For 2018 there is once again a clear school wide goal to support student learning outcomes linked to striving for personal excellence with attendance. At Rutherford College not this is 95%+ attendance. This is also packed up with the notion that we are on time all the time or 100%. Individually this is something that students can take responsibility for.

I would like families and whanau to think very carefully before taking students out of school. For most students to attain a 95% attendance record across the academic year, I believe it requires 100% attendance in term 1. In term 2 and 3 we can expect some genuine absences through sickness, colds, flu and the like. If attendance is at or near 100% at this point overall attendance will likely drop below 90%.

Attached is a summary of what 95% attendance needs. An opinion might be that 90% attendance for the year is very good, I strongly disagree. This equates to one month off school. Students who are absent for a month of schooling are seriously disadvantaged. Some absences cannot be helped but we need support in our students being here on time all the time if students are to pursue the school mantra of striving for personal excellence. 95% plus attendance and 100% punctuality to class all the time provides a strong foundation for students to achieve to their maximum.

What a missed lesson really means …

Attendance Percentage	Per 2 weeks	Per term	Year	Total lessons missed per year (hours)	Total lessons missed per year (per subject)
100%
95%	½ day	2 ½ days	2 weeks	50 hours	10
90%	1 day	1 week	1 month	100 hours	20
80%	2 days	2 weeks	2 months	200 hours	40
70%	3 days	3 weeks	3 months	300 hours	60
50%	5 days	5 weeks	5 months	500 hours	>100

 

This is averaging a term out to be 10 weeks per term as a guide.