Ministry of Education office launched Let’s Get to School Tai Tokerau/E Te Tai Tokerau – Hoake tātou ki te kura.
The aim of the campaign is to entice students to school by sharing messages on social media from local children and teenagers.
The region decided on a homegrown approach due to its poor attendance rates, where just 28% of students regularly attended school in term two, 2022.
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Tai Tokerau Principals’ Association chairperson Pat Newman said the campaign was having a very positive result.
His own school, Hora Hora School in Whangārei, had 90% of students at school last week for the first time he can remember.
Annette Lambly/Stuff
Tai Tokerau Principals’ Association chairperson Pat Newman says his own school has hit 90% attendance for the first time that he can remember. (File photo)
Other schools around the region, including high schools, have also been hitting good attendance rates, he said.
Awanui Primary School in the Far North reached 100% attendance on Tuesday and Te Kura o Otangarei reached 98% last month.
Newman said it was virtually impossible for larger schools to reach 100% attendance as students could be off for genuine reasons, such as illness.
Genuine illnesses also impact the Ministry of Education figures, which count the percentage of students attending a term without any absences.
The most recent ministry report, covering term 3 in 2022, shows an improved 34% of Northland students regularly attended school.
But Newman believes the improvements are sustainable and are due to offering a carrot to students, rather than punitive measures against parents for truancy.
“That hasn’t worked yet. Parents aren’t thick – they know if you want to fine them, there’s limitations on how much you can fine and if you don’t pay the fine there’s not enough room in jail for them anyway,” he said.
“[The campaign] is engaging and that’s where the kids’ voices comes into it.
STUFF
In its first pre-budget reveal, the Government has committed $40 million to help schools reduce truancy. (First published May 1, 2022)
“I, or another adult, could be on Facebook saying certain things about attending school but it wouldn’t relate.”
While the government has announced new truancy services and attendance officers, Newman urged politicians from both sides of the house to talk with educators about what would work.
He would like to see more free school buses, as most students do not walk or cycle to school due to a lack of fitness and paranoia about stranger danger, he said.
Programmes that provided food for children also helped attendance and learning outcomes, Newman said.
Hora Hora School has healthy school lunches, fruit in schools, free breakfasts with support from charity KidsCan and local businesses, and provides food hampers and vouchers to families.
“We’re feeding the kids and quite often some of the families in need. Yes, it does help attendance, but it also helps improve their wairua – their wellbeing.
“If you’ve got an empty belly and you know it’s going to be empty the next day and the next day, you don’t walk around happy and want to learn.”
