An initiative to help primary school aged children get to school is gaining momentum.
Schools within Te Hakatere Kahui Ako have joined with Safer Mid Canterbury, supported by Salvation Army, to trial a delivery service across its urban schools every day during term two.
Hakatere Ka ¯hui Ako lead principal Cath Blacklow said the initiative, which would cater to about 20 children initially, would pick up children and take them to their respective schools on time.
She said there were many reasons for children not attending school and it was hoped the initiative would help support schools and parents, but boost learning for pupils.
‘‘One of our strategic plans is to improve attendance across (our) schools,’’ she said.
‘‘Our target is to get students to school 90 per cent of the time regularly.’’
She said research showed if pupils were not at school for 90 per cent of the time, then it had a significant impact on their progress.
Children also learned best at the start of the day.
‘‘We thought we would trial this pick up service for people that feel that would be a real benefit to them,’’ she said.
The trial service was being run with support of attendance advisor Jill Herbert from Safer Mid Canterbury’s attendance service.
Herbert was a police vetted driver and would drive the 10-seater mini van during term two, supplied at a ‘‘very generous’’ rate by Salvation Army Ashburton.
Parents who felt their child could benefit getting to school with the service could contact their child’s school directly, Blacklow said.
‘‘In some cases schools would have contacted parents/caregivers they feel might benefit from it.’’
It was hoped if the service was successful, and funding was secured, it could be extended until the end of the year.
