The Activities of a District Truancy Service Provider
As set out under the MoE (Ministry of Education Agreement) - 2008/09/10/11

The activities of a DTS (District Truancy Service) Provider under the Agreement are completely separate from the activities of any person appointed as an ‘attendance officer’ by a school board.

Non-attendance should only be referred to the DTS Provider after the school board has taken “all reasonable steps” As a minimum before accepting a referral from a school.

The DTS Provider should be satisfied that the school has taken all the following prerequisite steps:

*Attempt to contact the non-attending students parents every day that the student is absent without justification.

*Maintain a record of all attempts to contact the student’s parents and the outcomes of those attempts.

*Send written advice to parents confirming the dates of all unjustified absences and requesting an explanation for such absences, and

*Attempt to meet with family/whanau if unjustified absences are not explained to the satisfaction of the school.
 
In general, it is expected that school’s ‘attendance management’ arrangements will include measures to:

*Identify and record student attendance (as required by the Education (School Attendance) Regulations 1951), patterns of non-attendance, and the reasons for non-attendance.

*Advise parents of the importance of attendance and of the need to contact the school promptly about all absences and when students are likely to be late for justified reasons.

*Advise parents and students about the school’s procedures for following up on non-attendance and the consequences for unjustified absences and lateness.

*Respond to concerning patterns of non-attendance and/or unjustified absences generally (For example, contacting and meeting with students/family/whanau, investigating causes and putting in place suitable pastoral and other supports)

*Make referrals to the DTS Provider and receive reports from the DTS Provider about reasons for non-attendance, and

*Provide feedback to the DTS Provider and the MoE on the quality of the service if and when required.


The following information is from the Ministry of Education site online and the current DTS's in NZ operate under this.

District Truancy Services (DTS)

Managing Truants: The District Truancy Services role 2007

The role of DTS was reviewed during the 2006 DTS Review.

Under the 2007 Agreement, DTS is responsible for assisting schools to manage persistent truants. In the first term of each year it must visit schools to:

Outline its role in helping schools manage students who continue to be unjustifiably absent after all attempts have been made to engage the student in learning.

Discuss and agree how schools can make referrals to DTS, how located students are returned to school, and how the school is notified.

Explain how it will respond to a truancy referral, and how it will support the school in the management of individual, non-attending students.

Provide information and updates on local community truancy initiatives that may be in operation.

When the DTS receives a referral it is required to:

acknowledge the referral immediately

attempt to locate the non-attending student and make contact with the student’s parents or caregivers within 24 hours of receipt of the referral – for 90% of cases.

submit a written or oral report – advising of the likely reason(s) for non-attendance and summarising its intervention and the outcome – as soon as practicable and within 5 days.

return the student to school and inform the school.

In addition, the DTS must:

maintain accurate records of all referrals

record the number of individual student referrals received each term that subsequently attend school regularly within that term

report to the Ministry of Education on any school-age children, not enrolled at a registered school.

DTS, working with the wider community, can help reduce non-attendance. For example, DTS can work with the police, family support groups (Strengthening Families, Family Group Conference Referral) and social services as well as local businesses to create truant-free zones, or to target areas where known non-attending students are congregating.


Managing truants: A school's role

Schools are legally required to manage the day-to-day attendance of students. Under the Education Act (1989) schools are required to ‘take all reasonable steps to ensure that children and young people who are required to attend school do so’.

It is the Ministry’s expectation that, as a minimum, all schools will:

attempt to contact the parents or caregivers of a non-attending student every day that the student is absent without justification

maintain a record of all such attempts, and include the results and outcomes

attempt to meet with the parents or caregivers if unjustified absences are not explained to the satisfaction of the school.

In general, it is also expected that schools' attendance management arrangements will include measures to:

identify and record student attendance (as required by the Education (School Attendance) Regulations 1951), patterns of non-attendance, and the reasons for non-attendance

advise parents of the importance of attendance and of the need to contact the school promptly about all absences, and when students are likely to be late for justified reasons

advise parents and students about the school's procedures for following up on non-attendance and the consequences for unjustified absences and lateness

respond to concerning patterns of non-attendance and/or unjustified absences generally (for example, contacting and meeting with students/family/whānau, investigating underlying causes, and putting in place suitable pastoral and other supports).

When a school has unsuccessfully made every attempt (see above bullets) to return a student to school, they should refer the persistent truant to a DTS.

For further information, contact your local Ministry of Education office.