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Kia ora nga tangata ataahua
Thank you to all of you who have assisted on school camps over the past couple of weeks. This is no easy task as it means you are sharing the responsibility, with teachers, of the health and safety of all students while they are away from home. The upside, of course, is that you form great relationships with each other, the staff and our students in amazing environments and have so much fun! I appreciate our teachers who spend many long hours at night and during weekends preparing for these camps so that they meet all the health and safety requirements and organise learning activities that mean everyone is highly engaged. You are all AMAZING!. I am sure there will be many of you sleeping in this weekend; resting and recovering.
I have been reading a recent Education Review Office (ERO) report regarding student attendance in NZ. The report is based on evidence collected from 33 schools. It concludes that attendance issues are complex. They occur in all socio-economic bands; there are multiple barriers to attendance from families taking children on lengthy overseas trips during term time to families who cannot afford lunches or school uniforms. They also conclude that it will take a combined effort of multiple agencies, families and school staff to address this problem.
The ERO report was clear that solutions will work only when the cause of absenteeism is understood. They found that for some students the problem lies with relationships with their friends, teachers or boredom and disengagement. At QPS we try to create engaging programmes within authentic settings and we consistently review and reflect on successes and failures and use student achievement data formatively to plan for next steps. We aim to ensure our programmes are motivating, fun and relevant so that our students want to come to school. Our positive and caring relationships with your children have a significant impact on their wanting to come to school as well.
Key messages included:
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If students have one week off during term time, every term, over 10 years they will miss a year of school.
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Being at school every day matters because of the sequential nature of learning, especially in literacy and numeracy.
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By law, students must attend school.
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One of the highest predictors of education success is attendance levels at school.
Enjoy your weekend in paradise!
Fi Cavanagh
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and we can’t wait 
Register all your budding netballers in for these fun Skills & Drills sessions with the REAL STEEL! 
