On any given day 29,000 students skip school – the equivalent of Blenheim's entire population missing from class.

And serial truants, who may be bunking school to smoke drugs, babysit younger siblings or help with household chores, are already on the road to prison or welfare dependency, a prominent principal says.

Two Palmerston North teens the Sunday Star-Times spoke to admitted they regularly missed school because they were too hung over or stoned. And, when they were in class, they felt bored.

Sam* said he had regularly skipped school since the age of 13.

"[School] was boring and dumb and I didn't know what to do," he said. "I just wanted to get stoned and hang out with my mates."

Now 14, he said since joining an alternative education centre he was attending class because the lessons were interesting.

His fate could have been different if he continued on the truancy track, he said.

"I would have dropped out of school. I would have got into more trouble and probably been locked up."

Peter*, 14, also admitted to skipping a few classes a week because school was boring.

"Sometimes you get stoned, sometimes you can't be bothered and sometimes you're hung over from the night before."

The latest Ministry of Education truancy report revealed 10 per cent of children miss school each day.

The Government injected $4 million to battle truancy two years ago, but it made only a minor dent in truancy rates.

The funding equated to a thousand fewer students skipping school compared with 2010. In some areas truancy actually increased, and the Maori and Pacific Island truancy rates remain double those of the rest of the school population.

Students attending schools in deprived areas or poorer regions were more likely to be truants.

Secondary Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh said parents sometimes encouraged children as young as 8 to skip classes. "Children are staying home to look after siblings or do housework and other activities in the home," he said.

"Some have to make the beds, get the breakfast ready and do the shopping."

Often these families live transient lifestyles, making it difficult for schools and social agencies to track them.

The longer students spend outside the classroom, the more likely they are to end up illiterate, welfare dependent and living a life of crime, he said.

"In areas where there's high truancy we need more resources in the form of truancy officers who are well-known in the community."

A Mangere school was having success after hiring a Samoan truancy officer who could visit homes and encourage children to return to school, he said.

In the case of Sam and Peter, the teens were now attending class more often since swapping mainstream school for the Highbury Whanau Centre in Palmerston North.

Whanau Centre co-ordinator Anjali Butler said she dealt with chronic truants who often came from high-risk families.

"It is not an uncommon theme to have drugs and alcohol in their life from a young age – often well before they get to high school."

Many arrive at high school unable to cope with education and they get lost within the system, she said.

The centre forms a relationship with students' whanau and tries to combat wider social issues, such as alcohol addiction or family support.

"It's not a matter of picking them up and chucking them back in schools, because they'll just walk out again."

The students who fall through the gaps usually appear in the system later as teen pregnancies or criminals, she said.

Education Minister Hekia Parata said rather than throwing more funding at truancy officers, the community had to take responsibility.

"Parents and communities are the lead people responsible for their children being at school. Principals and boards are responsible for offering an engaging programme."

Parata said the Government's investment into decreasing truancy was a long-term project and it was battling the issue at a number of levels, including monitoring attendance electronically and prosecuting parents.

"I'm completely happy with the investments we've made."

* The Sunday Star-Times has not used the teens' real names because of their ages.

- © Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/6706587/T
COLLETTE DEVLIN


Last updated 05:00 07/04/2012

Invercargill truancy officers fear for their jobs as the Education Ministry prepares to roll out its restructured truancy model in October.
The Invercargill District Truancy Service, which works with city schools and some rural Southland schools, has been working on truancy rates in the city since 2004.
However, under ministry plans, the service will be combined with the Government's Non-Enrolled Truancy Services to form the Integrated Attendance Service, which will take over at the beginning of term four.
Invercargill Student Support Network director Lois Conway said it was a good idea to combine the services but the difficulty would be how to combine them while using both services effectively.
"At the moment we are in limbo. Truancy officers don't know if they will have jobs in October. The size of districts served is being changed and the nature of who can deliver the service is still being discussed," she said.
Southland truancy officers Lindsay Thomas and Neil Jackson said there needed to be certainty about a continuing service with benefits to children.
"The priority is making sure the children are safe and in school," Mr Thomas said.
Verdon College acts as the signatory to the truancy service agreement with the Ministry of Education on behalf of Invercargill schools. Principal Jarlath Kelly said the community and social services played an important role supporting students' attendance at schools.
"We find that this [current] approach, along with the positive relationships that we build with our students, is extremely successful in supporting our students' attendance and success," he said.
Ministry group manager regional education Carolyn Murphy confirmed the number of truancy districts would change and there would be fewer services covering a larger area in the South Island.
She said all current truancy service contracts would end in September 2012 but they could participate in the tender process for the new attendance service.
Funding would target priority areas based on evidence of highest need, she said.
Sergeant Phil Berryman, of Invercargill police youth services, said truancy services were important because there was a link between truancy and crime.
"Students who engage in school are also less likely to commit crimes outside of school hours," he said.

