Just Go!

A campaign to help tackle school truancy in Nelson Tasman, NZ

Aotearoa has a growing problem, our Tamariki, especially those in years 9 and 10, are disappearing from our classrooms. Not literally, but their absence is being felt in schools across the motu. And while the reasons are many, anxiety, disengagement, family struggles, they all share one thing: they’re unjustified.

Enter Just Go. A bold, community-driven campaign developed in partnership with local school principals in the Nelson/Tasman region, aimed at tackling school truancy head-on. The mission? To remind our kids that showing up matters. To dismantle the quiet excuses. And to say, clearly but compassionately -Just Go!

The Creative Solution:

At the heart of the campaign was a quirky ghost character, not the scary kind, but the metaphorical kind: the one that “ghosts” school. Through a series of gamified, animated messages, our ghost delivered the catchphrase that stuck: “Don’t Ghost. Just Go.”

We leaned into the realities of teen life, awkwardness and gave parents the tools to
start better conversations at home. We supported educators with messaging that reflected real challenges in classrooms. And we used data and storytelling to help the wider community understand that truancy isn’t just a school issue, it’s a societal one.

We provided the schools with a social media plan that enabled them to go out and
get really creative with their content – taking turns and working together to come up
with content that was fun and relatable, but still had a focus on the key message.