Operation Attend is a Police Operation carried out yearly throughout New Zealand, in an effort to curb truancy.
In Glen Innes we do things differently than the rest of New Zealand, and as such are the only district with the results that children are returning to school.
What we do differently is:
Team up with Glen Innes Police, ATWC (Social Workers in Schools), ACES (Truancy Team), Community Liaison and Breakfast Club.
Visit every targeted family by Police, ATWC and ACES two weeks out from the intended Operation and alert each family as well as obtaining any needs that they have and the make-up of their families.
Breakfast Club then sources very large hampers that consist of over 30 items as well as ‘Pamper Packs’ for the mums and ‘Baby Packs’ for the little ones (Nappies, Rash Cream, Wet Wipes, Vicks). To do this Breakfast Club has to fundraise $16,000 (Again thanks to Debt Managers that met half of this budget)
On the 24th of May, all of the team turned up at Glen Innes School, along with children from Mt Hobson School and our local MP Simon O’Connor, and created the hampers and arranged for a fleet of vans. Each van had a Police, ATWC and ACES member visiting the families … and expectant families greeted 100% of them. Again Glen Innes’s Team is getting the results of children returning to school like no other district in New Zealand.
To encourage the children of Glen Innes School to lead by example, Breakfast Club offered to supply KFC to any child that could attain 100% attendance in Term 2. The catch cry the Principal told the children was “Make Steve Broke”. Two weeks out from the end of Term Two Glen Innes School is averaging 89% attendance – looks like KFC Glen Innes is going to love me.
This term, the Auckland Police acknowledged the support for Operation Attend by myself, ACES (Andrea Chauval), and the Glen Innes Liaison (Postie Daniels) and rewarded us with certificates. Here is mine.
