You Need to Be in Class as Much as Possible at The National School of Aesthetics
We here at The National School of Aesthetics are preparing you for the workforce. We and our governing bodies require you attend a certain number of face-to-face training hours to qualify. Therefore, excessive absenteeism is bad.
If you’re going to be away or late, please text or call us.
This Absenteeism page and the Attendance page have important information around both absenteeism and attendance.
Quick Links about Absenteeism
General Information about Absenteeism
If you are not coming to class, or if you are running late, please call or text the school as soon as possible.
Reporting your absenteeism allows us to register your absence and alter class accordingly.
You should not report absence through a classmate.
Maximum Hours You Can Miss Per Programme
In your entire programme, you are allowed to miss (without evidence):
| Programme | Maximum Hours |
|---|---|
| New Zealand Certificate and Diploma in Beauty Therapy | 60 comprised of: |
|
|
| New Zealand Certificate in Nail Technology | 22 |
| Any short course | 0 |
Exceeding Absenteeism Allowance
If you miss too much time, we will take disciplinary actions against you. The established policy is:
- When you reach near your limit, we will indicate this information on your attendance notice.
- When you reach your limit, we will indicate this information on your attendance notice. You will not be allowed to take any more time off unless in extraordinary circumstances.
- When you have gone over your limit, the Academic Committee or members of the committee will meet to determine actions taken. This may include barring you from sitting all your school examinations.
Not Reporting Absenteeism
If you do not report your absenteeism, we may take disciplinary actions against you.
Not reporting your absenteeism is inconsiderate to both your classmates and us. Imagine not reporting you were going to be away from work, and everyone else had to cover for you.
Not reporting your absenteeism to the school is the same.
If you are away from class for 3 school days in a row, and we are unable to get a hold of you / you haven’t reported in away, we may contact your nominated next-of-kin to check in on you and your wellbeing.
If you do not report absenteeism 5 days in a row, you will be reported to StudyLink and the government as delinquent. This may see your student loan, student allowance and other funding revoked temporarily or permanently.
We are required to do this by law. If we do not, we threaten all entitlements for Student Loans, etc. for all ākonga / students.
Examples of Acceptable, Sometimes Acceptable, and Not Acceptable Reasons for Absenteeism
Acceptable Reasons for Absenteeism
- Genuine medical illness (substantiated by a medical certificate) if it is not excessive
- Hospitalisation (substantiated by evidence) if it is not excessive
- Funeral of a close friend or family member (substantiated by evidence) if it is not excessive
- Wedding of a close friend or family member (substantiated by evidence and approved by the Principal) if it is not excessive
Sometimes Acceptable Reasons for Absenteeism
- A one-off or rare time where your child is ill and no one can look after him / her (sometimes substantiated by a medical certificate). This cannot happen frequently as you should have back-up plans for childcare if your child is sick which do not involve you taking time off school
- Specialist medical appointment you cannot change (substantiated by evidence) if it is not excessive
Not Acceptable Reason for Absenteeism
- Driving test
- A normal medical appointment that can be made outside school hours
- Cup Day
- After a night out
- A long holiday or vacation
Planned Absences
If you are planning to be away from classes for any scheduled reason (wedding, et cetera), you must apply to the Principal for approval. You must download the Application for Planned Absence Form from the downloads section on our Web site and turn it in with as much time before the planned absence as possible.
The Principal then considers the request in line with the timetable.
You will not be approved to be absent during examinations.
Absenteeism Due to Medical Reasons
Any absenteeism you claim as medical must be substantiated by a medical certificate.
If you miss a quiz or test due to documented medical illness, you may be eligible to receive an aegrotat grade.
Even if you have medical certificates for your absenteeism, excessive absenteeism may prevent you from sitting your final examinations or gaining your qualification(s).
Medical Certificate
A medical certificate is a note from your doctor, usually typed, stating that he / she had an appointment with you, checked you over, found you had sickness or an illness, and wrote a note to excuse you from work or school. Our policies and those of our international governing bodies require medical certificates for evidence of illness.
Your doctor or medical specialist can give you a medical certificate. It’s best to ask him / her in the appointment if you can get one.
Your medical certificate must contain the words (or equivalent), “was examined by me (the doctor)” and “in my (the doctor’s) opinion, was medically unfit / unwell to attend class / work”. The certificate is your doctor’s declaration that you were medically unfit to attend school.
Your medical certificate must not say that it was your opinion that you were ill or unwell, or that you had felt unwell on a previous date but the doctor did not see you around that time.
You turn in your medical certificate to the Student Liaison Officer within 7 days of returning from illness.
Absenteeism Due to Bereavement
If a loved one dies, it can be traumatic. During the course, if you have a loved one pass away, and you need to go to the funeral or meet other obligations related to the death, please see the Student Liaison Officer or Principal to discuss this with them.
You must inform us of bereavement leave as soon as possible.
Legally, you are allowed to miss up to 3 days for a bereavement when the deceased falls into a close family member category, and up to 1 day for a bereavement when the deceased falls into one of the other categories and is approved by the Student Liaison Officer or Principal (as defined by the Holidays Act 2003 and its subsequent amendments). You will need to supply evidence of bereavement to us upon return.
Bereavement leave is not included as part of your maximum hours you can miss per course.
Relationship to the Deceased
According to the Holidays Act 2003 and its subsequent amendments, you can miss up to 3 days for bereavement when the deceased has one of the following relationships to you:
- Spouse or partner
- Parent
- Sibling (brother or sister)
- Child (including the miscarriage or stillbirth of your child)
- Grandparent
- Grandchild
- Spouse’s parent
You can miss up to 1 day for bereavement when the deceased has one of the following relationships to you:
- Any other person after discussion with the Student Liaison Officer or Principal
In this latter case, the Act urges us to consider:
- how close your relationship with the deceased is;
- if you are responsible for any part of the ceremonies for the deceased; and/or
- if you have to fulfil any cultural obligations or needs in respect of the deceased.
We do approach the latter on a case-by-case basis.
Evidence of Bereavement
In order to prove bereavement for any audits or evaluations, we ask that you bring in the following combination of things for our records:
- A letter from you outlining your relationship to the deceased, the day(s) you had off due to bereavement, and a copy of the obituary; or
- A letter from you outlining your relationship to the deceased, the day(s) you had off due to bereavement, and a copy of any evidence of attending the wake and / or funeral
These should be turned in to the Student Liaison Officer within 7 days of returning to class.
If you do not do this and / or if you exceed the time allowed in the Act, we may count the time off or the additional time off against your normal absenteeism allowance.