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Concerns by parents over Covid-19 will no longer be seen as an excuse for keeping their children out of school.
With the number of absentee children running higher than usual, the Ministry of Education is toughening up on parents keeping their children out of school because of the risk of contracting Covid-19 or bringing it home.
Schools have been advised that this reason should now generally be considered unjustified. This could see parents running the risk of their child being removed from the roll and referred to ministry truancy agents.
Wellsford School is one of the schools taking a no-nonsense approach. In its newsletter sent out recently, parents were advised students could be taken off the roll if parents haven’t contacted the school to discuss ongoing concerns.
Warkworth principal Cynthia Holden says while she understands the ministry’s tougher stance, with just five per cent of the explanations for absentee marked as unjustified, she says the school doesn’t have concerns.
While there was a 68 per cent attendance at the peak of the outbreak in week five, the first two days back in term two saw 89 per cent and 91 per cent attendance respectively, she says.
“We have put in all safety requirements and the community has generally been very co-operative around attendance and following the rules.”
