Making sure the project is a good fit#

You know your communities best, so we encourage providers to be flexible and innovative with approaches to managing cases and attendance. If you have ideas for new ways of doing things, we encourage you to try them.

Work with your regional Ministry team before you begin. Our team can offer advice on different or similar initiatives that already exist. You may be able to access these instead of starting your own.

Think about whether your project:

• fits within your role as an attendance service provider
• reflects an understanding of local barriers to attendance and aims to reduce or remove them
• is culturally affirming and inclusive
• is something you can fund
• works alongside existing school or other local services
• has a plan to track and report attendance-related outcomes.

Project ideas#

Projects or initiatives that work well include:

• supporting transitions between schools to reduce disruption to attendance
• placing a kaumatua in a school for a time to support re-engagement and cultural connection
• running a whānau engagement programme that addresses specific attendance barriers
• starting a kapa haka or sports group with a clear plan to support improved attendance
• partnering with local services to address barriers like housing, health or transport that impact attendance.

We do not recommend projects or initiatives that:

• duplicate or compete with existing projects, for example a mentoring programme in a school, when there is already in-school mentoring
• are unrelated to attendance barriers
• are one-off events with no plan, no follow-up or no clear link to attendance outcomes
• could unintentionally exclude or stigmatise ākonga
• are general wellbeing programmes with no clear, measurable link to improving attendance.

Measuring impact#

You will need to show whether your initiative is making a difference and having a positive impact on attendance. You are expected keep records about your initiative in the attendance service case management system (AS-CMS). You will also need to include a summary in your regular reports to us. 

You should record:

• what you did
• how many people were involved (children or adults)
• details of any specific ākonga | students who took part and whether any of these have been referred to you and are receiving case management support
• what changed because of the initiative
• what you learned
• expenditure or budget allocation. 

Before you begin:

• define the purpose clearly:
  • is it designed to address specific attendance barriers?
  • who will your initiative help?
• make your initiative meaningful:
  • why is it worthwhile?
  • how will it help?
  • what change do you expect to see?
• set goals to establish how you will measure success.
  • how will you know if your initiative worked?
  • when and how will you evaluate this – for example, will you use surveys, interviews, data or stories?
• acknowledge complexity and be transparent about limitations. Not all outcomes are immediate or easy to measure for example, change in attitudes towards attendance
• decide what the time frame for the project is.

As you go:

• monitor progress regularly using consistent, culturally appropriate and respectful reporting methods, so you can measure improvement
• document and keep a record of things like activities or engagements
• evaluate and measure impact using both data and stories
• consider sharing your idea with others.

Project checklist#

Use this list to help you plan and develop your project.

• Name of project or initiative.
• Brief description.
• Objectives.
• Start date.
• End date.
• Project plan – how will you do this?
• Specific attendance barrier/s.
• Alignment to contract outcome measures.
• Who will this help – a cohort or an individual ākonga and/or whānau?
• NSNs (if applicable).
• Provider case manager responsible.
• Schools involved.
• Other interested groups.
• Reporting:
  • how will you measure success?
  • how often will you measure?

Reviewing your project#

Ideally, attendance initiatives should aim to create lasting change. Think about how impact can be sustained, built upon or repeated.

• What happens when the initiative ends?
• Is there a plan for continuation or handover or is this a one-off?
• Can what you have learned be built into ongoing practice?
• Are there opportunities to share or adapt the initiative elsewhere?