Access to Learning: Attendance Matters!

Approaches for Improving Pupil Attendance in Islington’s Schools and Education Settings

“In order to really improve pupil attendance, all staff must be insistent, consistent and persistent.”

Julie Keylock, Headteacher, Samuel Rhodes School

September 2014

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Contents

Section One: Overview 4 1.1 Background ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5 1.2 Links to Ofsted ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6 1.3 A Borough-Wide Agreement for all Schools and Academies ………………………………………….. 7 1.4 Expectation of School’s Role in Improving Attendance ………………………………………………….. 8 1.5 Suggested Roles and Responsibilities of Staff ………………………………………………………………… 10 Promoting Good Attendance …………………………………………………………………………………………. 12 1.6 The Role of Parents/Carers ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 13 1.7 Early Intervention: Punctuality and Attendance in Early Years ………………………………………. 15 1.8 School Attendance and SEN …………………………………………………………………………………………… 19 1.9 Special Schools ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19 1.10 Accessing School Attendance Data ………………………………………………………………………………… 21

Section Two: Advice, Guidance and Expectations 23 2.1 What does ‘Good Attendance’ mean? …………………………………………………………………………… 24 2.2 Having an Attendance Policy in Place …………………………………………………………………………….. 25 2.3 Attendance Codes, Descriptions and Meanings ……………………………………………………………… 26 - Approved Educational Activity ……………………………………………………………………………………. 26 - Authorised Absence from School ………………………………………………………………………………… 28 - Unauthorised Absence from School ……………………………………………………………………………. 29 - Administrative Codes ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 30 2.4 Making Use of the Data Available ………………………………………………………………………………….. 31 Attendance Data: Everybody’s Business – Steve Baker ………………………………………………….. 32 2.5 Early Help and Early Help Assessment and Planning ……………………………………………………… 35 2.6 Off Rolling ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 36 2.7 2.8

Using SIMs …........................................................................................................................ SIMS Attendance Reports ……………………………………………………………………………………………….

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2.9 Penalty Notices ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 43 2.10 Term Time Absence ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 44 2.11 The Role of the Local Authority ……………………………………………………………………………………… 45 2.12 Education Welfare Service …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 47 2.13 Families First …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 50 2.14 A Joined-Up Approach for Supporting Schools ………………………………………………………………. 51 2.15 Virtual School ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 53 2.16 Health & Wellbeing (Healthy Schools) …………………………………………………………………………… 55 2.17 Monitoring and Tracking Medical Illnesses ……………………………………………………………………. 56 2.18 School Improvement Service …………………………………………………………………………………………. 58

Section Three: Whole-School Approaches to Improving Attendance 59 3.1 Assemblies …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 60 3.2 Curriculum Links ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 60 3.3 Data and Attendance Reports ………………………………………………………………………………………… 61 3.4 First Day Response ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 61 3.5 Home-School Agreement ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 61 3.6 Communicating with Parents/Carers …………………………………………………………………………….. 62

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3.7 Communicating with New Parents/Carers …………………………………………………………………….. 62 3.8 Parents’ Evening ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 63 3.9 Poor Attenders – Meetings with Parents/Carers and Pupils …………………………………………… 64 3.10 Punctuality …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 64 3.11 Pupil Premium ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 65 3.12 School Noticeboard ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 66 3.13 Rewards and Incentives …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 67

Section Four: Case Studies and Best Practice 68 4.1 Examples of Good Practice at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School …………………………………. 69 4.2 Procedures in Place at Gillespie to Support Good Attendance and Punctuality ……………… 71 4.3 Highbury Grove Preventative Work – Whole School Procedures and Good Practice

To Help Raise Attendance ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 73

4.4 Good Practice to Improve Attendance at Islington Arts & Media School ……………………….. 74 4.5 Improving Attendance and Punctuality at New North Academy ……………………………………. 75 4.6 Improving Pupil Attendance at New River College …………………………………………………………. 77 4.7 Attendance Procedures at Rotherfield Primary School ………………………………………………….. 79 4.8 St. Mary Magdalene Academy’s Attendance Triangle – Levels of Support Required ………. 80 4.9 Our Approach to Improving Attendance at Winton ……………………………………………………….. 82

Section Five: Appendices 84 5.1 Definition of Key Terminology ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 85 5.2 Who to Contact ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 90 5.3 Legal Powers and Duties that Govern and/or are Relevant to School Attendance …………. 92 5.4 Ofsted Grade Descriptors for Attendance ……………………………………………………………………… 94 5.5 Sample Attendance Policy ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 97 5.6 Off Rolling Notification Form …………………………………………………………………………………………. 103 5.7 Sample Request for Authorisation of Absence ………………………………………………………………. 104 5.8 Sample Attendance Tracking Sheet ……………………………………………………………………………….. 105 5.9 Sustaining Progress for a Child with Persistent Absence ………………………………………………… 106 5.10 Persistent Absence Tracking Sheet ………………………………………………………………………………… 107 5.11 Persistent Absence Action Plan ……………………………………………………………………………………… 108 5.12 Questions to Support Working with Attendance Leads in Schools …………………………………. 109

Please note that there is now a section for attendance on Fronter. This can be accessed using the following link: www.londonmle.net/islington/login

Once you have logged on, click on the LB Islington tab -> School Improvement -> Attendance.

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Section One

Overview

The importance of school attendance

Education provides a means of advancement for all young people to improve their life chances.

Regular school attendance is a legal requirement for those registered

at a school. Without it the efforts of the best teachers and schools will come to nothing.

Pupils need to attend regularly if they are to take full advantage of the

educational opportunities available to them.

Irregular attendance undermines the educational process and can lead to educational disadvantage. It places children at risk and in some cases it can result in pupils being drawn into patterns of anti social or criminal behaviour.

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1.1 Background Good attendance at school is the single most important factor in ensuring that children and young people have the maximum life chances - attendance is strongly linked to educational achievement. Promoting positive school attendance is therefore everyone's responsibility. When a child attends school1 on a regular basis, they take an important step towards reaching their full potential, and are given the greatest opportunity to learn new things and develop their skills. According to the Department for Education (DfE), if schools can improve their attendance by 1%, they will see a 5-6% improvement in attainment. Children who miss school frequently can fall behind with their work and do less well in exams. The more time a child spends around other children, whether in the classroom or as part of a school team or club, the more chance they have of making friends and feeling included, boosting social skills, confidence and self esteem. Despite progress in recent years, both primary and secondary phases in Islington currently perform poorly in comparison to statistical neighbours. Therefore, the aim of the borough-wide attendance approach is to increase Islington’s pupils’ attendance at school above the level of comparative local authorities, placing it above both the national and London averages. This means that all schools will need to set challenging targets. From the data it is clear that currently there is a need for:

A continued focus on reducing primary absence, building action on proven interventions.

Further improvement in reducing secondary absence.

Further partnership work with health colleagues and healthy schools programme to address high levels of absence due to illness.

A Families First family support worker and/or Education Welfare Officer linked to the school to support parents/carers and children to resolve barriers to good attendance (where appropriate).

Continued support for schools in taking a tough stance on term time absence.

Addressing higher patterns of absence amongst: - Pupils on free school meals. - Pupils with SEN. - Pupils with English as a first language. - British and Other White pupils in secondary schools. - Asian pupils in primary schools.

While the parent/carer is primarily responsible for ensuring their child attends school regularly, where school attendance problems occur, the key to successfully resolving these problems is collaborative working between the parent/carer, the child, the school and the Local Authority. Evidence has shown that tackling absence can be most effective when a number of different approaches are adopted. The initiatives used by schools to encourage attendance are partly dictated by a number of factors including the age of pupils, parental engagement, geographical location and social and economic circumstances. Individual schools need to respond to their own particular problems in a way that ultimately works best for them.

1 In relation to this guidance, ‘school’ will be used as a blanket term to include all types and phases of maintained schools,

Academies, Early Years and other educational settings. ‘Child’ is used to mean children and young people.

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However, broadly speaking there are three key areas that all schools should address and be supported with, in order to improve the attendance of their pupils: a) Data: Does the school have accurate self-knowledge about specific attendance issues? b) Systems: What is the school doing well to promote attendance and what can it do better? c) Whole-school approach: This needs to be a constant feature of all aspects of school-life. Does

every adult know the part that they have to play in improving attendance? A genuine whole-school approach means attendance is a constant feature of assemblies, wall displays, parent consultations, newsletters etc. Attendance targets should be visible everywhere. Most importantly, the school should feel like a welcoming, safe and appropriately challenging place.

A Common Approach … The Scottish Government expect all schools to have the same conversation with parents/carers about attendance on admission:

As a parent/carer, YOU are legally responsible for making sure your child attends school regularly.

Missing school causes severe disruption to your child’s education and WILL affect their chances in later life.

The law is TOUGH if it is decided that you have allowed your child to miss school regularly – this includes holidays in term time, which all schools are strongly advised not to authorise.

If your child shows any reluctance to attend school, TALK to us immediately.

1.2 Links to Ofsted Attendance forms part of Ofsted's judgements on the behaviour and safety of pupils at the school, and the quality of leadership and management: The behaviour and safety of pupils at the school Inspectors should consider:

Overall and persistent absence and attendance rates for different groups.

Punctuality over time in arriving at school and at lessons and the impact of the school’s strategies to improve behaviour and attendance – this includes the use of rewards and sanctions, the effectiveness of any additional on-site provision to support behaviour, work with parents/carers and absence ‘follow-up.’

The number of pupils taken off roll in the last year as a result of factors related to behaviour, safety and attendance.

The quality of leadership in and management of the school Inspectors should focus on the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels in promoting improvements within the context of the school. They evaluate the extent to which the school enables all pupils to overcome specific barriers to learning. Inspectors should consider:

The effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements to ensure that there is safe recruitment and that all pupils are safe. This includes: - The rigour with which absence is followed up. - The decision-making process involved in taking pupils off roll. - The care taken to ensure that pupils placed in alternative provision are safe at all times.

A copy of the Ofsted Grade Descriptors for Attendance can be found in Section 5: Appendix 5.4.

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1.3 A Borough-Wide Agreement for all Schools and Academies

The aim of this agreement is to enable Islington’s Community of Schools to provide consistent practice that encourages and facilitates the regular attendance of all pupils.

Regular attendance at school is crucial to increase pupil progress and enjoyment of learning, and for this reason Islington’s Community of Schools agree to the following principles:

Roles & Responsibilities It is the responsibility of parents/carers to get their child

to school on time every day. They need to be aware that daily attendance is compulsory and that there is an expectation for families to minimise all types of term-time absence.

Headteachers are ultimately responsible for the monitoring and tracking of attendance for all pupils in their schools, although promoting positive school attendance is everyone's responsibility.

All schools should identify a member of staff as the Attendance Lead.

Term-Time Absence Amendments to the 2006 regulations, which took effect from September 2013, make clear that Headteachers may NOT grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’.

Most absences for acceptable reasons will be authorised by schools:

Illness.

Unavoidable medical or dental appointments (although parents/carers should be instructed to arrange these for after school or during school holidays).

Day of religious observance.

Exceptional family circumstances, such as bereavement.

An interview with a prospective employer or college.

When determining any ‘exceptional circumstances’ for authorising term-time absence:

The child’s attendance record over a period of three years should be assessed to determine the rate of previous absence.

Where there are siblings in other Islington schools, attempts should be made via the Attendance Lead in partnership with other agencies to contact the Headteacher to discuss a possible coordinated response and outcome.

If the Headteacher considers that the child’s attendance has previously been excellent, the Headteacher of any siblings has been consulted with and the circumstances for the request are exceptional, then they can decide to authorise the absence and not to issue a penalty notice.

Reasons that might constitute ‘exceptional circumstances’ include:

Service personnel returning from a tour of duty abroad where it is evidenced the individual will not be in receipt of any leave in the near future that coincides with school holidays.

Visiting a parent/carer who is imprisoned.

Where an absence is recommended by a health professional as part of a parent or child’s rehabilitation from a medical or emotional issue.

The death or terminal illness of a person close to the family.

Suitable supporting evidence would be required in each case.

Schools should ensure parents/carers are clear that Government guidance states that a school can remove a child’s name from the school roll if they do not return following a term-time absence of ten school days (unless the child is sick or for any unavoidable cause).

Promoting Attendance Good practice around attendance means that information

should be displayed around the school (in classrooms and/or on a designated notice board) and shared with and discussed regularly with parents/carers and pupils.

Discussions should happen both during and outside the regular school day, through lessons, tutor time, assemblies, newsletters, meetings and parents’ evenings.

Statutory Action/Penalty Notices Any poor attendance is contrary to each school’s

attendance policy and therefore the school should be a ‘visible’ part of any steps put in place to support families. At times this may be in partnership with other agencies.

The key consideration in deciding whether to issue a penalty notice will be whether it can be effective in helping improve school attendance.

Make parents/carers aware that penalty notices can be issued if a pupil has more than 15 sessions of unauthorised absence in a ten week period.

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1.4 Expectation of School’s Role in Improving Attendance The greatest difference to improving attendance will be made by the school itself. There should be systems to alert them to any deterioration in attendance or of developing patterns of absence at an early stage. Intervention at this point can prevent problems escalating. Therefore, schools should have their own plan for improving attendance. This should be a whole school approach where there is a designated senior leader and all responsibilities clearly defined. Schools should:

Ensure that an up to date attendance policy is in place. - The value of regular attendance should feature prominently in the school prospectus and other

brochures. - Regular messages should be given about the importance of attendance in school newsletters,

school assemblies, parents’ evenings, staff meetings and governors meetings. - Include good attendance information on the school website and use the website to inform

parents/carers and pupils about incentives for good school attendance, projects, themed weeks, late gate patrols, competitions etc.

Ensure attendance practices are understood by all school staff and that attendance practice is followed consistently.

Provide an accurate and consistent registration system.

Attempt to make first day phone contact to all parents/carers whose child is absent without notification.

Log pupils’ movement in and out of school.

Ensure that routine letters are sent out at the earliest opportunity following absence. Where possible, these should be written in the language read by the parent/carer (see p.53 for additional information). These should reflect the importance of good attendance.

Ensure that attendance is a fixed agenda item at school meetings.

