Missing school When do I have to be at school? When can I miss school? What kind of trouble can I get into if I don’t go to school? Can I be punished by my school if I don’t go to school?
Students are required to be at school any time their school is open, however, sometimes students miss school for various reasons. If you miss school without permission, this is legally called being truant. This section talks about when you can and can’t miss school, and what happens if you miss school.
If you are enrolled at a school, you must go there every day it is open and stay there for the full school day (unless you have a genuine reason for being absent).
There are three exceptions to not having to be enrolled at, and attend, a school. First, you can get permission from the Ministry of Education to be home-schooled if your parents can show you will be taught at least as regularly and as well as you would be in a public school. Secondly, if you are enrolled in Correspondence school. And thirdly, if you are 15 and the Ministry of Education has accepted your application for an “early leaving exemption” — this requires you, your school, and the Ministry to believe that you will benefit more from leaving school than from staying.
Your parents can ask your school’s principal for permission to keep you out of school for a particular reason, and if your principal thinks that you have a good enough reason to not attend school temporarily, they can allow you to be away from school for a period of up to five school days. Usually, going on a holiday before the end of school term will not be a good enough reason.
If you want to miss school for any reason, you should find out what your school’s rules are around the reasons that are okay to miss school for, and how you can ask for permission to miss school (you will usually need a written note from your parent or caregiver).
If you miss school without a good reason, the Attendance Service, Oranga Tamarki (OT), the Ministry of Education, and/or the police could become involved. The government can also take your parents to court if you are not enrolled or are missing school without a good reason.
If you are between 6 and 15 years old, an attendance officer might ask you for your name, your address, your school’s name, and the reason why you are not at school. If the attendance or police officer is not happy with your reason for being away from school, they can either take you home or take you to your school, and report the matter to OT. You might also be punished by your school for missing school time.
If you do not have permission to miss school (whether it be several days of school or just being late to class), you can be punished by your school. The type of punishment you get will depend on your school, and how often and long you have been missing school. Usually, you will get a minor punishment like a detention. The worst punishment you can get is to be suspended and then kicked out of school. You can also be taken off the school roll if you have been away for more than 20 school days in a row without telling the school that the absence will be temporary.