Stepped Attendance Response (STAR)
The Ministry’s STAR (Stepped Attendance Response) process guides the attendance procedures for every school in New Zealand. You can find more information about the process through this link Stepped attendance response – STAR – Ministry of Education
School responsibilities for student attendance
Tawa College is responsible for the first response to any absences. We must have an attendance management policy, communicate our attendance rules to students and their families, follow up on absences, record and monitor attendance and absence data, and work to improve attendance.
Tawa College Board responsibilities for school attendance
The Board needs to attest that an Attendance policy, tailored to the needs of the school and community, with reference to the STAR attendance strategy, is in operation at the school.
Whānau responsibilities for their child’s attendance
Regular attendance at school is important to your child’s success and there is a clear connection between going to school regularly and doing well in the classroom. Making sure students attend and engage in learning is a shared responsibility.
As a parent, you are responsible for
- making sure your child attends school every day.
- contacting the school through the school app, by email absence@tawacollege.school.nz or by phone (232-8184) if your child is going to be absent for any reason.
- limiting the time your child is away from school for non-medical reasons, for example overseas trips.
Without regular attendance your child will struggle to make academic progress.
The Government’s target is for 80% of students to attend regularly,
that is to attend school more than 90% of the time; less than 5 days of absence each term.
| The attendance progressions | |||
| Good “Regular attendance” Good chance of success | Worrying “Irregular absence” Less chance of success | Concerning “Moderate absence“ Hard to make progress | Serious Concern “Chronic Absence” Hard to make progress |
| Less than 5 days absence in a school term | 5 – 10 days absence in a school term | 11 – 15 days absence in a school term | 15 days or more absence in a school term |
Steps to improve attendance
Once the number of days of absence reaches the threshold of 5, 10 or 15 days;
- an automated email will be sent to whānau.
- a pastoral note will be made and kaiako and House Leads will be notified, and …
For 5 days – Kaiako/form teacher, Māori or Pacific Pastoral lead will contact whānau if the absence is unexplained.
For 10 days – Kaiako/form teacher, Māori or Pacific Pastoral lead, or House Leader will contact whānau and a meeting will be arranged
For 15 days – A Senior Leader will contact whānau, and a follow-up whānau meeting will be arranged.
In the meeting to discuss attendance, areas of discussion will include
- strategies to support your child to return to regular attendance,
- strategies or actions to support loss of learning
- strategies or actions to reintegrate the student into the wider school environment and friendships
- how you might support the student to join in school-based activities
- how you will continue to keep the parent informed about progress the student is making to reintegrate back into school
- Alternative options for attendance monitoring and/or alternative education
Role of truancy service in supporting attendance
For a student whose attendance is still concerning after the above interventions, a referral to Truancy service will be made.
The school is committed to working with whānau and students to improve attendance, educational outcomes, personal growth and wellbeing.
He waka eke noa