Ensure that parents/carers are aware of the importance of regular attendance and understand their role and responsibilities in supporting school attendance.

Ensure parents/carers know that Families First is available to provide early help if their child is reluctant to attend or difficulties in the family are having an impact on attendance.

Where appropriate, inform the Education Welfare Officer and/or Families First family support worker, so any potential problems and/or barriers to good attendance can be addressed as early as possible.

Access staff training on attendance issues.

Ensure that systems to track and challenge sporadic absence are thorough, and provide "catch up" opportunities for work missed during absence.

Provide incentives for good attendance, e.g. league tables for individual classes or forms, attendance competitions, poster competitions, prizes, certificates, special class trips, praise postcards etc.

Ensure regular emphasis on the connection between attendance and attainment, e.g. in assemblies, registration/tutor time, parent meetings, new parent meetings, drama productions/nativity plays/school productions, e.g. choir or any other performance.

Provide regular information to parents/carers of children whose attendance deteriorates.

Provide individual attendance targets for pupils. All persistently absent (PA) pupils should have an Individual attendance plan.

Provide meetings with parents/carers to address attendance issues. Consider use of Parenting Contracts.

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Ensure that patterns of attendance across classes or year groups are examined.

Ensure parents/carers are aware of the guidance regarding holidays in term time and of the impact this can have on their child's overall achievement.

Ensure that staff regularly patrol the school building and surrounding areas to ensure pupils are not truanting in the vicinity of the school.

Appoint an Attendance Lead to deal with all attendance issues including the analysis of data.

Ensure that all relevant information re: destinations for pupils who are de-registered are ascertained from parents/carers prior to de-registration, and shared with all relevant Islington Council personnel in order to ensure that young people have continuous access to educational provision.

Develop an attendance survey for parents/carers and/or pupils.

Advertise successes within the school and the local community. The following is strongly recommended:

Identify an Attendance Lead to act as the overall leader and manager for attendance.

Schools should produce a policy including early intervention thresholds with a clear escalation process when a trigger point is reached.

Identify resources, including human resources to administer and manage the process of managing attendance. Ensure adequate time is allowed to meet the roles in the policy

Ensure administrative and support staff have clear responsibilities and procedures to follow in order to promote and manage attendance. Ensure they have the time and the permission to follow procedures through.

For pupils whose attendance still continues to deteriorate, multi disciplinary discussion needs to take place with regard to child’s needs, barriers to education, work already undertaken and whether there are other appropriate providers that can be considered to enable the child to access appropriate education.

Ensure early help assessments are initiated by schools where appropriate to request support from Islington’s services and also for Children’s Social Care (CSC) referrals.

Schools should strategically consider when they set their INSET days to minimise low pupil school attendance.

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1.5 Suggested Roles and Responsibilities of Staff

Roles Responsibilities

Headteacher Ensure there is a strict attendance policy for staff! Do not allow staff to simply phone in and leave a message, text or email the reason why they are not at work. Ensure your attendance policy for staff says they must call you or your deputy. Lead by example.

Set challenging targets to meet (and exceed) national averages for the school overall. Ensure a strategy is devised to make solid progress towards them.

Appoint the Attendance Lead at a reasonably senior level. Provide sufficient time for Attendance Lead to supervise attendance management and to become involved with poor attenders. Also ensure there is sufficient time to analyse data, liaise with teachers and Local Authority officers. Give the Attendance Lead the full responsibility to lead on whole school policy and strategy.

Receive reports on attendance at whole school, year group and class level. Discuss both strengths and weaknesses publicly and give attendance a high status in the school. Talk personally to teachers whose classes show poor attendance. Encourage these teachers to take responsibility for making improvements.

Support intervention with the poorest attenders.

Report statistics to the Attendance Governor and as part of the termly report to governors. Show comparative figures, not isolated statistics. Compare each half-term’s figures with those for the previous year at the same time.

Ensure the Local Authority receive attendance data for your school or academy. Communication is key!

School/Setting Attendance

Lead

Work with the Headteacher to agree relevant internal attendance targets. Monitor attendance weekly and evaluate progress towards the targets. Identify pupils who are likely to jeopardise the school’s performance and plan early intervention to avoid bad habits being established.

Monitor attendance at school, year group and class level.

Ensure there is a clear attendance policy, showing who will do what and at what threshold, keeping attendance at the forefront of each member of staff’s mind. Convince all staff that attendance is their responsibility.

Liaise regularly with your local Families First team to ensure a joined up approach to tackling persistent absence. A whole family approach can tackle root causes of poor attendance and avoid a recurrence of problems.

Promote regular attendance, by making use of reward systems, assemblies, parents’ evenings, performance reviews, etc.

Involve the governing body, mainly through the Attendance Governor. Seek the support of governors in promoting good attendance.

Supervise administrative staff. Ensure registers are checked daily and that the required action at each threshold level is taken at the earliest moment possible. Discourage any sense of collusion with parents/carers who allow absence without good reason.

Coach administrative staff in how to deal with difficult parents/carers, those who call in regarding their child’s minor illness, or who call in with an excuse as to why their child is not in school. Also coach them on how to carry out first day response.

Advise appropriate members of staff to initiate early help assessment. Ensure they have completed eCAF training and have an active login.

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Class Teacher Form Tutor

Do not accept poor attendance. Make 100% attendance the expectation.

Get to know your pupils well, find out what they like about school and generate whole class discussion about the positive aspects of school and the negative aspects of poor school attendance.

Talk with the child who comes back after absence from school, be positive and welcome them back.

Promote regular attendance through rewards and other encouragement. Make it your business and make it clear that poor or erratic attendance is not expected or acceptable.

Ensure that registers are always completed appropriately. Where you are using hard-copy registers never leave blank spaces. Never complete in pencil. Never amend with correction fluid.

Look carefully at attendance data. Make it your business to spot patterns of absence and overall levels of attendance of individuals.

Make a personal connection with parents/carers of pupils who have regular absence, or patterns of irregular attendance.

Ensure the Headteacher or Attendance Lead is informed of attendance concerns.

Following absence, do your best to provide catch-up opportunities so absentees do not fall behind. Where appropriate, ask parents/carers to play a part in reinforcing missed learning.

Attendance Administrator

Follow the school’s procedures for first day calling. If no explanation has been received by the time registers close, seek one.

Ask for training to respond more assertively with difficult parents/carers or with those who give feeble excuses for their child’s absence, if you feel you need it.

Learn to challenge absences due to minor illness.

Be prepared to be assertive. Parents/carers must explain absence. Explanations need to be plausible. Avoid any sense of collusion with parents/carers over unnecessary absence.

Do not show sympathy over absence unless you are convinced it is genuine.

Issue attendance letters where required, using the parent/carer’s full names and the child’s full names Make sure they have the effect intended, make them accurate, date them and include a warning regarding the impact on their child’s achievement. Do not tolerate a lack of response. Seek advice when you need it.

Hold regular discussions with the Attendance Lead. Ensure the system works. If it does not, come up with suggestions to improve it.

Advise the Attendance Lead of any teacher who fails to maintain their register properly. Registers are legal documents and must be kept carefully and accurately.

Provide data on a weekly basis to class teachers and the school’s Attendance Lead.

Make sure the Attendance Lead and/or the Headteacher know about families where bad habits are forming. Make sure action is taken to break bad habits at the earliest opportunity.

Assist the Attendance Lead, Attendance Officer and others in collating data for inclusion in reports, attendance returns, etc.

Check and file all absence notes that are received, and ensure that details are reflected appropriately through categorisation of absence in the registers.

Pass messages from parents/carers efficiently to the class teacher or other relevant staff.

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1.6 The Role of Parents/Carers Parents/carers have a legal duty to ensure that their child receives an education suitable to his/her age, ability and aptitude and any special needs. Most parents/carers fulfil this obligation by registering their child in a school. Children must legally be in education between the school term after their 5th birthday and the last Friday in June in the school year they turn 16.

The Education and Skills Act 2008 increased the minimum age at which young people in England can leave learning. Raising the participation age means that if a child is currently in Year 11 they must stay in some form of education or training until the end of the academic year when they turn 17. If a child is currently in Year 10, then they have to stay in some form of education or training until the end of the academic year when they turn 18.

If a child is registered at a school he/she must by law attend that school regularly and punctually. The child should only miss school if he/she is ill or unable to attend for some other unavoidable reason. If a child is absent and the school either does not receive an explanation from the parent/carer, or considers the explanation unsatisfactory, it will record the child’s absence as ‘unauthorised’, and the parent/carer could be at risk of receiving a penalty notice or being prosecuted for poor attendance.

Most absences for acceptable reasons will be authorised by the school:

Illness.

Unavoidable medical or dental appointments (if possible, these should be arranged for after school or during school holidays).

Day of religious observance.

Exceptional family circumstances, such as bereavement.

An interview with a prospective employer or college.

Some of the following examples are reasons why a school may not authorise absence:

Shopping during school hours.

Day trips.

Birthdays.

Looking after brothers or sisters or ill relatives.

Term-time holiday.

Caring for a disabled parent.

Failure to ensure a child’s regular attendance at school is a criminal offence and if, with support from the school's attendance officer and/or the Local Authority Education Welfare Officer, the child’s attendance fails to improve, the Education Welfare Officer will consider any of these courses of action:

Issuing a penalty notice (fine).

Prosecution in the Magistrates' Court.

Application for an Education Supervision Order in the Family Proceedings Court.

School Attendance Order.

It is the responsibility of each parent/carer to ensure regular school attendance at the child’s registered school and failure to do so will result in each parent/carer being charged with the offence. If convicted, both parents/carers may be punished by the courts, resulting in a fine of up to £2,500 each parent/carer and/or up to three months custodial sentence. The court could impose a community sentence, a parenting order and/or a conditional discharge.

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If a child lives with a family friend or relative for a period of time who has day to day care of the child, each responsible adult is considered as 'parent' under the Education Act and can equally be charged with the same offence and prosecuted.

How parents/carers can help their child have good attendance From starting at nursery, parents/carers must make sure their child arrives at school on time,

every day. This encourages habits of good timekeeping and lessens any possible classroom disruption.

If their child arrives after the register has closed without a good reason, this will be recorded as an ‘unauthorised’ absence for that session.

If their child has to miss school it is vital that parents/carers let the school know why, preferably on the first morning of the absence. (All schools will have an attendance policy explaining how this should be done).

Make sure parents/carers are clear about what the school’s procedures are for alerting them to absence – call (first day?), text or letter.

Know the school’s daily routines to avoid issues such as whether they have their PE kit or not.

Show an interest, attend parent meetings, concerts and other school events and ask about what their children are doing at school.

Encourage their children to take part in school activities.

Don’t let their children take time off school for minor ailments - particularly those which would not stop parents/carers from going to work.

Where possible, make appointments after school, at weekends or during school holidays. A morning appointment does not mean a whole day of school should be missed. Parents should be encouraged to bring their child back to school in the afternoon.

Take family holidays outside of term time - find out the school’s term time dates well in advance and plan holidays around these dates.

Encourage their children to tell them about any problems they may have at school.

If parents/carers know or think that their child is having difficulties attending school they should contact the school. It is better to do this sooner rather than later, as most problems can be dealt with very quickly.

Find out regularly their child’s attendance and absence record and check that this matches with their own records.

Acknowledge, praise and reward good or improved attendance, even small successes, e.g. arriving for school promptly, even when the first lesson is their least favourite!

Other tips:

If there is a problem, talk calmly to their child and listen to the explanation.

Always pursue the reason for their child’s non-attendance.

Know who to talk to at the school should they need to resolve issues. The school can support them and their child. They are not alone!

Be particularly mindful in the run up towards assessments and tests and be aware of any coursework deadlines.

Check their child’s homework diary regularly for gaps, as well as for completed activities.

Help their child catch up with missed work so that a missed day does not mean missed (or incomplete) learning.

Remember, attendance needs to be above 95% in order for children to achieve what they have been predicted. In Islington good attendance is seen as 96% (or better).

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Remind parents and carers, that if problems at home are affecting their ability to get their child to school on time every day, support is available in the community through Families First.

1.7 Early Intervention: Punctuality and Attendance in Early Years Much of the advice and recommended good practice contained in other sections in this document should be applied to early years settings and to early years classes within schools. However, attendance for children under 5 is not statutory and there is not the same recourse to legal sanctions. There can also be particular issues in maintaining good attendance and punctuality for families with very young children, which need to be dealt with sensitively and proportionately. These issues, together with challenges around IT infrastructure in most early years settings, makes ensuring good attendance when children are young more challenging. However, the early years are a critical time to establish the good habits and routines needed throughout life and to get the key messages about the importance of good attendance and punctuality at nursery and school across to parents/carers. This section therefore contains some specific guidance applicable to all providers with children aged 2 to 5.

Early education and childcare All early years providers and schools with children in nursery and reception classes work to the same standards set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Many families access early years provision as a means of childcare but once a child turns 3, they are then entitled to a funded part-time early education place from the term following their 3rd birthday. The entitlement of 570 hours per year (equivalent to a part-time place in nursery throughout term time) has recently been extended to some 2 year olds. Many children attending nursery classes in primary schools in Islington are given a full-time place from the age of 3. Attendance becomes statutory for the child in the term after their 5th birthday. Regular attendance is important for all children, even babies, insofar as it is only through regular, consistent routines that children build up the secure attachments they need for healthy development. Parents/carers need childcare for very obvious reasons and there are generally few issues about attendance for children accessing early years provision for childcare purposes. However, we are concerned that all children accessing their funded early education entitlement and children throughout their reception year should have good attendance and punctuality.

Why is good attendance and punctuality important in early years? Regular attendance has a positive impact on all aspects of a young child’s learning and development. A regular routine supports the child to feel settled and secure. Unsettled children have higher stress levels which, in turn, prevent them from being able to benefit fully from the learning opportunities available. Research shows that regular part-time attendance from the age of 2 in a good quality early years setting has a lasting impact on children’s social development and intellectual attainment throughout school. (Research Brief RBF15-03 - The Effective Provision of Pre-school Education Project: Findings from the Pre-school Period. Sylva et al, IOE, 2003).

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Islington’s Early Years Foundation Stage Profile results (summer 2013) showed a clear correlation between children’s attendance and their attainment of the “good level of development” standard.

