Attendance Procedures

We know that consistent and regular attendance at school supports academic outcomes as well as the development of strong relationships with peers and teachers. We aim to ensure all tamariki are provided with the opportunity to engage in high quality teaching and learning through regular attendance at school.

At Glen Eden Primary, we have clear procedures for recording and monitoring attendance and we work to identify and follow up on any attendance concerns.

We have a variety of ways to encourage excellent attendance through reducing barriers to learning, reward programmes and regular promotion of attendance expectations in communication to tamariki and whānau. Kaiako are expected to play a role in promoting regular attendance every day.

School Hours

Monday - Friday: 9am - 3:00pm

Children who arrive before 8:15 need to wait by Rooms 1-4 until the 8:15 bell goes. Teachers are usually in classrooms from 8:30am. We encourage children and their whānau to be at school prior to 9am so tamariki can meet with their friends, play, connect with their teachers and settle into the day, ready for learning.

We also encourage children to attend Breakfast Club in the wharekai between 8:30-8:50am as another way to help prepare for a day of learning.

SKIDS operates at Glen Eden Primary School both before and after school.

Lateness and Leaving Early

Lateness

Regular lateness can build up over time and affect learning progress and confidence. We appreciate your support in helping your child arrive on time. If tamariki arrive after 9am they will need to sign in at the office and collect a late slip. They will be marked as L on the roll.

Leaving Early

For safety reasons, students must follow the correct procedures when leaving school during the day. Parents or guardians must sign their child out in person at the office. No child is permitted to leave without having been signed out at the office first.

Reporting an Absence

Whānau are required to communicate with the school if their child can not attend school, explaining the reason for their absence.

Whānau can...

• Text on 0273377002
• Call the office on 098186686
• Email: office@geps..school.nz
• Complete the absence form on HERO

Attendance Processes & Follow up Procedures

Teachers take the attendance roll on Hero at the start of the day and again after lunch at 1:30pm.

The office monitors these rolls and makes contact through texts, phone calls and emails to whānau of students who have not communicated with the school to explain an absence.

If the office does not receive a response from whānau the student is marked as Truant (T).

Attendance Codes

At Glen Eden Primary School we follow Ministry guidelines and use specific codes when recording attendance and absences onto HERO. Absences can be either justified (e.g., for medical reasons) or unjustified (e.g., for an unapproved holiday or other reasons).

Attendance Goals

In alignment with The Ministry of Education's attendance goal we aim to ensure 80% of students attend school 90% of the time.

Attendance is closely monitored and categorised into four subgroups.

Regular attendance: students with over 90% attendance. Students missing fewer than five days of school in a standard 10-week term.

Moderate attendance: students with more than 80% and up to 89% attendance. Students missing 5 – 9.5 days of a standard term.

Irregular attendance: students with more than 70% and up to 79% attendance. Students missing 10 – 14.5 days of school in a term.

Concerning attendance: students attend 69% of the time or less. Students missing 15 or more days of school in a term.

Personal Attendance Records

You can access your child's personal attendance records for the year on HERO at the bottom of their report page.

Attendance Response Plan

As a school and leadership team we receive automatic alerts from our school management system (HERO) when a student is absent for more than 5 plus days in a term. These absences may be either justified or unjustified.

Once a notification has been received we follow the below response plan. This plan is inline with the Ministry of Education's, 'Stepped Attendance Response' (STAR). For more information please follow this link STAR

For moderate attendance an e-mail will be sent to whānau highlighting the attendance concern and inviting whānau to discuss any issues.

For irregular attendance, in addition to a second e-mail, whānau will be invited to co-construct a collaborative support plan to improve attendance. Outside agency support may be accessed at this point if appropriate.

In cases of chronic and concerning absence, GEPS will engage with outside agencies to improve attendance. In the case of Glen Eden School this will be Attendance West https://attendancewest.com/