31 Aug 2026

Every day at school makes a difference

At Conifer Grove School, we believe that regular attendance is one of the most important ways we can support your child to succeed at school.

The Ministry of Education states:

“Your child is legally required to be at school every day, unless they are sick.”

Parents and legal guardians are responsible for making sure their child attends school every day that school is open, until they are at least 16 years old.

Regular attendance gives children the best opportunity to learn, build friendships, participate in school activities and make progress. The Ministry of Education also notes that missing just one week of school each term can add up to a whole year of missed learning by the time a child is 16.

HOW WE WILL SUPPORT YOUR CHILD
To help support regular attendance, Conifer Grove School follows the Ministry of Education's Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) framework.

 

🟢 FEWER THAN 5 DAYS ABSENT - Good attendance

We will continue to monitor attendance and encourage students to attend regularly.

 

🟡 5–9 DAYS ABSENT - Attendance becoming a concern

When your child reaches 5 days absent in a term, their teacher will make a phone call home.

This is an opportunity to:

Check in and see how your child and whaanau are doing.
Understand the reasons for the absences.
Identify any barriers affecting attendance.
Discuss how we can support your child to attend more regularly.

🟠 10–14 DAYS ABSENT - Attendance is a concern

When your child reaches 10 days absent in a term, we will contact you to arrange a family meeting at school.

Together, we will:

Discuss your child's attendance.
Identify any barriers affecting regular attendance.
Develop strategies to support improved attendance.
Discuss what support may be available for your child and whaanau.
Monitor your child's attendance and progress.
At this stage, an individual attendance support plan may be put in place as part of the STAR response. This plan is designed to identify the reasons for absence and outline the support and actions needed to help your child return to regular attendance.

 

🔴 15+ DAYS ABSENT - Very concerning attendance

When a student reaches 15 or more days absent in a term, a more intensive response may be required.

The school will:

Review the attendance support plan.
Continue working closely with whaanau.
Identify any ongoing barriers to attendance.
Consider additional support from the Attendance Service or other agencies where appropriate.
Continue monitoring attendance and progress.

WORKING TOGETHER

Attendance is a shared responsibility between students, whaanau, schools and support services.

If your child is going to be absent, please let the school know as soon as possible and provide a reason for the absence.

If your child is finding it difficult to attend school regularly, please talk to us. We want to work alongside you to understand what is happening and find ways to support your child.

Every day counts. Every day of learning matters.

 

Ngaa mihi 

Conifer Grove School

 

 

REGULAR-ATTENDANCE-MATTERS.pdf

Reporting-a-student-absence.pdf

17 Aug 2026

Literacy Week 17-21 August

We would love for you to be a part of this on Friday the 21st of August. Here is a link to the overview of which events, competitions, and clubs will be running throughout the week for our tamariki.

On Friday, we will be having our Book Character Parade from 9:15 am – 10:15 am under the canopy (or in the hall in case of wet weather), followed by an opportunity for you to go into your child's class to read a story to a small group or the whole class if you wish. Soon after that will be morning tea time, where we will have a school-wide picnic under the canopy with our books and kai.

We would love for you to join us for all or part of this morning session. If you have any questions, please feel free to come and see us!

Kind regards,
Priyanka Narayan (Rm 10) & Kamlesh Ram (Rm 20)

4 Aug 2026

2026 Upcoming Teacher Only Days

2026-TOD-Comms.pdf