What schools and settings are expected to do to promote good attendance and punctuality in the early years Have clear expectations: Families need to know that good attendance and being punctual are expected when their child takes up a place. As attendance is a borough-wide initiative and an issue that affects all age groups, there needs to be as much consistency as possible between early years and school settings. This includes expectations around holidays, which for school-aged children are not permissible in term time. See Section 2.9 - Term Time Absence of this guidance for more information. Your expectations and why they are so important should feature in induction meetings with new parents/carers, in printed information and be visibly evident on, for example, a display board in your setting. Create a policy: Like schools, early years settings should have a policy about attendance and punctuality which parents/carers are asked to sign to show that they have received and understood the information. The policy should clearly set out the expectations and the steps the setting will take to follow up on any issues of attendance or punctuality. Adopt the borough-wide target: Schools have a target of 96% and although early years attendance is likely to be significantly lower, use this initiative as an opportunity to work towards the borough’s target so all children have 96% attendance by the time they enter reception class. Attendance is everyone’s business: It is not just up to the Head of Centre or manager to deal with attendance and punctuality issues, nor the job of the admin officer. All staff need to understand and value the importance of attendance and punctuality and follow the setting’s procedures in raising the issues with parents/carers. The role of the key person in initially talking with parents/carers about attendance should be clear but senior management need to be supportive and involved in reinforcing the messages. First day calling: Have a clear expectation that parents/carers will telephone by 9:00am on the day if their child is absent. If the parent/carer does not let you know, always follow up all absences with a telephone call early in the morning. It is important to ensure that the child is safe but it also gives a clear and consistent message that in Islington absence from nursery will be treated in the same way as for older children and that without a valid reason, absence will be challenged. Monitor children’s attendance: Use a system that allows you to monitor attendance so you can keep parents/carers informed about the attendance of the whole group but also about their individual child. Explain that this is part of the Islington approach to improving outcomes for all children and that early years education is regarded as just as important as any other phase. Praise and celebrate good attendance whenever you can. Bringing the child’s attendance record to parent/carers’ attention and having a conversation about it can often make a real difference. Form good relationships: Fundamental to children’s and families’ positive perceptions and experiences of childcare and early education are good relationships between families and settings. The inclusive environment with, for example, posters reflecting the ethnicity and language of families

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in the setting will make all families feel welcome and help practitioners to talk with parents/carers in a constructive way about issues of lateness or irregular attendance. Clear communication: Use a range of means to communicate your messages about attendance and punctuality. Visual ways, such as the use of posters, can help to get the message across. Think too about the needs of parents/carers for whom English is an additional language and where possible, have some materials in translation or use bilingual family support workers to engage families in the issues. Follow up consistently: As a general rule, always follow up on poor attendance and punctuality with parents/carers as soon as you can but be sensitive and supportive. You may have to choose your time carefully to talk to a parent/carer about these issues, so the conversation can be productive. Find ways to support: Many parents/carers will need support at times to feel confident and empowered in their skills to meet the challenge of parenting. Families do find themselves in circumstances with very young children that can make leaving the house in good time difficult, for example, when there is a new baby. Find ways you can support parents/carers: for example, by pairing them up with another parent/carer who lives nearby, who may sometimes bring in the child. Explain the Early Years Foundation Stage: Parents/carers may not be aware of the importance and benefits of early years education and particularly of the importance of play for learning and development. They may be unaware that any absence or late arrival at the setting can affect the child’s ability to fully participate and benefit from the day’s activities. Use as many means as possible to explain to parents the EYFS and the practice and routines in your setting so they have the information they need to allow them to value the importance of early education and play for their child’s development.

Families who need extra support There may be particular families for whom your strategies to improve attendance do not appear to work. Children with below 85% attendance are regarded in school as persistent absentees and those with attendance of less than 60% are likely to be referred to Children’s Social Care for neglect. If the family already has social worker or family support worker involvement, you must bring issues of poor attendance in early years to their attention, so it can be further discussed with the family in the Team Around the Child/Family meeting and action agreed about what to do. For other families, where children’s attendance is poor and not improving despite your efforts to engage the family, you can make a referral with parents’ permission to your local children’s centre for targeted family support. The child’s poor attendance may be a manifestation of other underlying issues the family is facing which a period of family support will help to address. Very poor attendance can be an indication of neglect (see Neglect Toolkit ISCB 2014). Clearly every effort should be made to support good attendance and punctuality, as suggested above. However, if there are no other indicators of concern or vulnerability and the child has failed to attend for 4-6 consecutive weeks, without a justifiable reason, the child’s place can be withdrawn. This can only happen once all other routes have been exhausted and the setting has provided evidence of this to and sought the approval of the Early Years Service. Parents/carers must have been made aware when they took up the place of the possible consequences of their child not attending for 6 consecutive weeks.

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The process for formally withdrawing a child’s place is as follows:

The setting attempts to contact the family twice weekly to meet with them to seek a justifiable explanation (by telephone or home visit and followed up by email), including, of course, first day calling.

The setting sends a recorded delivery letter during the fourth week to invite the parent/carer to a meeting to discuss the situation and warn them of the action that will be taken after 6 weeks.

The setting continues to attempt twice weekly contact through phone and email.

The setting sends a recorded delivery letter in the final week, explaining that the place will be withdrawn on a specific date.

Remember!

Regular attendance and good punctuality are important for maximising achievement and obtaining the greatest benefit from education.

Good relationships with children and their families are vital in encouraging regular attendance and punctuality.

Children settle well and want to attend settings when they feel valued and have a sense of belonging.

Praising good attendance and punctuality is likely to promote continued regular and punctual attendance.

The way that staff respond to families where there are patterns of lateness is crucial in affecting punctuality and attendance. Make sure that absence is followed up on every occasion.

The way that staff welcome back children who have been absent is crucial! Ensure it is a positive welcome!

Parents/carers and settings need to respect and value each other and work collaboratively.

Many parents/carers will need support at times to feel confident and empowered in their skills to meet the challenge of parenting.

Good habits of attendance and punctuality are key skills for adult life.

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1.8 School Attendance and SEN

Children with SEN have higher patterns of non-attendance. However, attendance strategies for pupils with SEN must have the same focus, challenge and expectations as for all other pupils. Therefore, our aim is a minimum of 96% attendance for all children. For children with SEN

Pupils with SEN are more likely to require multi-agency services to address their full range of needs. These services should not be delivered as an alternative to the school curriculum, and should not impact on school attendance.

All the agencies involved with the family of an SEN pupil must ensure that parents understand the importance of regular school attendance and have the capacity to put this into practice, and that low levels of attendance can indicate difficult home circumstances and/or concerns about a safeguarding.

Poor or deteriorating attendance can indicate that a pupil is becoming disaffected from an environment where they feel they cannot succeed, and that this is reinforced on a daily basis. Different interventions or more appropriate curricular provision might re-engage the pupil, improving both attendance and progress.

1.9 Special Schools As stated above, attendance strategies in special schools and for pupils with SEN in mainstream schools must have the same focus, challenge, stretching targets and expectations as for all other schools and pupils. This will entail developing and implementing ways of addressing particular challenges that can arise. A focus on school attendance for pupils with SEN entails schools and local authorities considering a number of issues that can help them plan actions to promote high attendance at both whole-school and individual-pupil level. These might include:

Focus on teaching and learning, monitoring and evaluation.

Curricular provision

Multi-agency services.

Serious, long-term and terminal illness.

Disagreements about provision.

Transport. All schools, including special schools, should be working to eradicate all avoidable absences and to maximise pupils’ attendance. All schools, including special schools, are required to return absence data via the annual School Census. Schools should aim for and expect high levels of attendance. Some smaller special schools have low numbers of pupils, and consequently the absence of one pupil may have a higher impact on the overall percentage of absence. Therefore, schools and local authorities need to judge absence data not only by percentage but also by pupil numbers.

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Although the average attendance figure for special schools (91.1%) was below that of mainstream schools (94.8%) in Islington in 2012-13, it was significantly better than the averages for Inner London, London, England and the borough’s statistical neighbours. It is important to look for trends in absence as part of self-evaluation. The questions schools might ask themselves include the following.

Are attendance rates for pupils with SEN improving year on year, proportionate to those for all other pupils?

Are the attendance rates of individual pupils improving?

If not, what is the impact on progress and attainment, and what plan of action is in place to address attendance issues?

If either attendance or attainment is not improving, what does the school’s monitoring and evaluation of interventions indicate about the changes needed to the provision being made for the pupil?

Pupils with SEN may require a higher proportion of medical appointments as a result of their particular needs. Schools should consider ways of making parents, GPs and other health workers aware of the fact that appointments should be made out of school time wherever possible. Schools may find it useful to work in partnership with health colleagues in order to promote clinics on school premises. All pupils in special schools have statements of SEN, or from September 2014, an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that must be reviewed at least annually. Other mainstream schools also have pupils with statements of SEN. Attendance should be considered formally as part of the annual review process as well as on an ongoing basis. In effective schools and local authorities, the attendance record of the pupil forms an integral part of the review process. The pupil’s attendance data will be presented at the annual review meeting and any challenges in relation to regular attendance will be raised, which can then be discussed at the meeting. This ensures that all those involved with the pupil’s education are able to plan to remove any barriers to regular school attendance during the following year. In effective local authorities the attendance record of a pupil is a key element of information required during special educational assessment and review processes.

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1.10 Accessing School Attendance Data

Department for Education (DfE) Website All schools and settings can access their performance data, which includes attendance at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/

Entering specific school information on the front page will provide schools with their current published attendance figures, collected from Schools Census submissions. However, should they require attendance figures from previous years, then they should use the link: Performance Tables 1994-2012 (found in the lower left hand corner of the home page – see below).

School Data Dashboard The School Data Dashboard provides a snapshot of school performance at Key Stages 1, 2 and 4 and can be found at: http://dashboard.ofsted.gov.uk/. The dashboard can be used by school governors and by members of the public to check the performance of the school in which they are interested. It complements the Ofsted school inspection report by providing an analysis of school performance over a three-year period. Data can be filtered by key stage or by topic. School Data Dashboard Guidance can be found at: http://dashboard.ofsted.gov.uk/sdd_guidance.pdf.

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Attendance Quintile Data The Attendance Quintile data can be found on the School Data Dashboard. Attendance data relates to the percentage of sessions (mornings and afternoons are classified as sessions) attended by the whole school, not just the key stage. Attendance is calculated as 100% minus the percentage of overall absence. What are the differences between the Ofsted and DfE similar schools measures? For 2013 similar schools, Ofsted has aligned its methodology with the Department for Education (DfE) similar schools methodology. The methodology used to define schools as similar and to group them is now based on pupil level prior attainment data. Similar schools are defined as those with similar prior attainment. Prior attainment and cohort data from the January Schools Census are extracted for each school in the relevant key stage. Similar schools are grouped using a statistical neighbours approach:

Key Stage 2 schools are compared with the most similar 110 schools;

Key Stage 4 with the most similar 60. The similar schools group sizes were chosen by grouping those schools that had very similar pupil attainment on entry. The group sizes differ because, as a minimum number, all schools with the same prior attainment score must be in the same group. This minimum number is larger for Key Stage 2. Attendance Quintile (2013) – Islington outcomes

Quintile 1 Top 20%

2 Top 40%

3 Middle 20%

4 Bottom 40%

5 Bottom 20%

2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013

No. of schools 4 9 9 7 11 15 12 11 19 13

Breakdown

2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013

Primary* 3 6 6 4 9 13 10 10 17 12

Secondary** 1 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 1

*Primary National Level: 95.2%

**Secondary National Level: 94.1%

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Section Two

Advice, Guidance and Expectations

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2.1 What does ‘Good Attendance’ mean?

Is this good attendance?

What does 90% actually mean?

90% attendance = ½ day missed every week! One school year at 90% attendance = 4 weeks of learning missed!

Over 5 years of school = ½ school year missed! Research suggests that for every 17 missed school days a year = one GCSE grade drop in achievement (DfE) – the greater the attendance, the greater the potential for achievement. For children and young people to work towards achieving their potential, attendance needs to be above 95%. So, the message here needs to be that 90% attendance is not nearly as good as it might first have seemed! There is no relationship between school attendance percentages and test/examination marks (where 90% would be considered good) and this must be communicated to parents/carers.

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2.2 Having an Attendance Policy in Place A school’s attendance policy should set out its systems and procedures for ensuring regular school attendance and investigating the underlying causes of poor attendance. It is important that it is not just one member of staff who writes the policy. The policy will be more meaningful if developed in consultation with teachers, pupils, families, the Education Welfare Service, administrative and ancillary staff, governors and senior management. The key components of an attendance policy should include the following: 1. The principles underlying the policy and how they apply to the whole school community:

- How the policy ties in to the school’s approach to promoting emotional well-being. - How the policy links with the school’s other policies. - How these principles relate to the school’s overall aims and relate to the rest of the curriculum.

2. Aims and targets:

- Specific but realistic targets for improving and maintaining attendance figures. - The resources a school invests in improving attendance.

3. The rights, roles and responsibilities of governors, staff, pupils and parents:

- Details of the school’s partnership agreement with the Education Welfare Service. - The legal responsibilities of the Local Authority, school and parents should be cited. - Emphasis on a partnership approach between senior management, governors, and those

working to support attendance with parents and pupils should be outlined – a whole school approach, because attendance is everyone’s business.

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4. Procedures: - The stages, processes and staffing involved in registration. - The practical system for lateness. - How and when problems with attendance are communicated to parents/carers. - Processes used to reintegrate students returning to school after an absence. - Procedures for involving other support services around the child and family.

5. School action: monitoring and evaluation:

- How the school will evaluate the effectiveness of its strategies. - When will monitoring and evaluation take place? - Who will be involved in monitoring and evaluation and how will they contribute. - How evaluations will be fed back into the policy.

A sample attendance policy can be found in Section 5: Appendix 5.5.

2.3 Attendance Codes, Descriptions and Meanings The national codes enable schools to record and monitor attendance and absence in a consistent way which complies with the regulations. They are also used for collecting statistics through the School Census System. The data helps schools, local authorities and the Government to gain a greater understanding of the level of, and the reasons for, absence. The codes are:

Code Description Meaning

/ Present (AM) Present in school during registration. Pupils must not be marked present if they were not in school during registration. If a pupil were to leave the school premises after registration they would still be counted as present for statistical purposes.

