You can see the full guidance that has been written for and shared with schools on our website. It tells you what schools know about attendance services, including:

• what schools can expect from you (and the focus on collaboration)
• when they should request support for chronically absent ākonga | students.

Attendance services

Summary of the guidance#

Before providers get involved, schools must first work through the steps in their attendance management plan. This should include developing and implementing an individual attendance plan (or similar) with the ākonga and taking a series of steps to support the student.

Students will be referred to you when the barriers to their attendance are complex or beyond what the school can fix.

Referral decisions#

Highly recommended

We high recommend schools refer a student to you if the ākonga has chronic absence as well as other risk factors such as referrals, suspensions, frequent school moves or complex barriers.

Consider referral

Schools should consider making a referral if:

• whānau will not engage with them
• other services have not worked
• the ākonga is moving schools or changing living arrangements
• a sibling is already supported by the attendance service.

Delay referral

Schools should hold off on making a referral if:

• attendance is improving
• the school’s plan has not been fully tried
• the main barrier is school-based
• another service is a better fit.

Do not refer

Schools should not make a referral if:

• an international ākonga needs a valid visa to attend school in New Zealand and they do not have one
• the ākonga consistently skips 1 class but is otherwise present at school (for example, mathematics or physical education).

Relationships matter#

We encourage you to develop strong relationships with schools. When schools trust you, they are more likely to refer ākonga early.

You can encourage good referrals by staying in regular contact, replying quickly and working closely with schools. When you communicate well and give helpful feedback, schools feel supported and more confident, so they’re less likely to hold back from making a referral because they’re unsure.