2. Approx. 11,000 children are home-schooled. These children are not “truant” but it does indicate an amount of dis-engagement with our state system.
3. Term 3 2025 attendance data showed a statistically significant decline on Term 3 2024.
4. Daily attendance statistics in term 4 2025 showed more decline:
“The government wanted 80 percent of students attending more than 90 percent of their classes – the benchmark for regular attendance. To reach that goal, daily attendance needed to reach and remain at 94 percent, but the highest point reached in term four was 90 percent, with 88-89 percent recorded often and average daily attendance of 85 percent, similar to term three.”
5. Australia considers themselves to be in deep crisis mode with attendance as their full attendance (students attending 90% of the time) is at 60%. Ours is at 50%.
These comments are important:
4. Daily attendance statistics in term 4 2025 showed more decline:
“The government wanted 80 percent of students attending more than 90 percent of their classes – the benchmark for regular attendance. To reach that goal, daily attendance needed to reach and remain at 94 percent, but the highest point reached in term four was 90 percent, with 88-89 percent recorded often and average daily attendance of 85 percent, similar to term three.”
5. Australia considers themselves to be in deep crisis mode with attendance as their full attendance (students attending 90% of the time) is at 60%. Ours is at 50%.
These comments are important:
“We can’t nudge our way out of this crisis. Australia needs a wholesale rethink of how to get children back into the classroom. We are not alone. Many countries have had problems getting school attendance to where it needs to be. But some have taken the issue far more seriously than us. England is one such country we can learn from. Students in England attend school 94 per cent of the time, compared to Australia’s 89 per cent. England has made attendance a national priority, driving a relentless public messaging campaign to elevate the importance of school attendance, radically increasing the transparency of attendance data, setting higher expectations for families and schools, and adopting a whole-of-government approach to tackle barriers to attendance.”
As I have said many times, curriculum changes, “structured literacy”, etc – can only produce marginal gains if the children who need help the most are attending school irregularly – at best.
Just released NCEA/UE cohort data (as opposed to leavers data that comes out later) shows a small improvement in L1 NCEA but declines in Level 2 NCEA and UE (key indicators).
Education in NZ in 2026 needs a great deal of work – from attendance to achievement. Let’s hope.
Alwyn Poole, a well-known figure in the New Zealand education system, he founded and was the head of Mt Hobson Middle School in Auckland for 18 years. This article was published HERE
6 comments:
Maybe if schools start teaching actual subjects again instead of forcing tribal marxist culture down kids throats, then they will come back. Would you have liked this? It would be interesting to see if the high truancy rate started when all the spiritual stuff started. It would be fine if it was an optional subject for those who want it, but from what you hear and read, it is infused into everything. And bring back European history to end the attacks on jewish people
It seems that the evils perpetrated by the last Labour govt have remained woven into our cultural base.
Well said, Mr. Poole. So - let's get behind Erica Stanford and her team who are making excellent progress with the curriculum. First, we must put a stop to the unfair and very personal social media (Facebook, in particular, coming from inexperienced people (influencers?) and their followers) attacks on the highly-qualified and very experienced people who are turning education around after twenty years of stagnation, and support them. Our future depends on it.
Regarding attendance - the new contracts with truancy services and tougher performance criteria announced by David Seymour last year demonstrate genuine and active commitment to improving attendance and therefore academic achievement.
Let's give credit where credit is due! Both Erica Stanford and David Seymour, and their teams, are doing a great job. I hope that you agree, Mr. Poole!
David Lillis
I agree with Anonymous 9:15 . If there were genuine academic content in school not progressive waffle which includes Maori spiritually and transgenderism I am certain more parents would be enthusiastic about their children going to school.
Like all Western Countries we are actually in an educational revolution changing from thoroughly ineffective progressive teaching methods of the basics structured methods as we used to have in traditional education , that actually work . Some teachers are finding this hard and rebelling .
Gaynor
Why attend school and be advanced by age so that struggle alongside those with smart and attentive parents. Any adult paid work will involve some tedious and/or laborious job for which just physical bulk the main requirement. A good job will likely disqualify for one of those fine modern Kainga Ora units anyway. With these the neighbours not seen as a problem as often kith and kin. Achieving at school can make it difficult to appear unsuitable for the tedium of work and so incur the drudge of contriving to fail multiple interviews. And weakens the case for a soft sentence when intercepted transgressing the law. The current worship of equity interpreted as equality of outcome means life will never be really difficult as it was for very many prior and during the 1930s Depression, and despite concerted hard work.
If Erica could have more control over the antics of the members of both the Education Department and the education unions, she would have a much better chance of success
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