Attendance Matters: Every Day Counts!

As shared in our previous communications, attendance is a major priority for schools nationwide. The Government has set a target for 80% of students to be at school for at least 90% of the time. In practical terms, this means having fewer than five days away from school per term.

While this is an aspirational national target, we recognise that "life happens"—children get sick, and there are times when being away is unavoidable.

To keep you informed, we will provide regular updates throughout the year on our school-wide attendance trends. We will also contact you at specific points to update you on your child’s individual attendance percentage.

How you can help: As parents and caregivers, it is essential that you notify us whenever your child is absent and provide a reason. This ensures our records are accurate and that absences are coded correctly.

The Image Below: This shows you how we are tracking at the end of Term 3 2026.

We are officially transitioning to Hero, and our new platform will be fully up and running for Day 1 of Term 4. Hero will be your one stop shop for all important updates, school communications, attendance and learning tracking, ensuring you stay connected with everything happening in our community.

To make sure you don't miss out on any important announcements, please follow the simple sign up steps below to get your account set up today!

If you run into any issues signing up or need to update your contact email address, please reach out to Emma in the office.

We love seeing our tamariki embracing technology, but we need a little help from you regarding smartwatches.

To help keep our classrooms focused and learning environments disruption-free, please remind your child that smartwatches need to be either switched off or zipped away in their school bags during school hours. When watches beep, ring, or receive messages during class, it can be a big distraction for your child, their peers, and their teacher.

Thank you so much for your support and partnership in keeping our classrooms a great place to learn!

ABSENTEE INFORMATION

Please contact the office if your child is going to be absent from school on :

Phone: 542 3261 (absentee message service)

or

Email: papamoaprimary@papamoa.school.nz

or

Website: http://www.papamoa.school.nz/report_an_absentee

Please include your child’s name, team and room number and reason for absence.

If your child arrives at school after 8.40am they are late. Please ensure they sign in at the office before going to class. Thank you.

As part of our attendance communication system, an automated text message will go out to all unexplained absences. This number is a reply once only.

While we understand that families sometimes need to take time away from school, it is essential that we as a school are notified.

Any absence longer than 20 school days will need to be approved in advance by the school principal. You can do this by sending an email to papamoaprimary@papamoa.school.nz explaining the reason for your child's absence and the dates they will be away. If your child is absent for longer than 20 school days the MOE instructs us to remove a child from our school roll. If you live outside of our school zone there is no guarantee that your child will be able to re-enrol at Pāpāmoa Primary School. It's important to keep communication open between us. If you have any questions or concerns about this process, please feel free to reach out to us.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in your child's education.