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PRINCIPAL'S PERSPECTIVE
Andrea Hunter
Kia ora koutou,
Our students have been busy practising for our school production, The Bush Challenge, written by our talented teacher, Brittany Christensen. I would like to acknowledge all of our staff and students who have contributed to the show’s great success. We are looking forward to sharing this with our community next week.
Attendance and Illness
Regular attendance at school is important. The Ministry of Education’s Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) reinforces the shared responsibility schools and whānau have in supporting students to attend school regularly. You can read more about the Hilltop Attendance Management Plan here: Hilltop School Attendance Management Plan.
Children should, however, stay home when they are unwell. Please keep your child at home if they have a fever, vomiting or diarrhoea, symptoms of concern, or are too unwell to comfortably take part in learning. Children should be fever-free for 24 hours without medication before returning to school. If your child has had vomiting or diarrhoea, please keep them home until 48 hours after their last episode.
Children with mild symptoms may still be able to attend if they are generally well, eating and drinking normally, able to focus on learning, and have not had a fever for 24 hours. Mild hay fever, allergy symptoms, or non-infectious skin issues such as insect bites, scratches, grazes, or eczema do not usually require children to stay home. Please remind children to wash their hands regularly and cover coughs and sneezes.
For more information, please visit: Knowing if your child is well enough to go to school — guidance for parents and caregivers.
Attendance Notifications
Some whānau may have recently received a notification advising that their child has been absent for five or more days this term.
Schools are required to notify whānau when a child has had five or more days absent in a term. For some children, these absences may be due to illness, and their overall attendance may still be on track to meet the regular attendance goal of 90% or higher. In these cases, no further action is required.
For others, the notification may be a timely reminder to carefully consider future absences, particularly if their child is already below, or at risk of falling below, 90% attendance.
As always, children should stay home when they are genuinely unwell. Please continue to let the school know the reason for any absence so we can keep accurate records and provide support where needed.
If you would like to discuss your child’s attendance, please contact Callie-anne at attendance@hilltop.org.nz
Ngā mihi,
Andrea Hunter
Principal
Principal
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