Conclusions and recommendations
1. Total absence in maintained schools has
been reducing — by 6% between 2002-03 and 2004-05 —
but unauthorised absence stayed around the same level for many
years, before increasing in 2004-05 to over 0.8% of available
school days. We have
identified 10 key practices to help schools manage attendance
more effectively (Figure 1) and the Department and Ofsted
should encourage schools and local authorities to apply them consistently.
Figure 1:
Effective practices in attendance management
| Effective practice
| Commentary
|
| 1. Head teacher support for attendance management
| Head teachers determine the priority that schools give attendance management and the resources that they apply. Some schools have higher absence rates than their circumstances suggest that they ought to have. They may need to give a higher priority to attendance management.
|
| 2. Communication of a clear policy on attendance
| The onus is on head teachers to ensure that parents, pupils and teachers know what is expected of them and why. Most, but not all, schools have a documented attendance policy. Some head teachers are uncertain about when to authorise holidays during term-time.
|
| 3. Electronic registration at each lesson
| All schools have to take a register and, used well, electronic registration systems produce reliable attendance data efficiently. Many schools do not have electronic registers and could use their devolved funding to implement these systems.
|
| 4. Early contact with parents of absent pupils
| Most, but not all, schools contact parents on the first day of a child's absence. Early contact demonstrates to parents that attendance matters and absence is noticed, so contributes to the building of a strong ethos of attendance.
|
| 5. Regular analysis of attendance data
| Analysis of attendance data enables schools to identify causes and patterns of absence and whether individual pupils need support. Most schools analyse data to varying extents.
|
| 6. Schemes to reward attendance
| Reward schemes can be effective in reducing absence. The schemes can be designed to tackle the particular problems of a school and they increase the profile of attendance.
|
| 7. Provision of alternative curricula
| Curricula need to match pupils' aspirations to make school attractive. Some schools work effectively with colleges of further education to provide vocational training.
|
| 8. Collaboration between schools
| Schools apply management practices in different ways to tackle absence. Sharing their knowledge and also their resources can improve practices.
|
| 9. Effective working with education welfare services
| Local authority education welfare services provide specialist support for difficult cases, for example where pupils have severe behavioural problems or have home circumstances (such as caring responsibilities) that make school attendance difficult. Some education welfare services also give expert advice to schools on attendance management.
|
| 10. Threat of legal sanctions
| Where other approaches fail, in some cases the threat of sanctions can get pupils to return to school. Some local authorities have used penalty notices very effectively.
|
2. A school's shared values, or ethos, can
make a big difference to a school's attendance level.
It can take time to build an ethos that encourages regular attendance,
but there are plenty of examples of how schools with good head
teachers have achieved impressive reductions in absence. The Department
and Ofsted should expect and assist head teachers, through the
promulgation of good practice, to work with their governors, management
teams, parents and pupils to build and sustain a strong ethos
that values the regular attendance of all pupils.
3. Children and young people brought up in
deprived circumstances suffer a double disadvantage because absence
from school reduces their life chances further.
Disadvantaged pupils are much more likely to be absent from school.
For example, pupils in secondary schools with a very high take
up of free school meals tend to be absent from school for seven
days a year more than pupils in schools with average levels of
free school meals. Good schools use strategies to encourage positive
attitudes to school, such as seeking to build good relationships
with parents from the start, and making the curriculum more relevant
to pupils' aspirations. For example vocational and academic subjects
may be combined in ways that capture pupils' interest and clearly
prepare them for employment.
4. Making the curriculum more relevant to
reluctant attenders takes time and effort but has been successful
in raising pupils' attendance and helping them want to learn.
Good examples of pupils being provided with a broad, vocationally-based
curriculum are often achieved through partnerships between schools
and colleges of further education. The Department should encourage
such collaboration to give pupils a relevant and challenging mix
of subjects. Schools and other education providers involved should
learn from the experience of others.
5. The Department and schools spend substantial
sums on tackling absence, but national absence data is of limited
use and not completely reliable. Schools
have discretion over what absence they classify as authorised
and unauthorised, so the split is uninformative. From 2006, the
Department will have absence data on a pupil-by-pupil basis, which
will facilitate analysis of particular groups of pupils. As schools
increasingly use electronic systems to collect more detailed information
on causes of absence, the Department should consider costs and
benefits of aggregating it at a national level.
6. Around 60% of secondary schools have electronic
registration systems and most find them effective in helping to
tackle absence. The Department no longer
provides specific funding for these systems, but should encourage
schools to apply their devolved funds to introducing registration
systems where they are likely to improve the information available
and administrative efficiency.
7. Reintegration of pupils returning to school
after a long period of absence requires appropriate planning and
resources. Pupils who return to school
after a long absence may find it difficult to settle without personalised
support, and unless they get the right support they can distract
teachers and other pupils or go absent again. The Department should
encourage local authorities and schools to implement the recommendations
of its recent research report on reintegration, and should help
them by providing more guidance on effective practice in settling
pupils back in to school.
8. Too many pupils are absent from school
on term-time holidays. Although term-time
holidays do not bring the same problems as truancy because the
absent pupils are unlikely to be involved in crime or anti-social
behaviour, they still represent a substantial and unnecessary
loss of education. The Department should give head teachers clear
guidance on term-time holidays - for example that the 10 days
per year is a limit not an entitlement - and encourage head teachers
to take a firm line on authorising this type of absence.
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