“Every class, every day, for a bright future.”

That’s the aim of the campaign ‘Kura Let’s Do It Tauranga Moana’ – 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.

The campaign – which debuted from January 15-February 15 – is set to run again this month as WBOP students head into Term 2 on April 29.

It will also run a third time in the July school holidays.

“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.”

Positive messages

From April 18-29 the regional campaign will distribute inspiring, positive messages online from local celebrities and students, along with epic billboards, back-of-the-bus messages, memes, and much more to encourage primary and secondary students to dust off their school bags and return to school.

“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,” says Zara.

“The aim is to improve attendance and reduce absenteeism across the Western BOP. The campaign will benefit all WBOP schools – especially those who chose 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.

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

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

A bit different

Zara says data will be gathered to see how effective the strategy has been.  “There will be comparisons made between 2023 and 2024 attendance data.

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

Zara says the statistics show how desperate the issue is.

“Tauranga City’s regular attendance data – students attending school nine days out of 10 – 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.”

Back-of-bus advertising. Photo: supplied.

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

To find out more about ‘Kura – let’s do it!’ see the following platforms.

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