Hon Hekia Parata

EW 5.098

22 March 2012

To the Minister,

I am writing to you today to ask about the formation of the new Integrated Attendance Service, to start operating in Term 4 of 2012.

Could you please explain to me what the rational and reasoning behind this new service’s formation is?

What, if any, consultation was done with staff at the Non Enrolled Truancy Service (NETS) and the District Truancy Service (DTS) prior to the decision being made to form the new service?

Given the existing expertise and experience that lies in the staff of NETS and DTS, I wonder what consideration was given to allowing those staff to have a say in the future of truancy services in New Zealand.

I look forward to your response.

Greetings Catherine Delahunty (Green Party Spokesperson - Education)


This is a letter I recently sent to Judge Beacroft.
Andrew was always a great supporter for the work that we do in the Truancy Service.

I attended the MoE 'Roadshow' in Wanganui yesterday and the feeling that I got was that the MoE are still NOT listening to what the District Truancy Services (DTS) in NZ want.

I believe that their reporting will be very selective as to their agenda to, implement a so called 'NEW' service in Term 4.
I also believe that this will become a 'kneejerk' reaction to pander to Governmental pressure and may have a detrimental effect on the young people of our nation.

I have contact with many Major DTS's in this country and they all say the same. 
If its not broken why try and fix it. 
Fix those that are. 

As I have had little to no response from those I have sent this information too.
Could you please respond.

Kind Regards 
Stephan P Dyer
Senior Truancy Officer 
Central Taranaki DTS and South Taranaki DTS.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stephan Dyer <ctdts@xtra.co.nz>
Date: 7 March 2012 10:52
Subject: 
Greetings Andrew
As you may be aware the MoE say that they are forming a NEW Attendance Service.This is said to happen by merging the Non Enrolled Truancy Service (NETS) and the District Truancy Service (DTS) into one integrated Attendance Service to start operating in Term 4 of 2012 (this date has changed a few times due to failure of implementation).


Quote from my website
The one fact which seems to be very apparent is that the New Zealand Ministry of Education (MoE) are NOT combining the Non Enrolled (NETS) and District Truancy Service's (DTS) into one Integrated Service as they have said. In combining the Services, one would be led to think that they would use the existing Services and Integrate them using their current expertise.
 
Quote - from MoE letter to DTS's
The MoE acknowledges that current DTS providers are the repositories of knowledge and expertise regarding supporting schools to return students to education in a timely manner with appropriate supports.

What is really happening here is that they are forming a NEW SERVICE and totally ignoring the current experienced  practitioners, though wanting their (DTS) operating information to 'kick start' the new Service. 
(Re: Environmental Scan) 
Every Lawyer I have discussed this with agree that this is totally unethical.

The reference  here is to an 'environmental Scan'. 
Here the MoE want to know how we have operated over the past years, and who we have collaborated with so as to NOT loose any of OUR expertise. BUT in this the MoE are NOT guaranteeing our positions in the NEW service and we the DTS's believe this as theft of our professionalism.
It would be like contracting Telecom for 16 years and then expanding the company, then asking for their operations information as they did it so well...what do you think they would say, especially with NO foothold in a NEW service? 
NO DTS that I have spoken with want any of this.  Hamilton, New Plymouth, Central & South Taranaki, Palmerston North, Dunedin, Invercargill, Napier, Wanganui, Upper Hutt, Porirua, to mention just a few (Major DTS's)
Most DTS's in NZ are very successful with their operation's and have Police, Community and Court recognition.
All services I have spoken to have said...Its NOT broken, why fix it?
We believe that what the MoE is planning will destroy all of our hard work, especially by bringing in an over-riding organisation that has NO experience in these matters.
I have suggested to the MoE and mailed the Education Minister (and other politicians) on these matters with little to NO response.

