Schools hit by winter ills, say 90% attendance is ‘impossible’

Winter bugs are hitting North Canterbury schools hard — making it challenging to find enough relief teachers.

Rangiora and Kaiapoi high schools say they are determined to remain open, despite teachers and students coming down with colds, flu and Covid.

Several schools around the country have been forced to close or roster students home as they struggle to have enough staff on deck.

The Government has also introduced measures to improve student attendance.

"We have always had a strong belief that young people need routines," Rangiora High School principal Bruce Kearney said.

"We have been quite lucky. On any given day we would have at least 10 staff away, whether through illness, training or sports trips.

"The problem is finding 10 relievers."

The school had to close its doors for four days at the beginning of the year after several staff tested positive for Covid.

Students were also rostered home due to Covid in 2021, and last year during the teacher strikes.

The Ministry of Education’s definition of "regular attendance" is to have students at school 90% of the time each term.

But Kearney said this was "impossible for any school to get close to", as a student only needed to be off school sick for a week to fall below 90%.

"I have had more time than that off this term myself because of sickness.

"Over the last two years, we have been telling people to stay home if you are unwell."

While only 55% of Rangiora students met the definition of "regular attendance", Kearney said around four in five students achieved at least 80% attendance.

Just 3% of non-attendance was due to family holidays, with the majority due to illness, he said.

The school employed its own, board of trustees-funded, attendance officer to follow up on those not achieving 80% attendance.

"Non-attendance is never a cause, it is only a symptom."

But school was "not for everybody" and students not attending school may be receiving an education in another way, Kearney said.

Kaiapoi High School principal Jason Reid said schools had to rethink "‘what the school day looks like", due to the challenges of finding relievers.

"We are really fortunate to have been able to manage it with staff picking up more hours to cover for people who are away.

"We are struggling to get enough relievers but we are lucky to have this group of relievers who always come back to us."

The school has plans in place to manage staff sickness, including rostering students home, he said.

Reid said his staff carefully monitored student attendance by following up with parents and supporting them to get back to school, when needed.

"Even with the the massive amount of sickness, we are only just under 90% attendance."

Managing attendance was the best way to maintain student achievement, he said.

"Eighty percent sounds good if you are getting a grade, but when it comes to attendance, it means from year 9 to 13 you are effectively missing a whole year of school."

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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