Attendance officers tackling truancy

By law, kids in New Zealand aged from six to 16 are required to go to school every day - but the reality is that many aren’t. Absenteeism has been an issue for years and, although the country saw a small lift in attendance last year, more action is needed. Over the coming weeks, Kate Russell will delve into the issue of school attendance. This week, she speaks to Tāpitomata lead attendance officer, Mike Foster.

In a perfect world, Mike Foster says his job wouldn’t exist.

The former intermediate teacher leads the local attendance service, Tāpitomata, which works with students aged six to 16 from 34 schools in the region.

Schools can contact the service for help with improving attendance and reducing unjustified absences – with the aim of fixing the root cause of the problem.

“Often when we get into some of the cases, we’ll find that attendance is the sub-issue of a bigger issue,” Mike says.

The Ministry of Education contracts providers nationwide to deliver the service – and in Nelson, it is run through Nelson Intermediate School.

The Government invested in the service in 2023 for a three-year contract. Mike hopes the service, which has seven staff including two attendance officers and five advisors who handle the case work, will be extended.

“It’s really intensive work,” Mike says.

“The biggest commodity that the staff have is their time and their ability to build good relationships and support kids with finding education.”

The service has seen a 42 per cent increase in referrals in the past year – however, Mike sees that increase as a positive thing, because more students are now getting the help they need.

“Schools are now saying, ‘Okay, this system is here, we need to lean on it to support our students’.”

Regular attendance, meaning a student is present for more than 90 per cent of the term, for Term 3, 2024 for our region was just 48.8 per cent – not the lowest in the country, but around the middle of the pack.

Although we saw a small 1.3 per cent rise in attendance in that term, compared to Term 3, 2023 – it was the smallest increase for any region in the country.

Going back roughly a decade ago, to Term 2 2015, regular attendance for our region was at 73.4 per cent.

Mike says if students attend less than 70 per cent of the time – which is classed as ‘chronic absence’ – this is when his team will take action.

“We also help whānau if they’re not able to engage with their local school, or they might want to do something a little bit different,” Mike says.

He emphasises the importance of a supportive school environment, strong teacher-student relationships, and community engagement for lifting attendance.

“If the kids aren’t going to school, we don’t have schools. Attendance is the first part of the puzzle.”

Mike says that medical issues and the lingering effects of Covid are still prevalent.

He also reckons that more resilience is needed and to remember that “it’s okay to go to school with a bit of a runny nose”.

He cites mental health in adolescents as a “massive” issue.

“And it’s not just anxiety, there are so many areas of mental health.”

Technology addiction is a big problem for some students, too.

“We see kids that get so addicted, then suddenly they have to step out from that… and that creates explosions.”

Family dynamics are playing a big part, and for some parents, getting kids to attend school is a battle.

“Whether that’s financial or social, we get parents saying, ‘We’re so glad to have you because we’re struggling’.

“Sometimes you pick your battles to win the war. With our life at this high-speed rate, we just sometimes go, ‘It’s just too hard’.”

Mike says because many of these issues cross over, he has formed a strategic group that will meet twice a year to help support the community response to improve attendance.

It will include representatives from Nelson City and Tasman District Councils, the MOE, Oranga Tamariki and Youth Aid.

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith has described the problem as a “disaster in the making” and has met with school principals, who have recently kicked off the attendance campaign – called ‘just go’.

“It’s about doing it together,” Mike stresses.

“It’s about having some good conversations - and some courageous ones. In an ideal world, me and my team wouldn’t exist. Unfortunately, at this stage, we’re still around, and I think we will be for a bit longer.”