Leanne Otene: Principals' Federation President on 1 in 4 schools at risk of failing to achieve government attendance target

A view that factors schools can't control are the reason school attendance is static.

About 600 schools are struggling to reach the 2030 goal of having 80 percent of students attending more than 90 percent of the time.

That's almost one in four schools.

Principals' Federation President Leanne Otene told Ryan Bridge this data includes both unjustified and justified absences - as well as transience.

She says this can be kids needing to move around for social housing, or those in families impacted by high unemployment.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
One in four of our schools need more help getting
kids to attend class. Data from the Ministry of Educations
identified about six hundred schools struggling to get eighty percent
of students attending more than ninety percent of the time,
which is the government target they want to hit by
twenty thirty. Leanne or Tenny is the Principals Federation president,
joins me. Now, Leanne, good morning, Mordena. You say this

(00:21):
is not about something the schools can control. This is
about other stuff. What other stuff?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Oh, look, let's just start with the fact that we'd
like to see every single child attend school every day.
Principals absolutely agree that we need to focus on attendance,
but understanding the trends and why children away from school
is something that we just need to really look at closely.
There's two types of non attendants. So you've got you

(00:49):
justified and you're unjustified. And unfortunately the data that you're
you're you know, you've just quoted includes both. So you've
got you justified. Where kids are away from school for
family reasons, death in the family, the children are sick,
and let's be honest, this winter has not been helpful
and we've had a lot of kids away with sickness.
We've got mental health up as well. Those are justified reasons.

(01:13):
Unjustified that's a much smaller group of students and that
includes turureancy which is very low. And then you've got trensience,
which is what you're just alerting to the things that
schools can't really control on their own. There as are
kids shifting around the country for social housing rentals, you know,
moving to live with family. And then you've got five

(01:35):
percent of unemployment, so you've got families juggling to find
a job, so they're moving a lot to find work.
So although the data is showing that we've got high
and non attendance, there are reasons for it and we
need to look deeper into the data otherwise where it's
a distortion of the reality.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
So we got like what forty two percent of students
not attending regularly and do you know what proportioned justified
versus and unjustified.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, this is what the data is that is coming
out from you know on this, you know seamore, a
Minister Seymour is saying, you know, we're looking at it
on a weekly basis at a school every school. We'll
be looking at that data and we'll be determining which
is justified, which is unjustified, and they'll be working with
those families where the first of all the justified reasons

(02:25):
kids are sick. So you know we've now got health
guidelines out, so ont of me staying to parents, you know,
as a as a child well enough to come to school,
I think that.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Man, what about do you tell are you a principal
of a school?

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yes, I am.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
What what's in yours? What's the percenter's breakdown in your school?
Justified unjustified?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
It changes on a weekly basis. I can't tell you
overall average and tree. Yes, we are looking at trends
yet what the tree is telling you? So we're looking
at around about sixty five to seventy percent. I'm in
a load decil school. We've got children.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Who justified or unjustified sixty five to seventy.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Five, there would be both that would be including both.
As we're looking at the unjustified reasons, you know the
children that are are way because you're scoring out, we're
probably looking about six percent. We're looking at six percent
of unjustified. That's really small and I would say that's
the same across the country of unjustified to say that

(03:26):
parents are keeping children home because they just are too lazy,
and that's the quote of sane. It's just not fear.
That is not the reality. There's are so many other
reasons and lee in.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
The twenty to thirty So you've got like what twenty
to thirty percent of kids who are not attending school
for justified reasons. That seems like quite a lot to
be sick, doesn't it.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, well, you know, there's been lots of reporting on
illness this winter. We've had schools have had clothes because
they had staff who are sick, and you know, they're
sharing the bags. And this is the biggest concern we've
had around these health guidelines. Parents are sending their kids
to school sick or otherwise trying really desperately to meet

(04:08):
the demands of the school. Send your kids to school,
and as a result, we're sharing the bugs. Kids, Whole
classrooms are going down with winter bugs. We've had schools
who've reported that, you know, they've got a very high
number of staff away.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
So thanks a lot of sick kids, Leanne, appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
This morning.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Leanne attended the Principals Federation President. For more from Early
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