Since the release of the Department for Education guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance in May 2022, the focus changed to ensure pupils who are facing barriers to achieving good attendance or who are not in school, receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

The government confirmed the guidance would be statutory from September 2023.

Support and early intervention are pivotal in improving pupil attendance and this guidance follows a graduated approach model. Barriers to accessing education are wide and complex, both within and beyond the school gates. They are often specific to individual pupils and families. It has been recognised that attendance cannot be seen in isolation and that the foundation to good attendance is a calm, orderly, safe and supportive environment in which all pupils want to attend and can learn and thrive. The best outcomes are achieved by adopting a whole school approach to manage attendance, with everyone across the organisation aware of their role and responsibility.

Attendance Graduated Approach

Assess
  • The reason preventing the child attending regularly
  • The child’s needs across Education, Health and Care
  • Has the child’s voice been captured, what do they need to happen so they can attend?
  • What has already been implemented to improve the child’s attendance?
  • What support is required to improve the attendance?
  • What interventions may be required to improve the child’s attendance?
  • What further assessments may be required?
  • Set time scales for assessments to be carried out
Plan
  • What next steps need to take place to help the child attend every day, on time?
  • Who will support and what their actions are?
  • Set time scales for the plan to be implemented
  • What outcomes do you expect to see?
  • Ensure the plan is shared with all parties including the child
Do
  • The plan is carried out by all professionals, the family, and the young person
Review
  • Has the support worked, does the child and family feel they have been supported?
  • Are you seeing movement towards the desired outcomes? Even small improvements can be big steps. E.g. attending a session every day is a step towards no unauthorised absence, with gradual steps towards attending school every day, on time.
  • Have all the actions agreed been completed?
  • Has the child’s voice been captured, how do they feel the last few weeks have gone, what difference has been made, what are they proud of, what could have been better?
  • Is it appropriate to consider legal enforcement action?

Universal Support

Universal support should not be seen as any detailed intervention taking place but an opportunity for children, young people and families to be supported through school life. Children with levels of attendance between 90% and 100% will usually receive support from the school’s attendance officer through a combination of telephone calls, letters and informal meetings with parents.

The expectation is that schools will:

  1. Have in place a first day contacting system with parents of children who are absent from school to establish why the child is absent, and when the child is expected to return. This is to ensure the safety and well-being of the pupil, should they have set off for school but not arrived and provide an instant challenge should there be any concern the explanation is not genuine.
  2. Administer the school attendance monitoring process set out in the school attendance policy when absence and/or punctuality become a concern.
  3. Have a whole school approach to the benefits of good attendance, this may include displays, assemblies or in registration periods. This should be done sensitively and without discrimination and include recognition of improvements.
  4. Consider the use of Penalty Notices where attendance is unauthorised as an early intervention tool should the criteria within the LA’s Penalty Notice Code of Conduct be met.

Having effective monitoring and tracking processes in place will enable schools to identify areas of concern earlier and provide a firm evidence base for future strategies and interventions. Management information systems vary across schools and academies but have the functionally to analyse attendance data. All schools should have developed their own tracking tools to identify pupils from vulnerable categories such as: 

  • Children & Young People in Care 
  • Children in need or subject to child protection plans 
  • SEND 
  • Young carers and pregnant schoolgirls 

The main factor in all these categories will be the daily attendance and patterns across a pupil’s individual attendance registration certificates. An increase above the school average for pupils is the first indication of a potential concern. Be mindful not to solely rely on percentage absences as a threshold for any intervention, rather consider the number, duration, and frequency of absences. This should be considered alongside the parent’s explanation for the child’s absence from school.

The DfE publishes an indicative national absence rate during an academic year which schools can use to benchmark against.

It is also important to remember the offer of support to any pupil or family is purely voluntary unless the threshold for specialist or statutory services is met. Assessment of need is paramount for identifying the underlying cause of irregular attendance. 

Taking time to understand the child’s point of view and work together with both parents, child and the school is essential to agreeing an effective written and reviewed plan of support. A personal attendance plan can be used to support in identifying barriers to attendance and agreeing a plan of support with both the child and family.

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