This case study sets out 1 example of a successful attendance strategy. For more general advice, see our article on how to develop an attendance strategy.
What's the approach?
- A ‘staged approach’, with 6 key principles, provides a structured strategy
- A clear and easy-to-understand policy, communicated to everyone and implemented consistently
- Daily, weekly and half-termly data monitoring, with a focus on all attendance bands, not just persistent and severe absence
- A “swift and effective” response to monitoring, such as home visits and proactive conversations with pupils and parents/carers
- Going “above and beyond” – e.g. providing personalised support such as wraparound care and 'soft starts' to the school day
Why try this?
Persistent absence has decreased significantly from 13.5% to 5.3%, better than local and national averages. Currently, just 5 pupils are persistently absent The school's overall attendance increased from 94.7% in 2022/23 to 96.5% in 2024/5, meaning it has less than 4% absence The