Newsletter - Hauraki Plains College

Attendance Information
Expected Absences – Students throughout the
course of the upcoming year will be repeatedly
encouraged to be proactive about their absences.
This is in keeping with the key competency of
managing self and also serves as a means of
preparing themselves for life after school. If a
student has prior knowledge of an impending
absence (i.e. for a specialist appointment or a
specific family commitment) they are expected to
forewarn the school of the day(s) that they will be
absent for. In the case of ill health or a recent
development that requires a student to be absent
then it is expected that the school is notified at
the earliest practicable time.
Legitimate Absences – The start of the year is a
timely occasion to remind all that it is the Ministry
of Education not the school that deems certain
absences as “explained but unjustified”.
Legitimate reasons for student absenteeism
include the following situations: reasons of poor
health, attending out of school exams,
doctors/dentists appointments, to attend court,
bereavement leave or in cases of exceptional
family circumstances. Any other absences (e.g. a
holiday, working, missed transport, etc) are
deemed as unjustified. In some cases the
Principal of a school may grant discretionary leave
for things such as overseas trip or representative
sporting commitments, but any such applications
should be made in writing to Mrs Harris.
Work Commitments – Many school students have
part time jobs and balancing the commitments of
work, school and a social life can be a tricky task.
Parents & employers are reminded that work
obligations are not permitted to interfere with
their school commitments; this means that they
are not permitted to absent themselves from
school for the purpose of travelling to work and
that being in paid employment during normal
school hours is actually illegal and carries a
substantial fine. HPC operates an extensive
Gateway work experience programme & this is the
only legitimate means for a student to be at work
during the school day. Should you wish to
discuss/arrange work experience for your student
please contact Mr Keith in the careers centre.
Not Required to Attend School
This is a common reason that is given by
students when they have been absent from
school, particularly when there is an activity
such as a camp or a sports event on. It is very
rare for students to be “not required to be at
school”; exam leave and teacher only days are
two of the few examples of this. When this
situation does occur, families will receive ample
notification via newsletters and notices home
and the school encourages parents/caregivers to
contact the school should they have any queries
pertaining to such a situation. With Athletics
days coming up in Term 1, please note that even
if your child is not involved they are still required
to attend school on these days.
Should parents/caregivers have any attendance
concerns or queries pertaining to their child they
should contact the relevant Dean or Mr Rob
Jolly, Deputy Principal.
Contact Details:
A new school year has seen many of the same
old issues around contacting home still in place.
The College generally seeks to contact a parent
or caregiver for reasons of student well being,
absences/attendance or to pass on information
about special school events. This is becoming
increasingly more difficult with the large number
of out of date/disconnected phone numbers and
a lack of cell alterative contact details. Parents
& Caregivers are again urged to keep the school
informed of any changes in their contact details,
in particular phone numbers. This will become
even more important as later this term the
school begins to use the School-Links early
notification and message system. This will allow
the College & caregivers to communicate with
regards to student absences, but will also be an
effective means of communicating important
school notices and information.
The Attendance Officer, who regularly contacts
caregivers, has been asked to record the names
of students for whom there are no valid contact
details. These students will be issued a contact
details form to take home & update with one
school week.
6