\ Present (PM)

L Late Late before registers closed. Schools should have a policy on how long registers should be kept open. A pupil arriving after the register has closed should be marked absent with code U, or with another absence code if that is more appropriate.

Approved Educational Activity2 Attendance codes for when pupils are present at approved off-site educational activity are as follows:

Code Description Meaning

B Educated Off-Site (NOT Dual Registration)

This code should be used when pupils are present at an off-site educational activity that has been approved by the school. Ultimately schools are responsible for the safeguarding and welfare of pupils educated off-site. Therefore by using code B, schools are certifying that the education is supervised and measures have been taken to

2 An approved educational activity is where a pupil is taking part in supervised educational activity such as field trips,

educational visits, work experience or alternative provision. The activity must be of an educational nature approved by the school and supervised by someone authorised by the school. The activity must take place during the session for which the mark is recorded.

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safeguard pupils. This code should not be used for any unsupervised educational activity or where a pupil is at home doing school work. Schools should ensure that they have in place arrangements whereby the provider of the alternative activity notifies the school of any absences by individual pupils. The school should record the pupil’s absence using the relevant absence code.

Consortia Schools Pupils attending consortia schools as part of their course only need to be placed on the registers of their ‘main’ school rather than on all of the schools they attend. They should be treated as guest pupils at the other consortia schools. The consortia schools however, must ensure they have suitable systems in place for monitoring and reporting the attendance and absence of the pupils involved, which must be shared with the ‘main’ school.

D Dual Registration (i.e. pupil attending another establishment)

This code is not counted as a possible attendance in the School Census. The law allows for dual registration of pupils at more than one school. This code is used to indicate that the pupil was not expected to attend the session in question because they were scheduled to attend the other school at which they are registered.

The main examples of dual registration are pupils who are attending a pupil referral unit, a hospital school or a special school on a temporary basis. It can also be used for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children, but only when the pupil is known to be registered at another school during the session in question.

Each school should only record the pupil’s attendance and absence for those sessions that the pupil is scheduled to attend their school. Schools should ensure that they have in place arrangements whereby all unexplained and unexpected absence is followed up in a timely manner.

J At an interview with prospective employers, or another educational establishment

This code should be used to record time spent in interviews with prospective employers or another educational establishment. Schools should be satisfied that the interview is linked to employment prospects, further education or transfer to another educational establishment.

P Participating in an approved sporting activity

This code should be used to record the sessions when a pupil is taking part in a sporting activity that has been approved by the school and supervised by someone authorised by the school.

V Educational visit or trip

This code should be used for attendance at an organised trip or visit, including residential trips organised by the school, or attendance at a supervised trip of a strictly educational nature arranged by an organisation approved by the school.

W Work experience Work experience is for pupils in the final two years of compulsory education. Schools should ensure that they have in place arrangements whereby the work experience placement provider notifies the school of any absences by individual pupils. Any absence should be recorded using the relevant code.

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Authorised Absence from School3 Absence codes when pupils are not present in school are as follows:

Code Description Meaning

C Leave of Absence authorised by the school

Only exceptional circumstances warrant leave of absence. Schools should consider each request individually taking into account the circumstances, such as: the nature of the event for which leave is sought; the frequency of the request; whether the parent gave advance notice; and the pupil’s attainment, attendance and ability to catch up on missed schooling.

E Excluded (no alternative provision made)

If no alternative provision is made for a pupil to continue their education whilst they are excluded but still on the admission register, they should be marked absent in the attendance register using code E. Where alternative provision is made they should be marked using the appropriate attendance code.

H Holiday authorised by the school

Headteachers should not grant leave of absence unless in exceptional circumstances. The application must be made in advance and the head teacher must be satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances which warrant the leave. Where a leave of absence is granted, the Headteacher will determine the number of days a pupil can be away from school. A leave of absence is granted entirely at the Headteacher’s discretion.

I Illness (NOT medical or dental appointments etc.)

Schools should advise parents/carers to notify the school as soon as possible when a child is ill. If the authenticity of illness is in doubt, schools can request parents/carers to provide medical evidence to support illness. Schools can record the absence as unauthorised if not satisfied of the seriousness of the illness but should advise parents of their intention. Schools are advised not to request medical certificates unnecessarily (particularly retrospective certificates), especially if the illness was not treated by a doctor at the time. Medical evidence can take the form of prescriptions, appointment cards, etc. rather than doctors’ notes.

M Medical / Dental appointments

Missing registration for a medical or dental appointment is counted as an authorised absence. Schools should, however, encourage parents to make appointments out of school hours. Where this is not possible, the pupil should only be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary for the appointment.

R Religious observance Schools must treat absence as authorised when it is due to religious observance. The day must be exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the parents/carers belong. Where necessary, schools should seek advice from the parent/carers’ religious body about whether it has set the day apart for religious observance.

S Study leave Schools must record study leave as authorised absence. Study leave should be used sparingly and only granted to Year 11 pupils during public examinations. Provision should still be made available for those

3 ‘Authorised absence’ means that the school has either given approval in advance for a pupil of compulsory school age to

be away, or has accepted an explanation offered afterwards as justification for absence.

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pupils who want to continue to come into school to revise.

T Gypsy, Roma and Traveller absence

A number of different groups are covered by the generic term Traveller – Roma, English and Welsh Gypsies, Irish and Scottish Travellers, Showmen (fairground people) and Circus people, Bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and New Travellers.

This code should be used when Traveller families are known to be travelling for occupational purposes and have agreed this with the school but it is not known whether the pupil is attending educational provision. It should not be used for any other types of absence by these groups.

To help ensure continuity of education for Traveller children it is expected that the child should attend school elsewhere when their family is travelling and be dual registered at that school and the main school. Children from these groups whose families do not travel are expected to register at a school and attend as normal. They are subject to the same rules as other children in terms of the requirement to attend school regularly once registered at school.

Unauthorised Absence from School Unauthorised absence is where a school is not satisfied with the reasons given for the absence. Absence codes are as follows:

Code Description Meaning

G Holiday not authorised by the school or in excess of the period determined by the Headteacher.

If a school does not authorise a leave of absence and the parents/carers still take the child on holiday, or the child is kept away for longer than was agreed, the absence is unauthorised. The regulations do not allow schools to give retrospective approval. If parents/carers did not apply for the leave of absence in advance the absence must be recorded as unauthorised.

N Reason not yet provided for absence

Schools should follow up all unexplained and unexpected absences in a timely manner. Every effort should be made to establish the reason for a pupil’s absence. When the reason for the pupil’s absence has been established the register should be amended immediately.

O Absent from school without authorisation

If the school is not satisfied with the reason given for absence they should record it as unauthorised.

U Arrived in school after registration closed

Schools should actively discourage late arrival, be alert to patterns of late arrival and seek an explanation from the parent.

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Administrative Codes The following codes are not counted as a possible attendance in the School Census:

Code Description Meaning

X Not required to be in school

This code is used to record sessions that non-compulsory school age children are not expected to attend.

Y Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances

This code can be used where a pupil is unable to attend because:

The school site, or part of it, is closed due to an unavoidable cause.

The transport provided by the school or a local authority is not available and where the pupil’s home is not within walking distance.

A local or national emergency has resulted in widespread disruption to travel which has prevented the pupil from attending school.

This code can also be used where a pupil is unable to attend because:

The pupil is in custody; detained for a period of less than four months. If the school has evidence from the place of custody that the pupil is attending educational activities then they can record those sessions as code B (present at approved educational activity).

This code is collected in the School Census for statistical purposes.

Z Pupil not on admission register

This code is available to enable schools to set up registers in advance of pupils joining the school to ease administration burdens. Schools must put pupils on the admission register from the first day that the school has agreed, or been notified, that the pupil will attend the school.

# Planned whole or partial school closure

This code should be used for whole or partial school closures that are known or planned in advance such as: between terms; half terms; occasional days (for example, bank holidays); weekends (where it is required by the management information system); up to 5 non-educational days to be used for curriculum planning/training; and use of schools as polling stations.4

4 Different Term Dates for Different Pupils - Schools and local authorities can agree to set different term dates for

different year groups – e.g. for ‘staggered starts’ or ‘induction days’. Code # can be used to record the year group(s) that is not due to attend. This is only acceptable where the school ensures that those pupils not attending on that day are still offered a full education (i.e. 380 sessions) over the school year.

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2.4 Making Use of the Data Available All schools hold a great deal of information about attendance in the School Information Management System (SIMS). Schools that have been successful in improving attendance and reducing persistent absence have a clear understanding of the attendance issues within the school; they identify these through the reporting and analysis of their data. Anecdotal evidence about reasons for absence and patterns of absence can be misleading. Attendance data helps strategic planning and can enable schools to manage attendance issues more effectively. Whole school attendance figures produced monthly, termly or yearly, based on year groups, can indicate factors such as:

Declining attendance in year groupings.

The effect of seasonal attendance e.g. attendance may decline during colder months and preceding school holidays, at the end of terms and beginning of new terms.

Weekly figures may illustrate the:

Effect of staff absenteeism.

Fall in attendance preceding teacher training days, half terms, study leave or work experience.

Effect of ending terms on a Monday or Tuesday.

Effect of activity days, day trips or residential trips.

Effect of the timing of the school day.

Effect of pupil holidays in term time.

The effect of time/timings of religious observance days e.g. Eid. Continuous analysis of individual pupil attendance and of the whole school can give scope for strategic planning. By identifying those levels which the school considers are indicators of persistent absenteeism or irregular attendance, it is possible to identify the extent of the problem. The school can then target time provided by the Education Welfare Officer and pastoral staff more effectively by producing:

Individual attendance records which highlight reasons for absence and the pattern and rate of unauthorised absence; and

Lists of all pupils with unexplained absence which can be fed back to the responsible member of staff.

Pastoral staff will then be able to identify and work with those pupils who give cause for concern.

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Attendance Data: Everybody’s Business Steve Baker is a freelance behaviour and attendance consultant based in West Yorkshire, following a career in drama teaching, with local authorities and the National Strategies. He works in schools, academies and colleges giving strategic advice. Here he explains how to ensure everyone in school keeps on top of pupil attendance. Mary fixed me with a weary look. Digging deep into her reserves of patience and professionalism, she said: ‘If I didn’t spend so much time chasing teachers for their registers, over-writing their mistakes and apologising to parents who have been told, in error, that their children aren’t in school, then I might just occasionally do the job I’m paid to do!’

Whose job is attendance? I am continually impressed by the passion that attendance officers exhibit in their desire to improve attendance. When attendance is the focus of my visit to a school, my first question is always, ‘Whose job is attendance?’ I know we’re in trouble when the answer is ‘Attendance? Ah yes! You’ll want Mary; last office on the right.’ We’re in trouble because raising attendance is everybody’s business. Headteachers nowadays are making it a disciplinary matter when teachers persistently fail to complete a prompt and accurate register, and not before time. Classroom teachers must be made to see that the registration process is their single most important function. We must always know where students are. Simple as that. What is less simple is the business of getting the attendance/absence codes right. These fall into three categories: attendance codes, absence codes and admin codes. The complexities of these codes require another article in a future edition of this bulletin. Suffice to say here that when a school ‘cleanses’ its data (e.g. making sure pupils attending elsewhere are taken off-roll) it typically reduces absence by 1%.

Reporting the data I see many letters sent home by schools about attendance. These letters often display surprising optimism about the literacy levels of parents, some of whom will not understand percentages and may be confused when told that 90% in a test is fantastic but 90% attendance is unacceptable. A table like this will help to get the message across: Your child’s time at secondary school

Y7

Y8 80% attendance means you miss a whole year!

Y9

Y10

Y11

Years of learning Attendance data can be expressed in other striking ways. One of my favourites is ‘years of learning’. If you count up the total number of sessions missed, you’ll have a number in the tens of thousands.

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190 days in a school year gives us 380 sessions. Divide the total number of sessions missed by 380 and you have the number of ‘years of learning’ that have been lost due to absence. This makes a great assembly. Other ways to report attendance data internally include data for form tutors or coaches so they can have daily discussions with students. Data by form group will establish healthy competition in each year, and house or year group displays can make an eye-catching addition to the corridors. The school target should be everywhere so all stakeholders know what it is. It would be useful to have targets for year groups, houses and forms too. One Yorkshire secondary school that raised attendance from 89% to 92% in a year gave a bottle of wine to the form tutor with the best attendance each week. Cross-reference the data With electronic registration in place we can report attendance by subject. This should be approached with caution; for example, it may not be the fault of the Spanish department that Year 10 attendance is low if Spanish follows PE on a Thursday afternoon. Nonetheless it is a good idea to use the attendance data to cross-reference with what you know about standards of teaching and climate for learning in the school. Isn’t it surprising that Mr Smythe, whom we know teaches outstanding and good lessons and has a warm welcoming approach to all pupils, also has the best attendance in his faculty? Of course in a similar vein, excellent and increasing attendance can be used in your school SEF to demonstrate the impact you are having on attitudes to learning,

Analysing the data A pattern usually refers to an over-represented group. If boys are 50% of your school but 80% of your persistent absentees then you have a pattern. If last year that last figure was 75% and two years ago it was 65% then you have a trend. It is always a good idea to present inspectors with three years of data if you possibly can. Disproportionality This over-representation, or disproportionality as it is sometimes called, is absolutely key when analysing attendance data. You can use a simple pivot table to explore this quite easily. If you add in all your descriptor columns from your school management information system you will be able to use the pivot table to slice and dice the data by year group, ethnicity, English as an additional language (EAL), special educational needs and all manner of other qualities. Working with an attendance lead and her attendance officer in a Leeds secondary one afternoon, we used a pivot table to discover that the school’s persistent absentees were largely EAL boys in Year 7 and 8, School Action Plus boys in Year 9 and white British girls from a certain postcode at KS4. This self-knowledge then informed the allocation of time and other resources. I have met talented and progressive headteachers who are resistant to this segmenting of the data – they want to be entirely pupil-centred in their approach and I salute them for this view, but in my opinion knowing the patterns and trends is vital when leading a large organisation and making significant budgeting decisions.

