Ellesmere College – Te Kāreti o Waihora Board of Trustees Presiding Member
Board of Trustees
Our Board is responsible for governance of the school. The members take care of the school charter, annual plan and financial statements, as well as making other governance level strategic decisions.
Board Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month at 6pm in the Ellesmere College-Te Kāreti o Waihora Staffroom. As these meetings are public, we welcome members of the community to attend.
Any correspondence to the Board should be made through the Board Secretary.
Board Members
Vanessa-Amy Greenwood
Presiding Member
Claire Burgess
Deputy Presiding Member
Antony French
Principal – Ex-Officio
Jagvinder Rana
Community Representative
Monica Verwoerd
Community Representative
Anita Milne
Community Representative
Elizabeth Hislop
Community Representative
Ben Fraser
Co-opted Representative
Samuel Rawstron
Student Representative
Anna Jenkins
Staff Representative
Deborah Poorter
Board Secretary
secretarybot@ellesmere.school.nz
Important School Documents
Attendance Manangement Plan
Under the Ministry of Education’s framework, Attendance Management Plans (AMPs) mandate how high schools identify, track, and intervene when students miss school. Structured around the nationwide Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) guidelines, these plans require schools to record half-day attendance electronically and implement clear pathways to address non-attendance at specific termly thresholds, typically triggered at 5, 10, and 15+ days of absence.
Secondary schools rely on a combination of automated daily SMS/app notifications to caregivers, kaitiaki (dean) or pastoral care follow-ups, and targeted support to resolve underlying barriers to learning. By aligning school boards, staff, parents, and community support services, AMPs provide transparent frameworks aimed at driving towards the national target of 80% of students regularly attending school.
Key Components of a School Attendance Management Plan
- Digital Tracking & Daily Reporting: Absences are logged every period and submitted to central Ministry databases to flag emerging patterns of truancy early.
- Tiered Interventions (STAR Model): Responses scale based on missed days, moving from early caregiver notifications to formal whānau meetings, individual attendance plans, and potential referral to national Attendance Services.
- Shared Accountability: Plans outline clear legal obligations for school boards to publish plans publicly and for parents to communicate all justified absences (such as medical reasons).
Click this link to view our: Attendance Management Plan_2026