Reporting Absences
If your child is going to be absent from school, please advise the Attendance Office before 9:30 a.m.
Options for notification are:
- Click on the ‘School Portal‘ tab at the top of this website page and complete the form.
- Click ‘Report Absence’.
It is important and a Ministry of Education requirement, that all absences are explained. Monitoring attendance is vital in terms of both ensuring the safety of students and in order to identify and address any concerning patterns of attendance. Student attendance has one of the greatest influences on student engagement and achievement and our School Board places attendance as a very high priority for our students.
A lack of timely communication may result in the absence being recorded as truancy and resulting in punitive consequences.
Arriving Late
Students who arrive late must report to the Attendance Office to sign in.
If you know your child will be late, please advise the College as you would an absence.
Leaving Early
If you plan to take your child out of school early for any reason, please provide a signed note of explanation. Students who leave the College during the day must obtain a pass from the Attendance Office (or Reception if the Attendance Office is closed) for a Leave Pass.
In the case of early leaving requests that are not pre-arranged, please expect a delay as your child will need to be sent for. This is particularly prevalent at interval or lunch.
If a student wishes to leave school due to a medical issue, they must first report to the School Nurse who will assess their condition and call the student’s contact person to arrange for the student to be collected. They will also require a Leave Pass.
Students are not to arrange to leave the College themselves.
In order to ensure the Health and Safety of all students at Rutherford College, you may only remove your child from school if you are recorded as a caregiver on our school records.
Requesting Leave During Term Time
Please notify all leave for non-related school events such as holidays in school time or family events through our School Portal.
The MOE requires all absences, explained or not, recorded as being Justified or Unjustified. Below are guidelines for this.
Justified Reasons
- Explained absences for short-term illness/medical reasons (a medical certificate may be requested for prolonged illness), medical appointments, school-arranged work experience, class trips, students sitting examinations at school, exam/study leave.
- Unplanned absences due to not being able to physically reach the school – such as a bus breakdown, traffic accident, road closure, or extreme weather conditions.
- Absences due to national/local representation in a sporting or cultural event in NZ or overseas. (Please request this leave in advance through the School Portal/Report Absence.
- Absences (including overseas) due to bereavement, visiting an ill relative, parent(s) sabbatical, or exceptional family circumstances can all be reported through the School Portal.
Unjustified Reasons
- No notification received.
- No justifiable explanation is received.
- The explanation does not fall within the school’s protocols for justified absences.
Please Note:
- A parent’s note does not necessarily provide justification.
- A family holiday is treated as an explained but unjustified absence. (Please request this leave in advance through the School Portal/report absence
- Not attending school to work is an unjustified absence.