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Celebrating the data Celebrating improved and excellent attendance should be part of the endless positive self-talk of the school, unavoidable and all-pervasive. Attendance award assemblies are an easy win. They set a positive tone and represent an achievement that is easy to measure and there for all to see. Incidentally, I prefer to see ‘excellent attendance’ rewarded rather than 100% attendance. If we know Amy had food poisoning for one morning and just could not struggle in, it seems unjust to prevent her effort in attending whenever she physically could from being recognised. If illness strikes Jake in the first week of term, where is his incentive to achieve excellent attendance in the next 14 weeks when he knows the only reward boat has sailed? If we want to add another level for the one-hundred-percenters, fair enough. I heard of one head of a school ‘in challenging circumstances’ who put up £1,000 to be shared among all Year 11 pupils with excellent attendance. My quibble is this: if I’m a Year 11 passing the door of my mate whose attendance is not good, why should I knock on his door? If I bring him in I’m losing money! Working on attendance is an excellent career move for any ambitious senior leader. One has to establish a whole-school approach, maintain excellent systems and use data effectively to bring about change. I hope this article has been of use to you in this respect.

Article published on 4th March 2014 by Optimus Education http://www.optimus-education.com/attendance-data-everybodys-business

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2.5 Early Help and Early Help Assessment and Planning

Early Help requires those whose work has an impact on the lives of children to ask:

How could we, within the limits of our existing resources, do things differently, so that we get help to children and families earlier?

Islington is committed to making sure that families get support when they really need it, quickly and with the minimum of fuss, and to avoid the need for statutory intervention, which few families welcome.

What Early Help means Early Help can mean taking action at an early stage in a child’s life or at an early stage in the development of a problem. It is about stepping in as early as possible, either at the first signs of a problem, or even before it becomes apparent, to prevent things getting worse. It is about supporting children and their families and helping them build resilience. Early Help is a strategic priority for Islington, recognising its importance in breaking the cycle of poverty, social exclusion and disadvantage. It requires local partners to work together, and with families to ensure that all available resources (services, workforce, finances and capital) are used in the best way possible and at the earliest possible opportunity.

Using an Early Help Assessment for Attendance An early help assessment, using the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a shared assessment and planning tool and gives parents/carers and school staff the opportunity to discuss any additional needs in relation to the child or wider family and to make a plan that can help address the wider needs and improve attendance. Additional needs can consist of a wide range of problems such as coping with illness, disability or bereavement, risk of homelessness, debt or money worries, lack of confidence in managing challenging behaviour, as well as more serious issues related to mental health, domestic violence or substance misuse. All parents/carers of persistent absentees (attendance below 85%) should have an early help assessment to collect evidence and ensure they receive multi agency support to improve their child’s school attendance so that they make progress and have good outcomes. However, schools may decide to make use of an early help assessment if there is a sudden change in a child’s attendance and/or punctuality or if falls below their own threshold for intervention. For further information, see Section 5: Appendix 5.1 – Definition of Key Terminology - Common Assessment Framework (CAF), also known as Early Help Assessment.

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2.6 Off Rolling A pupil can lawfully be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006. The reasons below are a summary version. All schools (including academies) must inform their local authority of any pupil who is going to be deleted from the admission register where the pupil: 1. Has been taken out of school by their parents/carers and are being educated outside the school

system. The parent/carer must put this in writing and state how their child will be educated (e.g. to be electively home education).

2. Has ceased to attend school and no longer live within reasonable distance of the school at which

they are registered. 3. Has a medical condition certified by the school medical officer that the pupil is unlikely to be in a

fit state of health to attend school. 4. Is in custody for a period of more than four months due to a final court order and the proprietor

does not reasonably believe they will be returning to the school at the end of that period. 5. Has been permanently excluded (once the exclusion and appeal process have been completed). 6. Is registered at another school and written confirmation has been received from the proprietor

of the other school. 7. Is required to attend another school named on a School Attendance Order or other Court Order. 8. Has died. 9. Ceases to be of compulsory school age. 10. Cannot be located (please email form to ews@islington.gov.uk on Day 10 if attempts to locate

the child have failed). Removal must be authorised by the LA. The Local Authority should be notified in advance of the deletion, when the school becomes aware that the deletion will be made. Preservation of the Admission Register and Attendance Register Every entry in the admission register and attendance register must be preserved for a period of three years after the date on which the entry was made. A copy of the Off Rolling Notification Form can be found in Section 5: Appendix 5.6.

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2.7 Using SIMS

Taking the Register in SIMS Registers need to be taken every day. To do this in SIMS, open and enter ‘username’ and ‘password’. 1. Go to ‘Focus’ > ‘Attendance’ > ‘Edit Marks’ (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 Fig. 2 2. Adjust the ‘week beginning’ tab to the date of the beginning of the week. Make sure that the

‘Group Type’ tab is set as ‘Reg group’ (Fig. 2) 3. Press search. 4. Double click on the class that you want to input the information to. The screen will look like this

(Fig. 3): Fig. 3 Fig. 4 5. To enter a mark click the am or pm box, the blank boxes with the ‘ - ‘ in (see above) is where the

information is entered, enter the required code i.e. / for present for that session. When the class is completed, save. Should you need to change a code press the ‘preserve’ button so that it says ‘overwrite’. Without doing this, it won’t register any changes you make.

6. Enter any absences by clicking the box and entering the right code (e.g. I for illness, M for medical appointment, N for no reason provided).

7. To get a full list of the codes press any key (except a letter) 8. When all of the pupils in the class have been entered press ‘Save’. If for any reason you are

adding/changing the information in previous or future weeks you can access this by using the ‘previous week’ and ‘next week’ arrows at the top left of the page (see Fig. 4 above). Press ‘Browse’ to get back to the list of classes. Repeat this for all of the classes.

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Absence Notes Every week schools receive absence notes from parents, explaining why their child has been off school. 1. Check the box for the absence notes. 2. Put the information into SIMs: There is a ‘medical events’ field in the pupil record that many

schools use to record sickness whether in school or out of school (Fig. 5). It records: - Type of event, and one is illness - Description of event, a drop-down gives a variety of common ailments - Date of event - Notes field The first three can be reported on.

Fig. 5 By ensuring that the information is on SIMS before you print out absence letters (see below) this will stop parents receiving letters when they have already told the school why their child was absent. If the child is off due to circumstances (C) then remember to write the reason for absence in the comments section. This should also be done for illness (I) too.

Printing Absence Letters Schools send out letters to parents whose children have any absences from school that haven’t been explained to them. (This is shown as ‘N’ on SIMS). This can be done electronically and printed out from SIMS. 1. Go to Reports > Attendance > Letters > Print letters (Fig. 6)

Fig. 6 Fig. 7

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2. Adjust the date in the ‘from’ and ‘to’ boxes. The dates used are from the beginning of the half term – to the date of the previous Friday. In the first week back after half term send letters from the previous half term, to give parents one more chance to let you know.

3. Make sure that the ‘group type’ is Reg group (Fig. 7). This makes it easier to organise once they are printed.

4. Press search. 5. Double click the class that you want to start with. Or, highlight the class and press ‘Next’. A pop-

up like the one below (Fig. 8) will appear on the screen:

Fig. 8

6. Highlight ‘unexplained.doc’ and press Print. A word document will appear that will have all the letters for the children in that class. If there aren’t any unexplained absences in that class for the specified dates then it will say “ “

7. Go to file > print. 8. Exit the word document that you have printed, as well as the template word document that has

also popped up. You can also ignore the pop-up that is a list of the pupils needing a letter. 9. Press ‘back’ to go back to the page, and select a new class. Repeat for all classes. 10. These letters should be given to teachers so they can hand them to the parents/children. It is worth asking the office staff to have a quick look at the letters to see if there are any messages that have been missed. This should hopefully avoid too many parents receiving the letter when they have actually already notified the school about why their child was absent. Enter these on to SIMS straight away.

Registration Certificates Registration certificates are a way of looking at an individual’s pattern of attendance for the whole school year, or to get an individual’s attendance percentage for a specific period of time. 1. Go to Reports > Attendance > Individual Pupil Reports > Registration Certificates 2. Change the dates in the ‘from’ and ‘to’ tabs. 3. Make sure Group Type is Individual Students. 4. Press search (Fig. 9). 5. Double click on the name of the pupil you would like to check. 6. Press OK on the pop-up. The document will look like Fig. 10. The first box will show the pupil’s pattern of attendance with the list of codes in the Key to Codes box. The ‘Summary’ box will break down the attendance for the date period that has been selected.

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Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Registration certificates are a good way of seeing a child’s attendance percentage, and whether these are authorised or not. It is also easier to identify any patterns of absence over the course of the year, term, or half term. Registration certificates are also a good way of showing parents/carers how many days their child has missed (as long as the codes are explained to them).

2.8 SIMS Attendance Reports There are a number of useful attendance reports on SIMS which schools can use for individual pupils, selected groups or the school as a whole.

Type of report Use How to access this report on SIMS

Official Registers This is a statutory requirement.

Must be printed at the end of each month and kept for 3 years.

Reports Attendance Whole Group Pupil Reports Official Register Select Group Type Print

Individual pupils’ attendance in

detail

During any meeting with parents, to show attendance for their child for whole school year, day by day, with codes.

To send in letter to parents to demonstrate why pupil’s attendance is causing concern.

Reports Attendance Individual Pupil Reports Registration Certificates Individual Students Search Select Print

Less than or more than ?%

attendees in the whole school, year group or

form/tutor group

To identify pupils causing concern (below 80/90%).

To identify pupils with 100% attendance (to receive a certificate or letter home).

Reports Attendance Selected pupil reports Percentage attendance report Group type (e.g. year group) Less than … or more than …. Or exactly

100%….. By name Select dates Search Select the ones (or groups) you want – use

CTRL to select more than one Print OK

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Whole school attendance to date by year

group/form/tutor group

To identify attendance for each year group/form/tutor group if rewards are being given for the group with the best attendance.

To compare the attendance of different years/form/tutor groups and consider why there may be differences e.g. are some registers being closed before the rest of the school?

Reports Attendance Group reports Group session summary report Check dates Group type – year group or registration group–

select all using CTRL (or restrict to years 1-6 or 7-11)

Search Print

Pupils with a specific code

To identify those pupils who have had an absence for a particular reason e.g. M for medical or dental appointments during school time or for a holiday.

Reports Attendance Selected pupil reports Pupils with chosen code report Codes – take out present and select codes to

look at e.g. G, F, H Check dates Search Print

Whole school showing all codes

To identify if any type of absence is high across the whole school e.g. holidays in term time.

Reports Attendance Group reports Group analysis by code Group type – whole school Check dates Restrict dob range (to take out sixth form, if

required) Search Print

Minutes late To provide date, session (am/pm) and number of minutes late for a pupil and the total minutes lost over a period of time.

Reports Attendance Selected Pupil Reports Minutes late Group type (e.g. whole school) Search Print

Comments on minutes late

To provide comments relating to a pupil’s late arrivals in school.

Reports Attendance Selected Pupil Reports Comments Group type (e.g. whole school) Search Print

Registration Certificates ON SCREEN for a

selected group e.g. less than 90% in a form/tutor

group

During a consultation visit, to check individual pupils’ attendance without printing registration certificates.

Reports Attendance (or go into Lesson Monitor and

choose attendance) Individual pupil Registration Certificate Check dates Group type – Individual Students Search Choose student, click and keep CTRL pressed, Print OK (output to web browser) Click on Registration Certificate at bottom

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Individual pupil’s overall

attendance

To provide attendance totals (sessions) for end of year reports.

Reports Attendance Whole Group Pupil Reports Pupil Analysis by Attendance Category Make Selections Check dates Search Print

Individual pupil’s or other

groupings attendance by

session during a week

Can identify if a pupil is absent at the same time each week e.g. Monday (after weekend with parent with whom they do not normally live?) or on days when PE or swimming takes place.

Reports Attendance Whole Group Pupil Reports Pupil Analysis by session in week Make selections Search Print

Individual pupil’s or other

groupings attendance by

code

To show by percentage or number of sessions how absences are categorised across the school by absence code.

To show by percentage or number of sessions how an individual’s absences are categorised by code.

Reports Attendance Whole Group Pupil Reports Pupil Analysis by attendance code Make selections e.g. whole school, registration

group, year group Check dates Search Print

Whole school attendance in all

sessions of the week

To show by percentage whole school attendance for each session of the week. If a particular session is shown to be low, school can seek ways to improve it.

Reports Attendance Group Reports Group Analysis Session in Week report Check dates Make selections – e.g. present only,

percentage Search Print

To create User Defined Group

To create a list of poor attenders whose progress is checked frequently.

Focus Groups User Defined Group New Group Description and short name - complete Active state – Active Check academic year Action button (in ‘membership’) and add

member Group Type – Year Group, School tier (cannot

have whole school) Search (next to group). This provides all tiers OK Search again OK Save Then access the User Defined Group via reports.

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2.9 Penalty Notices Penalty Notices are fines of £60/£120 imposed on parents/carers and can be issued as an alternative to prosecution for poor or non-school attendance or unauthorised term time holiday or leave of absence in term time and enable parents/carers to discharge potential liability for conviction for that offence by paying a penalty. The key consideration in deciding whether to issue a penalty notice for poor or non-school attendance will be whether it can be effective in helping improve school attendance. The usual response to a first offence of poor or non-school attendance is a court warning rather than a penalty. However, a penalty notice can be issued without a Local Authority warning in exceptional circumstances and in all cases of unauthorised term time holiday or leave of absence in term time. Penalty notices may also be issued where parents/carers allow their child to be present in a public place during school hours without reasonable justification during the first five days of a fixed period or permanent exclusion. The parents/carers must have been notified by the school at the time of the exclusion of this and the days to which it applies. Headteachers may apply to the Local Authority for a penalty notice to be issued and may authorise their staff to do so. However, they must first gain the agreement of their governing body. The school’s attendance policy should be revised accordingly. Schools are given the opportunity to opt into the process of issuing their own penalty notices, but must apply to the Local Authority for a penalty notice issue number, having provided all the relevant information regarding the child and his/her circumstances. Further information is available from the EWS Senior Team Manager, including the Local Code of Conduct. A parent/carer cannot be prosecuted or issued with a penalty notice under the Education Act 1996, section 444 for a registered pupil’s failure to attend school regularly and punctually if the pupil’s absence has been authorised. A pupil’s absence must be authorised if:

The absence has been approved beforehand by the school.

