Regular attendance at school is important for our students’ learning, wellbeing and their futures. Attendance is the first step in accessing learning and is essential for educational success, achieving qualifications and attaining wider social and economic outcomes. There is a well-established relationship between attendance and achievement.
Non-attendance and irregular attendance are two of the biggest barriers to student achievement. At Wakatipu High School we strive to maintain high levels of attendance and punctuality. Our procedures emphasise individual student responsibility, with clear consequences for persistent absence and/or lateness to school. We appreciate your support of this system which is designed to support quality learning.
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As parents, caregivers, and whānau you play the most important role in helping our students regularly attend school. Below is some further information about attendance and our systems and expectations at Wakatipu High School:
Attendance is compulsory. Your child should go to school every day. Holidays should not be taken during term time. Attendance is compulsory at all school activities including events such as Participation Day, Matatū, and prize givings unless otherwise advised. 

If students are going to be away from school a Parent or Guardian must contact the school. To report a student absence, please complete this form, use the form on our WHS Schoolzine app, call the school office at ​03 442 7370 or email [email protected] 

Students are to complete a student leave form for all planned absence. 
A medical certificate may be required for extended illness/injury, or as per the assessment policy. 
Students are to refer to the assessment guidelines for information around absence and NCEA assessment. 
Note: Students in Year 13 must have less than 5% of unexplained absences at the time tickets are on sale to be eligible to attend formal (this also applies for Year 13 graduation) 

​You will find the attendance management plan for Wakatipu High School below, outlining the expectations and procedures for those in our school community, in order to support quality student learning, so that every student at WHS can achieve their best possible qualification.

This Attendance Management Plan will be reviewed and updated every two years.

Lateness and Attendance

If a student is late:

1. Students must sign in at reception if they are late to Period 1.
2. If arriving beyond the first ten minutes of Periods 2-4, students are marked ‘late’ at teacher discretion.
3. Valid explanations for lateness are logged by the teacher in KAMAR ('Late Explanation').
4. More than three lates = future lates each incur a detention.
5. Lateness is summarised in SMS for Kaiārahi/ Dean follow-up as per intervention process.
6. Late and unexplained attendance is tracked and reported to Kaiārahi and our student SMS.

It is expected that students follow up any attendance issues communicated with support of the above process and their Kaiārahi.

If a student absent from school or class (unexplained absence):

If a student is marked as unexplained, the absences follow a clear timeline:

1. Student is marked '?' if they are not present when the roll is taken
2. On Day 1, parents and students receive an early absence notification email requesting an explanation
3. After three school days, if the absence is still unexplained, the code changes to 'T' (Truant)
4. Detention is issued by the Attendance Officer based on the points system (see below)
5. Student receives a physical detention slip in class for a Lunchtime Detention and an email notification the day prior for an After School Detention
6. Any missed detentions escalate to disciplinary follow-up

Attendance is tracked using percentage present. To attend school events (e.g., Formal, Graduation), students must have less than 5% unexplained absence.

Detentions:

Detentions for lates and unexplained absence (truancy) are managed by Admin/SLT. This model ensures proactive, equitable intervention with additional layered pastoral and structural supports.

Points

• Late arrival = 1 point
• Unexplained absence (per period) = 2 points

Types of Detentions

• Break 2 (Lunchtime) Detention: 1 point — 11:50 am–12:15 pm daily
• Deans Detention: 2 points — Wed/Fri, 3:15–4:10 pm
• DPs Detention: 4 points — Fri, 3:15–5:10 pm

Students must arrive at Student Services within five minutes of their previous class.

School-Home Communication

Early Absence Notifications to Parent/Guardian
If a student is absent from Period 1 and no explanation has been received, a text message will be sent by the school to parents/guardians to request details about the student’s absence. Further communication will follow if the absence continues to be unexplained throughout the day.

Notifying the School of Student Absence
We acknowledge that there are genuine reasons students may occasionally be absent. All student absence from school must be explained. If a student is going to be away from school a parent/guardian (or those who are listed on Kamar) must contact the school, by either:

• calling the school office: 03 442 7370
• sending a notification via the Schoolzine app, or 
• emailing [email protected]

Note: This requirement includes for student absence during any periods of remote online learning (e.g. lockdown, absence due to enrolment in a course with another provider, or off-site education)

Real-Time Attendance Information
To support daily communication, the school also provides real-time attendance information via the WHS Parent Portal. Note: The Parent Portal shows only simplified codes: Present, Late, or Absent. The school’s internal system records the full detail, which we use for official reporting and to monitor attendance patterns.

Attendance Management Plan

WHS applies a structured, escalating approach to attendance concerns that prioritises early intervention. In the first instance, attendance is monitored in two-week cycles using our student management. Kaiarhai and Deans regularly follow up and monitor student attendance. 

Two-Week Attendance Monitoring
Attendance is monitored in two-week cycles using the school management system. Kaiārahi monitor and identify patterns and action early ongoing interventions to support Akonga to regularly attend.

In class Percentage Attendance Monitoring 

WHS Whole school attendance process
Wakatipu High School monitors and delivers interventions at four levels in accordance with ministry attendance percentage expectations. The interventions and support are based on patterns of absence, responsiveness to prior steps, and student wellbeing. These interventions include academic, pastoral, behavioural, and external agency support mechanisms tailored to individual student needs.

Further Communication

A variety of further methods are also used to ensure timely and accurate communication about student attendance with whanau and ākonga:

• School Newsletter: Regular updates on attendance expectations and reminders 
• Absence Manager Texts: Period absence notifications sent daily 
• End-of-Day Absence Emails: Sent summarising daily attendance 
• Weekly Absence Summary: Sent each Monday with prior week's absences 
• Detention Notifications: Sent on Tuesdays 
• Detention Reminders: Sent the day before a scheduled After School Detention 
• Weekly Portal Report: Summary of attendance %, total days missed, projected absences 
• Termly Newsletter Reminders: Attendance expectations and patterns 
• Kaiārahi Contact: Email/phone follow-up 
• Dean Contact: Follow-up by phone and formal letter #1
• SLT Involvement: Formal letter #2 and phone contact for persistent concerns 

Appendix 1: Attendance Codes

The Ministry of Education requires schools to record attendance using approved codes. These codes distinguish between students who are present, those whose absences are justified, and those whose absences are unjustified. Below is an explanation of the codes used by WHS, based on the Ministry's 2025 Attendance Code Guidance:

Presence Codes

• P – Present: Student is present in class
• L – Late: Student arrives late within the first 15 minutes of a period.

Justified Absence Codes

• J – Explained and Approved: Student’s absence is explained and approved by the Principal for reasons such as illness or injury, medical appointments, bereavement, family emergencies, school trips or approved events.

Unjustified Absence Codes

• ? – Unknown: Absence reason not yet known (temporary code until clarified)
• U – Unjustified/ Explained and not Approved: Student’s absences are not approved for reasons such as non-medical appointments, holidays, family commitments which are not emergencies, training for sports, etc.

Note:

• An explained absence is not automatically a justified absence. The Principal (or delegate) determines whether the reason meets the criteria for a justified code.
• As per our policy, medical certificates may be requested after 3 consecutive days of medical absence or 10 days of total medical absence in a term. For extensions of assessments, a medical certificate will be required.
• Accurate coding helps the school track attendance patterns and provide support to students where needed.
• This attendance data is stored on our Student Management System and sent to the Ministry, as required by law.

More detailed information on many school policies and procedures (such as attendance) can be found at school docs. Please sign in using username: 'wakatipu' and password 'Ad Alta' (please note 'Ad Alta' includes a space).