Kia ora koutou,

There has been quite a lot of discussion recently involving the Government's 100-day plans, and the policies relating to education. In the first round of the 100-day plan, two actions for education were put in place.

• Primary and intermediate schools are now required to teach an hour a day each of mathematics, reading and writing
• Cell phones banned in classrooms 

For Puketaha, both of these action points were already within our practice so they have not had a massive impact on us. Our teaching team ensures that their classroom programmes focus on Literacy and Mathematics needs with both deliberate acts of teaching and learning in those core areas, as well as integration across the wider curriculum. We also have a policy around cell phones, and our students hand these into the office at the beginning of the day and do not feature during class time.

The next 100-day plan for education is around attendance. The Government's target is for 80% of students in New Zealand to have regular attendance by 2030. Regular attendance is defined as being present at school at least 90% of the year. In a term, a child who has less than 5 days away from school for any reason including medical, will be achieving regular attendance. We know it is really important for children to be present at school, it impacts both their learning and the social elements of school. 

It does not take much for days away from school to add up over time. For example, for a child averaging 80% attendance over their 8 years of primary schooling, the accumulation of days away from school is equal to a year and a half of missed schooling, which is significant. 

We monitor attendance daily at Puketaha and collate data weekly, termly, and yearly to identify attendance concerns. Currently, our Term 1 data shows that 77% of our students have achieved regular attendance in Term 1.

We understand when a child is sick, they need to stay home to get well. This is classified as a ‘Medical’ reason and is justified. To support your child having regular attendance, we ask for families to prioritise their child being at school every day that is possible and to avoid ‘unjustified’ reasons, such as extended holidays and family reasons. 

When your child is away, please contact the school before 9 am. This can be done via the app, text, phone or email. When we don’t hear anything, it does create workload for our staff to follow up, so thank you for letting us know first and keeping clear communication lines. 

We have been very fortunate this term with some beautiful weather, swimming, school events, camps and engaging learning across the learning environments. Heading into the end of the term, we hope the students have a lovely break and we look forward to another great term next term.

Ngaa mihi,

Nyree Olliver

Applications are now open for out-of-zone enrolments for 2025.  This includes siblings of children who currently attend the school. If you live outside the school zone and have a child who you would like to be in the ballot for enrolment in 2025 please complete an application and return it to the school office. 

If you have friends or family members who are also interested in applying please get them to contact the School Office so that they can make an appointment to visit the school.

Parents of students who live within the home zone should also let the school know about upcoming enrolments so that the school can plan appropriately for next year.  Students who live in the home zone are entitled to enrol at the school.