Attendance Officer & Info

Kia ora Whānau,

My name is Ani Tawhai-Ngakuru, and I am the Attendance Officer at Tautoro School.

Each day, I check which tamariki are at school and who is away. This is a very important part of keeping your children safe. Here is why daily attendance checks matter:

• Morning travel: To make sure your child hasn't missed their morning bus or shuttle and isn't left stranded or wandering in town.

• Safety on site: To know right away if a child goes missing from school grounds.

• Emergencies: To have an accurate list of everyone on site in case of a school emergency.

• School trips: To make sure no one is left behind when classes leave for sports or other events.

• Going home: To keep our afternoon pick-up, bus, and van lists up to date.

• Official records: To send our daily attendance roll to the Ministry of Education.

Please let us know if your child is at school or not.

When you reply to our messages or calls, please include the reason why your child is away or coming in late.

• Just saying "Yes" or "No" counts as an unexplained absence (Code T) because no reason was given.

• Please give a short reason, for example: "Yes, they are away today because they have a flu" or "No, they will be late at 10:00 am because of a doctor's appointment."

Tip: If you use the Edge app, the system will automatically match your reason to the right code and send it to the Ministry of Education for you.

I usually start checking class rolls around 9:00 AM each day. This gives teachers time to settle their classes first.

I look for students marked with an unexplained absence (Code ?). When I see this code, I contact their parents or caregivers by phone or Messenger.

Unless they have already contacted the school prior.

Every day, I check the Interventions lists for students who have missed 5, 10, or 15 days this term. I read the messages from their parents and add the reasons for their absences to the student notes. This lets the Ministry of Education (MoE) know that parents have been in touch and have valid reasons for the missed days.

If a student keeps missing school without a clear reason, the Ministry of Education requires us to bring in extra support. We will work with local groups like the Attendance Service or Ara Whakamaua to support your family directly.

Once Ara Whakamaua sees that your child's attendance has improved, they will let us know. We will then take your child off the Chronic Absenteeism list.

Hope this helps you understand my role as an Attendance Officer!

Ngā Mihi.