I have suggested that they use the experience that we already have by integrating ALL services as they are now. 

• Four times a year Senior Officers from selected areas would meet to discuss protocols, benchmarks etc to get congruency. 
  
• A National Data Base (What we have always wanted) could be set up through ENROL which is already operating for schools. 
• Our Computer Technician in New Plymouth developed a well used data programme which is used by many DTS's through out NZ for Milestone Data.  This could be expanded on. 
• The MoE say that another 4 million is to be injected into Truancy. I can see that this will go nowhere but on some organisation who will hold the main contract and tender out to the lowest bidder and that might NOT be the experienced DTS's already operating successfully in NZ.
• This really needs serious attention.
• I am representing many DTS's in NZ if no one listens the only option is to go to the media and that always gets messy.
• Please peruse the blog on my website when you have time. This site is getting 90 hits a day. www.truancynzctdts.com

The MoE seem totally blind and very dictatorial in their approach. It all looks good on paper but that's where it stops. 
They would be the worse communicators I have ever worked with.
The local MoE seem very helpful but its the 'top tier' that I am talking about here, Wellington I believe.

The DTS's I have spoken with want the MoE to STOP what they are doing and get back to the 'front-line' officers for advisement of where to from here.
Please advise.
Kind Regards
Stephan Dyer
Senior Truancy Officer for:
Central Taranaki District Truancy Service
South   Taranaki District Truancy Service
_____________________________ _____
 Hi Stephan
Just a heads up
I have resigned form the MoE effective from 28 march so can you please take me off the email DL
Great to have known you
All the best in the future
name withheld
___________________________________ 


Response
Catherine was wondering if you think it would be helpful for our office to write to the Minister to ask for the reasoning behind the change and what process they have gone through.

If you think this would be worthwhile, please let me know and I will write and send a letter – I can forward you any response we receive.

Warm regards,

Asher Goldman
Executive Assistant 
 
Office of Catherine Delahunty MP l Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
Green Party Spokesperson for Education, Environment (Toxics), Environment (Terrestrial Mining), Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Bowen House, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand 
Whare Pāremata , Te Whanganui-a-Tara 6160, Aotearoa

(: 04 817 8252 | 7: 04 472 6003

Facebook: http://facebook.com/catherine.delahunty

Twitter: http://twitter.com/greencatherine

Authorised by Catherine Delahunty, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
_____________________________________________

South Taranaki District Truancy Service09:42 (1 minute ago)
to AsherGreetings Asher

Any help would be great.
The MoE say that they are basing all the change on the last evaluation .http://www.minedu.govt.nz/~/media/MinEdu/Files/EducationSectors/SpecialEducation/PublicationsResources/DistrictTruancyServiceReporttSeptember09.pdf
But I think they are reading things into it to prop up their own agenda.
I believe that that agenda is purely political.
These people need to understand that as long as there are schools there will be truancy and the best people to manage this is the current DTS's as they have done for the past 18 years.
You don't fix something that's NOT broken. If there are broken DTS's fix them only, but DONT change the whole country.

I have also sent them suggestions of how they could fine-tune the current system, they have responded only with a 'the information has been passed on to the appropriate department' answer.

Currently Most DTS's in nz are very successful and operating well with the support of their local community, police, court, networks etc.

The evaluation they refer to backs the DTS's in nz and says that they are successful overworked but underfunded and resourced. 
The services provided excellent, dedicated people but who felt undervalued due to lack of support from the MoE. 
I guess it depends on what slant you want to take when reading it.

Most of us are looking at having a hui in Taupo to discuss matters and send the outcome to the MoE, though in the past we have done this with it landing on deaf ears.
We will be suggesting we look at the possibility of an Association of Officers if that fits into it all somewhere. We need representation.

Have a great day

Kind Regards
Stephan Dyer

09/03/2012

9/03/2012