schools in focus ATTENDANCE
27
who may be afraid to go to school because of bullying or unresolved behaviour issues or children who are struggling with their work.” Many of the parents Murray has dealt with have called for advice because they feel they are being unfairly punished for their child’s low attendance levels, with situations quickly escalating – and jail sentences even being threatened on occasion. although she understands the reasoning behind this and the seriousness of persistant absence, she suggests some schools could perhaps be more aware that there are two sides to the story and find a middle ground. “I think there is quite a lot of pressure on schools around attendance,” she says, “but every school will have pupils who are absent for genuine reasons – you’ve got pupils with on-going medical needs – and I do speak to parents sometimes who feel that they are being pressurised about their child’s non-attendance when they think there is a genuine medical reason for it.”
CULTURAL DEMOGRAPHICS One issue that can impact a school’s attendance levels is its cultural demographic. If there is a high percentage of international students or students with family abroad, term-time holiday can be an issue. religious festivals can also play a part, as Susan Dancer, acting head at Hodge Hill Sports and enterprise College in Birmingham, discovered. The school had been producing good grades, its students were happy and it had a great reputation in the local area, despite being located in challenging social circumstances. But Hodge Hill had been fighting a losing battle with absenteeism, which was holding the school back in terms of its overall performance with Ofsted. “Looking at data, we realised attendance was going to put a ceiling on our achievement,” explains Dancer. To tackle the issue, students were incentivised to improve their turnout, with school trips for the class with the highest attendance levels and ‘attendance warriors’ – pupils who had not been absent for the entire year – given special privileges, including being able to jump the lunch queue. With 75% of students from a Muslim household, absences were particularly high around the Islamic festival of eid. To address this, the school has adapted its calendar by moving teachers’ training days so that they coincide with religious festivals, bringing the attendance average up considerably.
a school that has
high attendance is probably delivering an engaging curriculum and creating a safe and happy environment
A JOINT EFFORT Some schools choose to tackle the issue by sourcing outside help from the local authorities.emma raynor is an attendance improvement officer working with six primary schools in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire as part of BulwelleaZ, an education improvement partnership of schools in the area. “The attendance project started in September 2011 and is currently in its second year,” explains raynor. “The vision of [my] post was to deliver a family approach to attendance. This would be achieved by working with secondary school pupils and with their siblings on roll at the Bulwell primary schools and working with parents or carers to promote and encourage school attendance, and by liaising with the Bulwell academy attendance team.” In her position, she tackles absenteeism through a variety of tactical measures, including ‘late gates’, where she speaks to parents as they arrive at school; home visits to children who are repeatedly late; attending parent’s evenings to promote school attendance and offer advice; and liaising with the school nurse on medical issues. She also recently secured sponsorship from the local Tesco store for a prize draw, providing a £25 voucher and goodie bag as reward for the child and parents with the best attendance that term. an important tool in tackling attendance is data
– as demonstrated by Hodge Hill College’s approach to its attendance problems. Determining when, where and which classes are most affected by absences, as well as how the demographic of your students impacts on these levels, will be key to developing your own strategy – as might some knowledge of what incentives will prove most effective.
www.edexec.co.uk / september 2013
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