The third of a five-part series looking at our neediest children. Education reporter Elizabeth Binning reports on how we are coping with transience.
Some schools are dealing with such high rates of transience that by the end of the year, at least half the school comprises a completely different set of children.
Turnover rates at some schools, especially in low-decile areas such as parts of South Auckland, are sitting at around 56 per cent - more than half of the children who start the year don't finish there.
Teachers say many parents don't realise the harm in moving their offspring so frequently but the evidence is clear - children's learning is being affected, and in some cases to such an extent that they will never catch up.
"It's absolutely imperative they attend every day and that they have continuous learning, especially when they are 5, 6 and 7 ... That's the greatest growth time for learning," said Shirley Maihi, principal of Finlayson Park School in Manurewa.
Some children are moving several times a year - often in and out of the same primary schools - and some teachers cite examples of pupils who have been at up to nine schools in just a few years.
Most of these children come from low socio-economic families. Their families move frequently because they can no longer afford their bills and move in with relatives, often into garages or crammed into small rooms. They then move again when having so many people in the same house becomes too stressful.
Each time they move, the children are uprooted from school, making it difficult for them to progress in their learning, and to make friendships.
It is also difficult when it comes to planning for the teachers, who have a continually changing classroom.
While there are no recent figures on how many children change schools frequently each year, research indicates New Zealand has a high rate compared with other countries.
In England, 30 per cent was considered a very high transient rate during a 2002 study. In New Zealand at the same time, the average turnover in decile-one schools was 70 per cent.
NZ Educational Institute research into transient children found their educational needs were often overlooked and that without an effective support system, they might "underachieve and run the risk of graduating to the criminal justice system".
Researcher Anna Lee said transient children often needed a high level of support for learning and behavioural difficulties. Teachers also needed information about a student when they started at a new school.
However, many teachers believe technology has done little to help in this regard and there is now a lack of information that is easily available when a transient child starts.
In the past, Mrs Maihi said, a child would arrive with a paper record of their learning progress, any health or behavioural issues and a list of the previous schools they had attended.
That system had been replaced by an electronic form and schools got limited information, meaning staff had to spend time assessing learning levels and whether there were health or behavioural issues which might affect learning.
Education Minister Anne Tolley said that in an age of technology, it was "absolutely nuts" that such information was not easily accessible to schools.
"We are looking at how we can make that information much more accessible."
SEEKING ANSWERS
Saturday: Alternative education.
Teens in Third World schooling
When the mainstream model doesn't fit
A far better alternative to dropping out
Monday: Truancy and dropouts.
School dropout levels fall over past 10 years
Tuesday: Issues of transience.
Message sinking in: switching schools bad for kids
Absenteeism often cry for help
Transient students struggle to catch up
Wednesday: Who kicks kids out?
Second chance works well for student
Expulsion seen as tool of last resort
Aorere strives to improve record
Thursday: What can be done?
Help for those who fall through cracks
Trust moves in well before students get out of control
Schools can't do it all on their own
