“Every class, every day, for a bright future.” That’s the aim of the campaign ‘Kura Let’s Do It Tauranga Moana’.

Kura Let’s Do It Tauranga Moana is a back-to-school campaign, encouraging kids to attend school every day, which is a fresh way to improve regular attendance rates in the Western Bay of Plenty.

“It is based on a similar campaign run in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in 2022 and 2023 led by Apanui School principal Simon Ackroyd through Pūtauaki ki Rangitaiki Whānui Kāhui Ako,” says Ōtūmoetai Primary School principal Zara McIndoe.

“The campaign is being run by Whakatāne-based advertising company Whippet Digital and is being supported by WBOP schools and the Tauranga Moana Attendance Service.

Ōtūmoetai Primary School principal Zara McIndoe. Photo supplied.

“We’ve made use of our local and national celebrities to send out some positive messaging telling children why school’s important and why they should come every day.

“The aim is to improve attendance and reduce absenteeism across the Western Bay,” says Zara.

“The campaign will benefit all Western Bay of Plenty schools, especially those who have chosen to share and promote the content on their social media pages.

“We’ve used Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Tik Tok and advertising through pop-up ads on gaming apps and electronic billboards across the bay and back-of-bus advertising,” says Zara.

Back-of-bus advertising. Photo: supplied.

This campaign is running for a month from January 15 to February 15 and will run again for a week in April and another week in the July school holidays.

“Covid-19 throughout 2020 to 2022, and teacher strikes in 2023 have meant that some children and families have not attended school regularly and have fallen into repeat patterns of absenteeism from school.

“This is a tangible strategy to address that issue and put out the messaging in a positive way.”

In the next few months, data will be gathered which they will use to see how effective the strategy has been. 

“There will be comparisons made between 2023 and 2024 attendance data.

Back-of-bus advertising. Photo: supplied.

“If this really makes a difference then we’d look at perhaps doing it again.”

Zara says that targeting young audiences means the advertising company suggested moving away from radio, TV and newspaper advertising and into online advertising as it is far more effective with the target demographic.

And Zara says the statistics show how desperate the issue is. “Tauranga City’s regular attendance data – students attending school nine days out of ten – is approximately 52 per cent. It’s really low.

“This is a tangible strategy to address it, rather than the schools asking how they can get kids to school, let’s try something a bit different.”

Missing school means missing out. Photo: supplied.

The campaign is being funded through Regional Response Funding from the Ministry of Education.

Kura – let’s do it!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KuraTaurangaMoana

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kura.taurangamoana

Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/kuramoanabop

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/

Tauranga Attendance Service: https://www.facebook.com/TaurangaAttendanceService