Attendance Expectations

In New Zealand, school attendance is governed by the Education Training Amendment Bill (No 2) and aligned with the Ministry of Education’s Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) Framework.

The Government has set a target for 80% of students to be present more than 90% of the time by 2030.

Ōtūmoetai College is committed to ensuring that every student attends school regularly, as consistent attendance is essential for achieving high educational standards.  Regular attendance is defined as attending 90% or more of the time, which equates to no more than one day absent in a fortnight.

Through open communication and collaboration with whānau/caregivers, the College seeks to identify early signs of disengagement and provide appropriate support through in school services, extracurricular opportunities, and hauora/wellbeing initiatives to ensure every student is present, engaged, and learning.

It is a legal requirement that children must be enrolled at a registered school and attend regularly unless exempted. Compulsory regular attendance applies to all children aged 6 to 16.

Students are expected to:

● Attend school every day the school is open.
● Arrive to all classes on time and ready to learn.
● Comply with Ōtūmoetai College’s attendance procedures.
● Stay home when they are not medically fit to attend school.
● Seek support from staff when ongoing barriers affect their ability to attend.

Whānau/Caregivers are expected to:

● Ensure their child attends school regularly and punctually.
● Inform the school promptly of any absence or emerging attendance issues, as well as requests for leave.
● Support the shared goal of regular, on time attendance as a foundation for student success and well-being.
● Read weekly attendance summaries and notify us of any amendments or unresolved absences.
● Participate in meetings (hui) or attendance plans as required and work in partnership with the college to address barriers.

Whānau/caregivers and students also have access to the online Kamar portal and receive twice yearly reports to help monitor overall progress.

Absences must be explained by whanau/caregivers and fall into the following MOE attendance categories: Attendance codes 2026

Ōtūmoetai College will:

● Maintain high expectations for regular attendance and punctuality.
● Ensure that attendance is monitored daily, analysed weekly, and reviewed termly.
● Ensure same-day follow-up of unexplained absences.
● Implement a tiered, STAR-aligned response that provides support early and intensively where needed.
● Work in partnership with whānau to remove barriers to attendance and strengthen student engagement.
● Ensure a schoolwide culture of belonging and connection.
● Set annual attendance goals and evaluate progress against them.
● Ensure that the intervention is equitable, culturally responsive, and grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
● An Attendance Management Plan (AMP) will be implemented, reviewed, and updated annually with explicit regard to STAR guidance, ensuring that all thresholds, actions, and documentation expectations fully align with national requirements.

Attendance Response Tiers (Aligned with STAR)

Ōtūmoetai College uses a tiered, Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) system to provide early support where needed.  Here is our attendance response framework.  The school response and actions taken actions taken depend on the number of days of absence per term.

Attendance Percentage	Tier	Days Absent Per   Term	School Response
90% or more (Regular Attendance)	Tier 1	0–4 days	We also have a range of in school wellbeing and hauora/wellbeing initiatives, as well as extracurricular opportunities for students to engage with. Universal day-to-day operations include: Monitoring of student attendance daily and weekly.  Form and Subject Teachers will communicate with whanau/parents regarding daily/weekly absences or patterns of absence from school.  Weekly attendance summaries [for the previous week] are emailed to whanau/parents and students each Monday morning.  Daily texts will be sent notifying whanau/parents of absences.  Making formal contact when a student is absent for two consecutive days without an explanation.  Celebrating students who have regular attendance in Year Level assemblies.
80–89% (Irregular Attendance)	Tier 2	5–9 days	In addition to day to day operations: Send formal notification of the STAR attendance threshold to whānau/parents. Form teachers will engage with whānau/parents to discuss concerns and unexplained absences. Support students to catch up missed learning where applicable. Use in-school resources as appropriate to remove barriers e.g. counselling referral, hardship referrals, learning support referral. Monitor student attendance and update whānau/parents as to progress or decline.
70–79% (Moderate Absence)	Tier 3	10–14 days	Send formal notification of the STAR attendance threshold to whānau/parents. Make phone contact to discuss concerns and reasons for absences. Implement strategies to support more regular attendance that are tailored to the reasons and circumstances around the student’s absence.  Meet with the student in person to discuss strategies to be implemented as agreed by the whānau/parents and Year Level Deans. Use in-school resources as appropriate to remove barriers and request support from external agencies or Ministry as needed.  Form Teachers and Deans are to monitor and check in regularly as to progress/further concerns.
Below 70% (Chronic Absence)	Tier 4	15+ days	Send escalated formal notification of the STAR attendance threshold to whānau/parents. Make phone/email contact and request an in-person hui (meeting) as soon as possible.  Create an individual attendance plan with whānau/parent and student involvement and within school stakeholders at an in person hui. Referral to in-school attendance team in which the student liaison and mentor (SLM) is assigned for targeted monitoring of attendance. Weekly check in and support from SLM. Referral to the external agency, Attendance Services, if attendance continues to decline. Unenrol students who will not be returning to school or for continual nonattendance.

ŌTC STAR Attendance Framework (document links):

ŌTC 2026 Attendance Management plan
Stepped Attendance Response STAR ŌTC
Summary of Attendance Management Plan