The pupil is sick or unable to attend school for any other unavoidable reason.

The pupil is absent on a day that the parents/carers’ religion sets aside for religious activities.

Please note that from June 2014 there is an e-payment facility for penalty notices. This means that families will only be able to pay penalties using this facility. Should you be asked about this, please advise families of the following new arrangements in relation to the payment of a penalty notice:

Lateness: https://secure.islington.gov.uk/payments/sales/launchinternet.aspx?saleform=isl_pnlate

Non-Attendance: https://secure.islington.gov.uk/payments/sales/launchinternet.aspx?saleform=isl_pnnona

Unauthorised Term Time Leave: https://secure.islington.gov.uk/payments/sales/launchinternet.aspx?saleform=isl_pnunau

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2.10 Term Time Absence The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 to date have allowed Headteachers to grant leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday during term time in “special circumstances” of up to ten school days leave per year. Headteachers have also been able to grant extended leave for more than ten school days in exceptional circumstances. The Taylor Review carried out on behalf of the DfE in 2012 reported that many parents and some schools had interpreted this law as an automatic entitlement to an annual two-week term time holiday. Amendments to the 2006 regulations, which took effect from 1 September 2013, remove references to family holiday and extended leave, as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amendments make clear that Headteachers may NOT grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Headteachers should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted. Schools are increasingly concerned about the effect that term time absence has on overall attendance figures. Therefore, their aim is: 1. To reduce absences due to term time holidays.

- The absence codes revised in November 2013 make it easier to calculate the amount of absence due to term time absence. (H = term time holiday authorised by school; G = term time holiday NOT authorised by school.) Statistics should be communicated to parents/carers.

- If you have not got something similar already, you could include the following statement in your attendance policy:

…………….. School, working with representatives of the Local Authority, have decided that from (insert date), we will no longer authorise holidays in term time or leave of absence in term time. If you feel that there are exceptional reasons why you need to take a leave of absence in term time, please discuss these with me/the Headteacher (OR RELEVANT PERSON FOR YOUR SCHOOL) before making your plans. Leave of absence in term time will NOT be authorised, unless there are exceptional circumstances and these will be at the Headteacher’s discretion.

2. To make parents/carers aware of the impact on attainment of term time absence.

- Ensure that your attendance policy makes clear that holidays during term time will definitely not be authorised. Use your noticeboard to remind parents/carers of this at intervals through the year.

- Remind parents/carers that ALL members of the class or form/tutor group suffer if pupils take term time holidays as the teacher has to spend time helping some pupils catch up.

- Remind parents/carers also that children miss out on the social side of school life if they are absent during term time, particularly at the start of the new school year.

- Encourage parents/carers to be honest about term time absence, rather than claiming that their child is ill. Teachers often find out, by overhearing conversations etc., that pupils are going on, or have been on holiday. Challenge parents/carers about this. Make it a standing item at parent’s meetings and school productions to praise the regular attenders for their achievements.

- Do not authorise any leave of absence in term time retrospectively.

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3. To make parents/carers aware that any term time leave of absence is not an automatic right. - Government guidance states that a school can remove a child’s name from the school roll if,

following a term time absence, they do not return in the following ten school days (unless the child is sick or for any other unavoidable cause).

- Regularly advise parents/carers that leave of absence in term time is not an automatic right and must be requested in advance.

- Regularly advise parents/carers that leave of absence in term time will not be authorised, EXCEPT IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

When determining any ‘exceptional circumstances’ for authorising term-time absence:

The child’s attendance record over a period of three years should be assessed to determine the rate of previous absence.

Where there are siblings in other Islington schools, attempts should be made via the Attendance Lead in partnership with other agencies to contact the Headteacher to discuss a possible coordinated response and outcome.

If the Headteacher considers that the child’s attendance has previously been excellent, the Headteacher of any siblings has been consulted with and the circumstances for the request are exceptional, then they can decide to authorise the absence and not to issue a penalty notice.

Reasons that might constitute ‘exceptional circumstances’ include:

Service personnel returning from a tour of duty abroad where it is evidenced the individual will not be in receipt of any leave in the near future that coincides with school holidays.

Visiting a parent/carer who is imprisoned.

Where an absence is recommended by a health professional as part of a parent or child’s rehabilitation from a medical or emotional issue.

The death or terminal illness of a person close to the family. Suitable supporting evidence would be required in each case. Schools should ensure parents/carers are clear that Government guidance states that a school can remove a child’s name from the school roll if they do not return following a term-time absence of ten school days (unless the child is sick or for any unavoidable cause).

2.11 The Role of the Local Authority Broadly, the Government expects schools and Local Authorities (LAs) to:

Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence.

Ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled.

Act early to address patterns of absence. They also expect parents/carers to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age who are registered at school attend regularly, and all pupils are punctual to their lessons. The Education White Paper, ‘The Importance of Teaching’ emphasises the role of the LA to act as champions of children and parents/carers, ensuring that the school system works for every family. The LA must use its ‘democratic mandate’ to challenge every school to do the best for their local

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“Young children don't play truant from school, they are off because their parents allow it.”

Charlie Taylor, Government’s expert advisor on attendance and behaviour

population. Ensuring regular engagement with and attendance at school is an integral part of the LA’s role. The LA and schools have legal powers to use parenting contracts, parenting orders and penalty notices to address poor attendance and behaviour in school. However, where these are being used they need to ensure that parents/carers affected have access to clear, accurate information, including about their own rights and responsibilities. The LA also has other powers to enforce school attendance where this becomes problematic, including the power to prosecute parents/carers who fail to comply with a school attendance order or fail to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school. The LA will coordinate a borough-wide approach around attendance, which applies to all services, schools and providers and is premised on:

Effective partnership working and engagement with service users.

Effective use of data, information and analysis.

Developing the capacity of schools to manage attendance.

Specific targeted actions and programmes that will have direct impact on improving attendance.

Commitment to a shared priority across partners, parents/carers and schools that improving attendance at school is essential to success.

The LA strongly recommends that all schools adopt a 'distributed leadership' model of managing attendance, with all staff having a clear role and responsibility for improving attendance and reducing persistent absence. Staff should be supported to implement this model through professional development opportunities, such as reflective practice, coaching and the shadowing of others. Intervention must be based on what works. The following are key features from approaches taken by LAs that have successfully improved school attendance:

A focus on early intervention and prevention through enhanced support for primary and other schools where attendance is raised as a concern with a particular focus on improving attendance of vulnerable pupils in primary schools.

Partnership working with Early Years Foundation Stage; Children's Centres and PVI's to promote 'being ready' for school, with support for targeted families. This recognises that many schools do not take measures to improve attendance until their pupils reach statutory age, but for some children this is already too late!

Focussed work with particular primary schools with well below national average attendance levels. Non-attendance in the early years is approved by parents. This can soon become a pattern and establishes poor attitudes towards school.

Reinforcement of parental, school and LA responsibilities in promoting positive school attendance.

Effective multi-agency working practices in order to facilitate early intervention and the delivery of a seamless service. Poor attendance can often be a sign that there are more serious issues going on in the child's home.

Identification of families where poor attendance is systemic, for example, via engagement with the 'Troubled Families' programme to offer intensive support and intervention.

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Of pupils who miss more than 50% of school, only 3% manage to achieve five or more GCSE grades A*-C. 73% who have 95% attendance achieve five or more A*-C grades.

Department for Education

Family approaches that work holistically to overcome barriers through more effective use of an early help assessment and flexible early intervention services with appropriate levels of intervention, including parenting programmes.

Use of a wide range of support and sanctions through to criminal prosecution or child protection legislation. The best schools work with their parents to improve attendance and they offer a wide range of support to help them get their children to school.

Actively pursuing prosecution for those parents who fail to carry out their legal responsibility of ensuring their children attend school regularly.

Stressing the clear link between poor attendance at school and lower academic

achievement.

Strengthening of fixed penalty notice warnings for unauthorised holidays and extended holidays in term time incorporated into

common school attendance policy or parent/school agreement.

Extended holidays continue to be one of the main reasons for absence in Islington – there

needs to be modelling of ‘structured conversations’ so that there is a consistent message to all parents, no matter which school their child attends.

Good use of publicity to promote positive school attendance. The legal powers and duties that govern and/or are relevant to school attendance are detailed in Section 5: Appendix 5.3.

2.12 Education Welfare Service The Education Welfare Service (EWS) promotes the importance of regular school attendance and investigates the causes of poor attendance. When a child or young person has a record of absences, or has stopped going to school altogether, Education Welfare Officers (EWO’s) work with school staff, parents/carers and other agencies, including the courts, to improve attendance. Islington Council promotes regular school attendance for all pupils in Islington Schools, including those in the independent sector. EWOs work with schools to identify pupils whose attendance is of concern and seek to help families resolve problems through support and negotiation. Parents/carers who fail to work with their EWOs may find a range of legal sanctions used to enforce their children’s school attendance:

Issuing a Penalty Notice of £120 reduced to £60 if paid within 21 days.

Prosecution in a Magistrates’ Court.

Application to the Family Court for an Education Supervision Order.

Issuing a School Attendance Order. EWOs also use in-depth casework where there are complex problems to try and resolve any underlying issues, working in partnership with Families First who can offer support and challenge to parents/carers, children and young people in the community or the family home.

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Working with Schools EWOs work with schools to support them in developing effective strategies and to promote and raise the profile of good school attendance. The popular Arsenal Project has been used in primary schools to raise pupil awareness about the importance of attending school regularly, rewarding good school attendance and providing an incentive for pupils who are finding things difficult. School absence profiles, produced with published and provisional data taken from the previous academic year, should be used at the beginning of the academic year to support action planning around attendance and statutory action. EWOs work can include:

Visiting schools in Islington and discussing pupils whose attendance is of concern, using Persistent Absentee Tracking Sheets as a communication tool.

Giving advice, assistance and support to schools, parents/carers and pupils on the importance of good school attendance.

Mediating between the child’s home and school if there is a breakdown in communication.

Helping schools and families identify and overcome any difficulties which prevent children from attending school regularly.

Completing early help assessments using the CAF, in collaboration with the school, child, parent/carer and other professionals to identify unmet needs.

Working as the lead professional to co-ordinate support for the child where it is appropriate.

Participating as a member of the team working around the child, providing support.

Referring cases with difficulties to other specialist services.

Working in partnership with parents/carers, schools, social services and other agencies to secure good education for children.

Assisting schools in promoting good attendance and punctuality.

Helping parents/carers and schools to meet their legal obligations concerning school attendance.

Enforcing school attendance on behalf of the council.

Working with schools on their attendance policies and strategies.

Working with other teams within the council, to provide coordinated support to schools.

Working with other agencies, including with the police when they are on truancy patrols.

Advising schools on child protection matters. Other aspects of EWS’ work include:

Supporting elective home education requests from parents/carers, being part of the risk assessment that is carried out in the initial stages and issuing SAO’s in appropriate circumstances.

Following up on all children off rolled from school registers without a school destination.

Following up on all children missing education (CME) and missing children referrals received from school or other sources, investigating each case and requesting a review meeting with Children’s Social Care if concerns exist, within 5 days.

Advising schools, processing and undertaking duties in relation to child employment and child entertainment responsibilities.

Approving and registering chaperones to safeguard children in the entertainment industry.

Working with the Community EWS works closely with the Police, combatting truancy by undertaking truancy sweeps across the borough. This involves stopping children who are in public areas during the school day, whether or not they are with parents/carers. Pupils found to be out of school without a legitimate reason can be

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returned to school. The EWO for the school is informed and parents/carers will be contacted where appropriate. Truancy sweeps therefore, create an effective way of raising the profile of good school attendance. Apart from promoting a return to school, truancy sweeps are effective in discouraging young people from entering into anti-social or criminal activities and preventing them from becoming victims of crime.

Attendance Strategy and Partnership Attendance is strongly linked to educational achievement and staying safe and is important to promote positive emotional health and wellbeing. Here in Islington we believe in:

Taking a borough-wide approach to improving pupil attendance.

Supporting schools to take a whole school approach and preventative action.

Taking a tough line on statutory action – using parental responsibility measures collected yearly by the DfE.

Supporting parents/carers within the context of the ‘tough’ approach and encouraging them to engage with schools.

Targeted support for vulnerable pupils, including pupils with SEN, Children Looked After (CLA), Children in Need (CIN) or subject to a child protection plan and those involved in or at risk of youth crime.

Promoting strong messages to parents/carers about the importance of good attendance.

Schools being involved in all aspects of follow-up and interventions with families around poor attendance. Any poor attendance is contrary to each school’s attendance policy and therefore they should be a ‘visible’ part of any steps put in place to support families. At times this may be in partnership with other agencies. Where statutory action is necessary, the school should be involved in each stage of the process (even if they have decided not to issue their own penalty notices).

Understanding the links between attendance and safeguarding children as well as children missing education.

Improving partnership working to ensure that young people and parents/carers get the support they need to address the range of family issues associated with poor attendance.

Guidance for Schools Detailed guidance is provided to schools on raising pupil attendance. Schools maintain and provide detailed attendance data to the EWS on a half termly basis and using that information, actions are agreed with schools on all pupils with attendance below 85%. There is therefore no formal referral form to the EWS for cases to become active. An agreement in the regular meeting between the EWO and the school that EWS action is required is sufficient. Schools provide attendance information and pupil and family information. In these discussions schools must discuss with the EWO any pupil with a child protection or child in need plan, any pupil who has been absent continuously for ten days or more, any pupil with poor school attendance (85% and under) or with a pattern of authorised or unauthorised absences, where pupils go missing either because they have run away or moved and when pupils transfer school.

Approach to Statutory Action By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive full time education. Parents/carers are responsible for ensuring this happens, either by registering children at school, or by making other arrangements which provide suitable education.

