Andy England: Darfield High School Principal on the high number of students granted early leave exemptions

A view that more students are dropping out of school early because they have a clear career pathway in mind. 

More than 1300 15-year-olds received an exemption last year and 90% went into further study. 

Canterbury's Darfield High School Principal Andy England told Mike Hosking schools have been working hard with polytechs, while the Ministry runs a youth guarantee programme. 

He says students can spend one or two days with a tertiary provider while attending school, and sometimes they want to do that full time before they turn 16. 

It’s also believed some students are leaving early due to the people around them in successful careers. 

England told Hosking lots of students, particularly in rural areas, look up to people who leave school early. 

He says role models often don't have an academic pathway but many are in successful careers or running businesses. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Interesting insight into who's leaving school and potentially why. Last
year we had thirteen hundred and seventy six fifteen year
olds being granted an early exemption, highest numbers since two
thousand and seven. Upside doers, most of them, ninety percent
of them seem to continue when study in places like politics.
Now Ay, England is the Dalnfield High School principal and
as with us, Andy, very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
I've got you at eight hundred and fortyish pupils at
your school. So you're talking about year elevenish kids coming
to you and saying I want out, right, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, year eleven. Occasionally in the year ten as well,
but it doesn't usually happen in year ten. Yeah. We
haven't seen a huge increase at our school, but I'm
aware across the country there has been, and I think
the key part of this story is that there's an
increase in the acceptance of their applications and what I
don't necessarily things about thing.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Oh good, that's good. Let me come back to that.
In the moment when you say the application, is it
automatically granted? Can you say I'm over this and I
want out or.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Not No, no, not at all. It has to be assessed.
So does three stage have to apply to the parent
us to organize it, and as to to the principal
for approval, we have to state what's happening within the
school and then it has to go to the ministry
and there has to be an either an employer or
a tertiary provider also state what they're going to do next.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
When they come to you, do you go, I could
see this kid coming, You knew it was going on
that way?

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Not always. We've had a few surprise ones. Sometimes you do, yep.
Sometimes students clearly just what are you talking about? The
round hole in the square, the round peg, So you
sometimes get that as well. Not all students fit I
think in your story that's on the website. That's quite right.
Not all students fit all that well in school. But
we do our best, and we statistically if a stud

(01:38):
the longer students stays in school, the best outcomes for them.
But of course stats are stats, and not every student
fits that mole.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
That's true, So the two the numbers don't actually add up.
So thirteen hundred and seventy six fifteen year olds leaving,
but suddenly two thy fifteen year olds are at Polytech.
So they're learning trades and stuff at Polytech. Would that
be your assumption or assessment of it.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
We've been doing well, Yeah, So school's been working really
hard on working in with polytechs. The Ministry runs a
YUTH guarantee program for about fifteen years maybe, and it's
a really good program. Students can spend it at one
or two days a week in a politic or another
tertory provider and they can blend that in with a schoolwork.
Sometimes they want to go and do that full time,
and they want to do that before this in sixteen.
So in those cases we would or we would seek

(02:18):
and LX we call them at an earlier lever exemption.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
So there isn't out. See I left school at sixteen.
School wasn't for me, but I had a part. I
was going to do things and as it turns out,
it worked out. Okay. So if they can say that
to you, I'm going to be a builder, I'm going
to be a farmer, I'm going to be a trade
that's no bad thing.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Is it not necessarily? No? And I think you've touched
on a really important point. There many of the role models,
particularly in rural areas where we are. But many of
the many of the student's role models didn't go all
the way through school when he left at fifteen and
a successful business people running trades companies and so on,
So role models often don't have an academic pathway.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Great inside, Andy, well done, Andy England, who's starfield high principle?
Whether us this morning problem is right now? The British
opportunities Mike a lesson they were five years ago, that's true,
but when you're fifteen sixteen year old, you know you're
not looking at the economy immediately where you see your
pathway and if you've determined to make it happen, it
will happen. Mike, my son left at fifteen, which for me,

(03:15):
being a teacher, was hard to take. He went straight
into a building program now twenty two, fully qualified with
apprentices under him. So that's encouraging.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
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Speaker 1 (03:27):
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