{"id":11332,"date":"2026-03-20T14:14:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T01:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=11332"},"modified":"2026-03-20T14:14:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T01:14:52","slug":"charter-schools-post-higher-attendance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=11332","title":{"rendered":"Charter Schools Post Higher Attendance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Charter schools have barely opened their doors \u2014 and they\u2019re already out\u2011attending the state system.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New baseline attendance data released today shows the new schools edging ahead of their state\u2011sector counterparts, with Associate Education Minister David Seymour calling the early signs \u201ca good start \u2014 but nowhere near the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The numbers show charter schools recorded an average regular attendance rate of <strong>59.7%<\/strong> in 2025, compared with <strong>58%<\/strong> across state schools. A student is considered a regular attender when they are in class for at least 90% of the term.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/David-Seymour_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/David-Seymour_2.jpg 320w, https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/David-Seymour_2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/David-Seymour_2-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Seymour Associate Minister Education (Partnership Schools)<br><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Seymour says the results are especially encouraging given the backgrounds of many students enrolled in the first seven charter schools. \u201cThree of the schools work specifically with young people who have longstanding challenges with education,\u201d he says. \u201cMany of these students previously attended school very rarely, but are now at school significantly more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across the remaining four charter schools, the regular attendance rate was <strong>66.7%<\/strong>. Seymour says illness in Term 4 dragged down the numbers for one school, otherwise the figure would have been even higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With baseline data now established, the Government expects each school to show \u201csignificant improvements\u201d in its second year. Seymour says the model is built on a simple trade\u2011off: more freedom in how schools use their funding, in exchange for tougher accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each school is assessed against minimum standards informed by its Equity Index (EQI), which is reviewed annually. As schools grow and their student populations change, their EQI \u2014 and the standards they must meet \u2014 may shift with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll charter schools are expected to make progress toward the Government\u2019s target of 80% of students attending regularly,\u201d Seymour says. If a school fails to meet its minimum standard, the Authorisation Board can require an improvement plan \u2014 and if progress still isn\u2019t made, it can terminate the school\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seymour says the model is designed to keep schools flexible while ensuring results stay front and centre. \u201cUltimately, this is about making sure more children are in class, learning, and succeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charter schools have barely opened their doors \u2014 and they\u2019re already out\u2011attending the state system. New baseline attendance data released today shows the new schools edging ahead of their state\u2011sector counterparts, with Associate Education Minister David Seymour calling the early signs \u201ca good start \u2014 but nowhere near the finish line.\u201d The numbers show charter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[907,412,113],"coauthors":[709],"class_list":{"0":"post-11332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-charter-schools","9":"tag-education","10":"tag-new-zealand"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11335,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11332\/revisions\/11335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11332"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=11332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}