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Attempts should have been made to conduct an early help assessment using the CAF format in advance of any consideration of statutory action. However, if after a period of EWS intervention, children do not attend school regularly, parents/carers can be issued with a penalty notice. If this is not paid in time, the poor school attendance will be referred to the Magistrates’ Court. The court will expect that an early help assessment has been attempted before any order will be made and families should be informed of this.

2.13 Families First

“We have come to rely on the service very much, and would be lost without it. In a school like this, with many disadvantaged families, it provides an invaluable service.”

(Islington School, 2013)5

We know that being a parent is not always easy and that all families need extra help at some stage as children grow up. Poor school attendance is often a sign that the family is in some difficulty therefore early help to parents is a priority if improvement is to be made and sustained. A named Families First family support worker is linked to each Islington school. Families First work with families who have a child between the ages of 5 and 19 years, who live in Islington or are temporarily housed in another borough. This is a voluntary service that works with families at an early stage of their problems, below the threshold for Children’s Social Care involvement. Schools and professionals can refer to Families First or families can self-refer. Families can get support from Families First for a wide range of problems including: practical worries like debt or rent arrears; problems in managing the behaviour or a child or teenager, help with establishing routines for bedtime, homework time or getting up in the morning; or to help them get back on track when physical or mental health problems are holding them back; or when there is conflict or difficult relationships in the family. If a child in school has attendance that has reduced suddenly or absence is 10% or more (attendance is 90% or below) then the school should speak to their linked family support worker to determine what practical support can be put in place to improve attendance and/or behaviour at school. The family support worker can also provide information to parents/carers about parenting programmes. Islington has a range of parenting programmes that have been proven internationally to improve outcomes for children. These are groups run over a number of weeks that help with behaviour management and parenting confidence. They also build a network of support for families who are often made more vulnerable by isolation. The school’s linked family support worker can help staff to engage Families First to support a family or the service can also be contacted on 0207 527 4343 or through completing an ECAF and sending to csctreferrals@islington.gov.uk.

5 Early Impact Report – Families First (2013).

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2.14 A Joined-Up Approach for Supporting Schools with Improving Pupil Attendance

Education Welfare Service (Pupil’s Services), Families First and Stronger Families (Children’s Services) Purpose of this document: To set out how schools, Education Welfare Service, Families First and the Stronger Families teams work together to improve the attendance and punctuality of children and young people in Islington’s schools and education settings. Roles: School – Schools are responsible for promoting regular attendance, ensuring there is a policy and procedures in place that are up to date and which addresses early intervention thresholds with a clear escalation process when a trigger point is reached, and that all staff are aware of their responsibilities in relation to attendance. The school’s Attendance Lead is responsible for managing the whole-school attendance approach and will work in collaboration with the Education Welfare Officer and Families First to ensure early intervention where the attendance of children and young people is cause for concern. Education Welfare Service – The EWO will support strategic whole-school approaches to improving attendance with the school Attendance Lead. For children and young people with attendance below 85%, they will work in partnership with the school, Families First Family Support Worker and/or other Lead professional (e.g. social worker) to improve attendance. Families First – To support children and young people with any attendance issues who are within families with multiple problems (for example, this may be parenting, housing, debt, anti-social behavior, domestic violence issues), working in partnership with the school and the Education Welfare Service. Stronger Families Programme – This programme is in place to support and challenge families with multiple problems who qualify for the national ‘Troubled Families’ programme. These families may have a number of problems such as: young people involved in criminal behavior, tenancy at risk due to anti-social behavior, poor school attendance or exclusions, adults out of work and on benefits, other family problems such as domestic violence, health problems etc. This is NOT a new service, but a programme that seeks to change the way we work with Islington’s most vulnerable families to enable them to make lasting positive changes to their lives.

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2.15 Virtual School Local Authorities have a statutory responsibility to make sure that they promote the educational achievement of the children they look after, regardless of where they are placed. This means that Local Authorities must consider the educational implications of every decision taken about a child's care and placement. This reflects their wider role as a corporate parent – Local Authorities must strive to offer all the support that a good parent/carer would provide, in order to make sure that the children they look after reach their full potential. Having a Virtual School model is one of the key ways in which a Local Authority can demonstrate that it is undertaking its statutory duty. In Islington, the Virtual School team is part of the Children’s Social Care Service. The Virtual School offers a specialised education service, which involves:

Supporting and challenging schools to enable the best outcomes for children looked after (CLA).

Offering educational advice and guidance to social workers, schools, carers and other professionals, as well as updating corporate parents about new education policy, legislation and practices.

Attending Personal Education Plan meetings (PEPs).

Monitoring how schools are using the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) to raise the attainment of CLA. Advising schools on the most effective ways of how the grant can be used to maximise positive outcomes for all CLA.

Arranging additional tuition for CLA, mainly in Year 6 and Year 11.

Finding appropriate/new schools where necessary.

Arranging visits to universities through the ‘Widening Participation’ programme.

Promoting literacy through the ‘Books for Keeps’ programme.

Running training sessions for social workers, carers, ‘designated teachers’ and governors.

Hosting an annual education celebration event at the Emirates stadium.

What the Virtual School does around attendance

We employ a company called ‘Looked After Call’ which tracks the daily attendance of all CLA wherever they are placed. This daily information is then followed up when required, by the Attendance and Inclusion Coordinator, a dedicated post held in the team to maintain the very good attendance levels of CLA to Islington. As all CLA are also allocated to Virtual School staff, there is an additional level of monitoring by the ‘class teacher.’ It is Islington policy that young people CLA do not take unauthorised leave e.g. holidays during term time. In ‘exceptional circumstances’ social workers have to consult with the Virtual School Headteacher, Head of Service and the ‘home’ school Headteacher. Any reported exclusions are followed up with social workers, foster carers and schools where necessary and Virtual School staff attend all reintegration meetings if the young person has had more than one fixed term exclusion. At the weekly ‘Child in Focus’ meeting chaired by the Virtual School Headteacher, attendance, exclusion, possible school and placement changes are discussed; plans are then put in place to ensure that no CLA is without a school place. CLA identified as needing extra support and/or plans to improve attendance, are discussed at TAC meetings convened and chaired by Virtual School staff.

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The PEP meeting is also used as another opportunity to discuss attendance and whether additional support could be put in place; for example mentoring. The Virtual School has a member of staff who runs peer mentoring and group sessions for CLA with attendance and behavioural difficulties. The young people involved in this work have reported less instances of exclusion and improved levels of attendance and engagement in school.

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2.16 Health & Wellbeing (Healthy Schools) The Health and Wellbeing team, within the School Improvement Service, supports schools’ and early years settings’ work on physical and mental health. The team consists of experienced teaching and learning consultants, a dietician and project officers with extensive experience of working with parents/carers and vulnerable young people. The team uses a ‘whole school approach’ to health and can support schools with their:

Policies.

Curriculum, teaching and learning.

Support for vulnerable pupils.

Work with parents/carers.

Culture and environment (including school food, playground, pupil voice and work with the community).

Team members support staff to develop expertise and confidence in what can be sensitive or controversial issues: sex and relationships, mental health, healthy weight, physical activity, drugs, alcohol, smoking and oral health. The Health and Wellbeing team members work alongside other services to support pupils’ physical and mental health and wellbeing:

CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health service).

Educational Psychology Service.

School Nursing: school nurses can provide advice to the school regarding health issues, including liaison with other health professionals, for any pupils with attendance of 85% or less.

School Home Support. The team can advise schools on agencies that can support pupils and parents/carers, for example:

Family Action Young Carers Service.

CASA Family Service (for families who are having difficulties because of parental use of alcohol or other drugs).

Barnardos’ Miss U project (for pupils who have or are believed to be at risk of running away/going missing from home).

Community dental service.

Nutrition and dietetics, allergy and weight management services (including MoreLife). The team’s support for schools is funded through public health and could be used to support attendance in a variety of ways, including:

Coaching and mentoring for teachers in ‘happy classrooms’.

Establishing groups for more vulnerable pupils (e.g. ‘girls groups’).

Improving breakfast clubs and school lunch provision.

Pupil participation, including on toilets, food, anti-bullying and behaviour.

Improving the playground experience.

Advising on evidence based practice to support positive mental health.

Categorising illness to understand patterns and possible prevention strategies.

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2.17 Monitoring and Tracking Medical Illnesses

Why is it important for schools to have more than an ‘I’ code for pupil absence recorded in their registers? If schools record the medical reasons for a child being absent from school, this information can be used by Health to identify children whose long term conditions e.g asthma, epilepsy and diabetes are not being managed well. This information can be fed into new mechanisms that the CCG is developing to improve the co-ordination of health care for such children and improve their outcomes. One such development is children’s teleconferencing, whereby the child’s GP, health visiting, school nursing, children’s community nursing and hospital paediatricians ring in to discuss a child’s health care. Information about persistent absence from school due to a particular medical condition could be used by school nurses in the first instance, to identify and refer children in to these virtual meetings. The full potential of this arrangement has not yet been realised. Recording the medical reasons for medical absences will also open up further opportunities for improved collaborative working with Health in future.

Sabrina Rees, Head of Children’s Health Commissioning,

Islington Children's Partnership

To date, some schools have been using the ‘Medical Events’ section of SIMs to record the reasons for pupil ‘illness’. However, they should be aware that this is actually the incorrect area. There is a tab entitled ‘Medical’ which is the correct area to record this information. The drop-down menu is populated with the appropriate medical conditions and can be easily added to by individual schools/users to meet the needs of their pupils. Please see below for instructions on how medical conditions can be added for individual pupils and how to add additional medical conditions if needed. Adding a Medical Condtion to an individual pupil record 1. In SIMS select ‘Medical’ - tab 7 2. Select the condition from the drop down menu, complete the date the information was received

and any notes, click ‘save’

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Updating the Medical Conditions database in SIMS.Net 1. If you need to add a medical condition to the database, select Tools | Lookups| Maintain 2. Type Medical Condition into the description box and ‘search’ 3. Double click on ‘Medical Condition under the Description to open 4. Select ‘New’ to add the details, you will need to create a unique code for the medical condition,

save. 5. You will need log out of SIMS in order for the changes to take effect, click ‘ok’ to the message.

Please note that this particular piece of work is currently being developed and therefore all schools and academies will be receiving more detailed information about the monitoring and tracking of medical absences in September, once the

Education Improvement Strategy Group (EISG) has been consulted.

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2.18 School Improvement Service The School Improvement Service has a clear focus on leadership, management and teaching and learning to support school improvement priorities. It can support schools in the Early Years, Primary and Secondary areas. The teams who deliver these services consist of experienced teaching and learning consultants with a wide range of expertise, who have held senior leadership positions in schools. The consultants offer a range of services to meet the needs of individual schools across all phases. School improvement support provision might consist of:

Coaching and mentoring for leaders and teachers.

Lesson observations and feedback.

Supported self-reviews against focused school priorities or for individual subjects/phases.

Co-planning, teaching and evaluation.

Support with strategic planning and self-evaluation.

A comprehensive range of centrally-run professional development for teachers and leaders that can be adapted and run within schools.

Regular workshops and updates on policy and practice for Headteachers.

Advice on intervention planning and evaluation. Therefore, support around attendance could be offered in any of the following ways:

Working collaboratively with EWS and/or Families First – setting up strategy meetings either before or during initial work with schools.

Structured conversations with Headteachers and other senior leaders as part of the school’s preparation for inspection.

Promoting and supporting schools in the setting up of whole-school attendance systems.

Working with school leaders and other key staff around data – the monitoring and tracking of particular groups of children;

Talking with staff and/or pupils about how to strengthen pupil voice in relation to attendance. This could involve supporting the setting up of a school council and ensuring that attendance is a recurring agenda item, in order to ensure that pupils are actively involved in a whole-school approach to attendance.

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Section Three

Whole-School Approaches to Improving Attendance

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3.1 Assemblies These should be used to acknowledge and celebrate excellent or improved attendance or punctuality and also raise awareness of attendance issues. At the end of an assembly, on a regular basis, provide pupils with a statistic or question relating specifically to attendance to think about. These could then be discussed further with their class teacher/form tutor. Examples might be:

There are only 40 teaching weeks in the school year; there are 12 weeks of holiday.

Missing six days every term of every year is the same as missing one whole school year.

95% attendance sounds good, but means that you are taking one day off a month.

Would you think it was acceptable if one of your teachers did not come to school to teach you for a week because he/she had gone on holiday in term time?

If your parents were prosecuted for your non-school attendance, how long might they have to spend in prison? [3 months].

Parents can be issued with a penalty notice of up to £120 if you have more than 15 sessions of absence in any ten week period.

Ask pupils to take part in poster competitions advertising good school attendance. Certificates can be presented in assemblies to acknowledge excellent or improved attendance or punctuality either at the end of each half term, term or academic year. Competitions can be organised - best attending class, best attending year group, best individual improvers, lateness, attendance, 100% attender clubs. Rewards can include trips to local bowling alleys, cinemas, fact finding/treasure hunts using local libraries, Arsenal stadium tours etc. Good attendance assemblies can be reinforced with individual class workshops, one per term to include, what the reasons for authorised absences could be, quizzes and poster competitions. Also see section on Rewards and Incentives (Section 3.13).

3.2 Curriculum Links Schools could have a whole week where school attendance is the focus for all activities. Examples might be:

Education round the world in Geography, or Modern Foreign Languages.

Development and history of education in History.

Attendance graphs in Maths. These can be printed in colour and laminated and put outside classrooms for all to see. The best attending class that week will win a prize.

In PE, tournaments could be held in team sports. Teams would be placed according to their scores but points would then be added or taken away for attendance, merits etc. of team members.

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3.3 Data and Attendance Reports There are a number of useful attendance reports on SIMS (see Section 2.7) which schools can use for individual pupils, selected groups or the school as a whole. They can help with EWO consultation visits, Ofsted inspections, parents’ evenings, progress reports, reward giving and general analysis to improve attendance. Whole school attendance data as mentioned in Section 1.6, as well as school profiles mentioned in Section 2.11 (Working with Schools) should be used to evaluate school performance and inform action planning for the current academic year.

3.4 First Day Response Make sure that first day response procedures are included in the school’s attendance policy. When setting up first day response, consider the following:

Is this for all pupils or targeted groups? For example, a particular class or year group with poor attendance, a list of named pupils?

Does the target group change regularly and how? For example, class teachers/form tutors can give the Attendance Worker a different list each month.

Who carries out first day response? Do they need training/coaching?

How challenging/probing is the first day response?

After what time are first day response calls made? This should be immediately after the time at which registers close.

How is the telephone contact list updated?

How is information from first day response used to update the registers? Is the sheet given back to class teachers/form tutors with responses or does the Attendance Worker mark the register electronically?

Is the person receiving the information able to authorise the absence?

How is information from first day response collated and disseminated? Is it used at parents’ evenings?

Who is responsible for ensuring the quality and consistency of first day response calls? Are they challenging? The questioning should be rigorous and not too sympathetic where appropriate.

2.15 Home-School Agreement A home-school agreement is a statement explaining:

The school’s aims and values.

The school’s responsibilities towards its pupils who are of compulsory school age.

The responsibility of each pupil’s parents/carers.

What the school expects of its pupils.

All maintained schools and academies are required to publish a home-school agreement and associated parental declaration. Schools must take reasonable steps to ensure that all registered parents/carers of pupils sign the parental declaration to indicate that they understand and accept the contents of the home-school agreement.

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Suggested topics to cover in your home-school agreement include:

The ethos of the school;

The importance of, and responsibility for, regular and punctual attendance;

The importance of, and responsibility for, good discipline and behaviour;

What is expected from schools, parents/carers and pupils in relation to homework;

The information schools and parents/carers will give one another.

2.16 Communicating with Parents/Carers

Ensure you have a real person at the end of the phone, who can challenge and probe reasons for absence, following a parent/carer calling the school to report their child’s absence.

Avoid having an automated message requesting the caller to “press 1 to report a child’s absence” as this will make it easier for parents/carers to continue to do so and undermines the school attendance policy.

Letters to parents/carers of individual pupils with poor school attendance can be very effective, and we recommend that they be in the language read by the parent/carer.* If you have a computerised registration system, you can easily run off a list of those with, for example, attendance of less than 90% and identify those pupils for whom a letter may be appropriate. There may be pupils who, for example, have had a serious illness or a bereavement, whose parents/carers should not be sent a letter. Otherwise, class teachers/form tutors can be asked to provide names of pupils about whom they have attendance concerns.

Letters to parents/carers should be addressed to individuals, not “Dear Parent/Carer” and should refer to children’s individual names and attendance percentages.

* At www.primaryresources.co.uk/letters there is a very useful bank of translations of standard

letters for primary and secondary schools that include letters on absence and on attendance in general.

3.7 Communicating with New Parents/Carers Schools need to invest time and resources to ensure the need for good attendance is effectively communicated to new parents/carers, including those of pupils arriving mid-year who may be facing additional barriers linked to temporary accommodation, understanding the school system and being new to English. It is also important to develop coordinated messages on attendance with other agencies, including the community and voluntary sector. Robust admission systems that give time to building trust and good communication with new parents/carers are therefore vital. Schools have also found special evenings or sessions for new parents/carers to be an effective way of promoting good attendance. These sessions present the chance to talk to parents/carers about school attendance when they may be new to the school environment and open to hearing about the school ethos on attendance. Topics for a presentation could include:

To authorise or not to authorise - The responsibility for deciding whether an absence is authorised or not authorised is the Headteacher’s. Parents/carers should be made aware that

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merely providing an explanation for their child’s absence does not automatically constitute an ‘authorisation’ for this absence. This is the Headteacher’s decision alone.

Pupil sickness - No school can predict or prevent pupils from becoming unwell. Talks to new parents/carers can be used to promote parental co-operation with the school. You can request that parents/carers contact school on the morning that their child is unwell. Parents/carers should be encouraged to bring children into school ‘if in doubt’ as the school can contact them if their child worsens during the day. Parents/carers must provide the school with current contact addresses and telephone numbers to facilitate this.

Term time absence/unauthorised absence in term time - You can discuss the impact term time absence has on pupils’ academic attainment. Tell parents/carers about the arrangements in place for requesting a term time holiday and make it clear that these absences are unlikely to be authorised.

The ‘odd day off’ attitude - Some parents/carers feel that the ‘odd day off’ as a treat for a birthday or day out really doesn’t matter. Parental attitudes like this can be extremely difficult to change. New parent/carer talks are inclusive and non-judgmental and can be a means of promoting a positive discussion about the subject.

Lateness - Tell parents/carers about the impact of lateness on their child’s opportunities to learn. If registration time/form periods happen at the start of the school day, pupils arriving late and missing part or all of these sessions will be severely disadvantaged as they will not receive important information about school matters or receive documents to take home. Ask parents/carers to imagine their own embarrassment when they arrive late to an event, have to slip in at the back without bringing attention to themselves, try to get up to speed with what is being said, try to piece together what has been said already, and then imagine their child having to do that when they arrive late at school.

Medical/Dental appointments - Ask parents/carers to make these appointments outside school hours or in the school holidays wherever possible. Also clarify that if an appointment is made during school time, these do not last for the whole day. Pupils are expected to return to school afterwards.

3.8 Parents’ Evenings Parents’ Evenings are an ideal opportunity to talk about attendance with every parent/carer who attends so that individuals do not feel as if they are being singled out. Strategies to use could include:

Attendance records - an individual registration certificate can be given to parents/carers as they arrive so that accurate information can be discussed in confidence if they are meeting their child’s class teacher, form tutor or pastoral head. The class/form average, school average or school target can be compared with that for the child.

Questionnaires - you can use these to increase parents/carers’ awareness of the ethos of the school on attendance and punctuality. If form tutors or subject teachers do not have enough time to do this, can you enlist another member of staff to carry out this task?

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3.9 Poor Attenders - Meetings with Parents/Carers and Pupils Analysis of your attendance data will identify those pupils whose attendance is at a level which causes concern. You will need to decide where you set this level and plan strategies for working with those pupils below it. One strategy may be to invite parents/carers and pupils to a meeting with the Headteacher or Attendance Lead and identify:

Reasons for the poor attendance.

Strategies to address improving the attendance.

Targets to achieve.

A date for a review to take place.

3.10 Punctuality Ensure parents/carers and pupils know that punctuality matters, both for individuals and for the smooth running of the school community. Strategies could include:

Parents’ Evenings: Teachers can discuss the importance of good punctuality. Schools can calculate the total number of pupil late arrivals for the previous academic year to display on a noticeboard and state the amount of learning time lost.

Interviewing Parents: Parents/carers of pupils who arrive late and who do not respond to usual school strategies could be invited into school to discuss the situation. The discussion could involve pastoral staff and the EWO. Explain to parents/carers the difference between codes L and U (late before/after registers close) and the implication of a U code (unauthorised absence for the whole morning or afternoon session). The interview is a means to discuss the impact of persistent late arrival on the child’s education and on his peers and teachers. You can ask parents/carers to implement the following strategies: - Bedtime routines – packing school bag ready for the next day, getting to bed earlier, setting a

time for a television in the bedroom to be turned off. - Morning routines – setting the alarm earlier, set time for a little lie-in, no television until ready

for school (and maybe not even then), having breakfast before leaving home, so no need to call in at the shop, meeting a reliable friend to walk to school with.

- Coming to school for breakfast club if available. - Finding out if parents/carers would lose their job if they were late once a week. Pupils should

establish good punctuality habits while they are young.

Following Improvement: - Send a letter (or praise postcard) to parents/carers acknowledging any improvements in

punctuality. - Reward pupils in assemblies with ‘most improved’ certificates and small prizes.

Late Patrols - Good Practice Guidelines: School gate patrols (or ‘late gates’) can be a useful way of targeting punctuality issues within the school setting, in conjunction with other methods to support and improve whole school attendance and punctuality. Aims: - To improve punctuality of pupils arriving for school each day.

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- To make pupils and parents/carers aware of the importance of good punctuality and the impact this has on learning and achievement.

- To highlight issues of poor punctuality. - To target specific areas e.g. lateness on mornings when assembly takes place, - To work with pupils and parents/carers as appropriate to improve punctuality. - To support school strategies to improve punctuality and attendance, including statutory action

where attendance and/or punctuality and unauthorised lateness can be instigated. Issues to Consider: - School gate patrols can be useful and the following issues should be considered: - Parents/carers should be told that school gate patrols are about to happen. - Who will undertake the gate patrol? The Attendance Lead, if involved, must be accompanied

by either the Headteacher or a senior member of school staff, or an Education Welfare Officer, to demonstrate a joint approach and to ensure that those pupils who have genuine issues are not approached. All staff must wear ID badges.

- Pupils arriving on time should be praised and stickers given (primary schools). - When will the gate patrol take place? – It is important to ensure that gate patrols are well

planned, and that the times chosen will highlight the importance of good punctuality (e.g. from 10 minutes prior to the start of school to 20 minutes after the start of school).

- Where will the gate patrol take place? – Where will staff stand to ensure that pupils are seen and can be spoken to easily? At the school gate, on the path leading into school, at the school door (dependent on number of entrances used), outside a particular targeted form room or key stage area?

- How frequently will the gate patrol take place? – Maybe several occasions close together initially, and then further ad hoc occasions to remind pupils of the importance of punctuality.

- Who will speak to pupils – will this be the role of the staff member or the Attendance Lead? Plan what will be said in advance, to ensure that messages are consistent and appropriate.

- What follow up will be required? – Agree who will deal with any issues that require follow up, e.g. letters to parents/carers, punctuality awards for improvement in schools. It is good practice to follow up with an article in the school newsletter, or letter to parents/carers explaining the piece of work.

3.11 Pupil Premium The Pupil Premium is an additional amount of money that is put into a school budget to support pupils who may benefit from extra support. This may include children who are in the care of the Local Authority, children who are entitled to free school meals (FSM) or have parents/carers who serve in the armed forces. The purpose of the Pupil Premium is to ensure support is in place to allow pupils to reach their full potential. Support may be targeted individually, as part of a group, or through resourcing for a class room or curriculum area. Pupils are unlikely to make the expected levels of progress required or realise their full potential unless they attend school regularly. Pupil Premium money could therefore be used to employ an attendance officer, to ensure capacity is in place to provide additional support for individual pupils and their families. It could also be used to fund someone who focuses on tracking the attendance of

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students, ensuring the early first response procedures are in place and supporting the work of the attendance officer and EWO. An additional focus on attendance may not only help to improve the whole school attendance figure, but more importantly Pupil Premium pupils’ attendance will increase and therefore the gap between Pupil Premium and non-Pupil Premium pupils may then begin to narrow.

Analysing Cost Effectiveness Jack Sloan, the Deputy Head at Hanover Primary School explains how he uses ‘user-defined groups’ in SIMS to analyse the cost effectiveness of the interventions funded by the pupil premium At Hanover, as in all schools across the country, we are developing systems to spend our Pupil Premium allocation effectively. We are lucky to have excellent teaching and support staff who are committed to improving outcomes for all children, and this year we have been monitoring progress like never before! The model we have developed for monitoring cost-effectiveness of interventions has made extensive use of SIMs and the SIMs Assessment Analysis. For each intervention or group, we set up a ‘user-defined group.’ This enables us to easily track the progress of children over time, and helps us build a picture of whether a strategy is working. When we set up an intervention using Pupil Premium funding, we cost out the programme using the following formula: cost of the intervention, per FSM6 child, per hour. We then multiply this up and work out the cost to date at key analysis points. As these children will form a user-defined group, we can then easily check on their progress. This year, it has become clear that most of our interventions are cost-effective (children who participated have made expected or better progress as set against their individual targets). However, we discovered in April that one particularly costly intervention was not working. 6 out of the 11 participants were not on track to meet their targets. This enabled us to quickly intervene and to begin to ask questions. This resulted in our re-training of the staff-member in the strategies needed to deliver the intervention, and we are looking forward to seeing improved outcomes by the end of this term. We are finding the use of user-defined groups particularly helpful in many ways – we use them as described above to work out cost-effectiveness of interventions, but also to hold teachers and other members of staff to account. It is, of course, important and useful to be able to analyse data by year group, registration group or SEN category, but we find the flexibility of being able to set up our own groups a particularly powerful tool at Hanover.

3.12 School Noticeboard The school noticeboard should be prominent with the latest information on attendance and punctuality figures. However, you may like to create a noticeboard purely for attendance statistics which you can use in various situations:

Remind parents/carers what your school’s attendance policy says about term time absence.

Give parents/carers the school holiday dates well before the start of the school year, preferably in the previous academic year and with a reminder later.

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Display graphs showing current attendance and punctuality statistics (hopefully highlighting improvements).

Reports can provide whole school attendance or for specific class/form group or year groups.

Reports can show how certain types of absence, such as family holidays in term time, affect the whole school attendance figure.

Update your noticeboard whenever rewards are given, either for individuals or form/tutor groups.

Inform parents/carers that attendance will be discussed during parents’ evenings.

3.13 Rewards and Incentives These can be given to individuals or class or form/tutor groups: Individuals:

Pupils can receive certificates for excellent or improved attendance or punctuality.

Pupils can receive a raffle ticket (could be virtual) for each week when they have full attendance. At the end of each term, the winning ticket is chosen. A larger prize can be given at the end of the school year. Obviously, the more tickets a pupil has, the greater chance they have of winning.

Points can be given for good attendance (as well as other achievements)

Rewards can be given for gaining an agreed number of points (e.g. cinema tickets, phone vouchers).

Year 6/11 are only allowed to attend the leaver’s party or prom if they have enough points.

Golden tickets are issued to 100% attenders and/or they can join the ‘100%s club’ where they are given special benefits and/or responsibilities e.g. opportunities to become peer mentors, monitors, school council representatives, organisers of events/competitions etc.

Class or form/tutor groups: The class or form/tutor group with the best attendance or the fewest late arrivals (depending on your priority) each week, month or half term could receive a reward.

The reward can be something which is free, such as being first in for lunch for a week. You may be able to identify a reward which would be particularly valued by your pupils or you may choose to ask your pupils what they would like to receive as a reward.

The task of calculating which pupils or class or form/tutor groups should receive rewards needs to be done regularly for it to be effective. It is easy to let this slip and be forgotten.

Some suggested rewards and incentives:

Primary: As part of an ‘attendance tree’ project, pupils are given a gold leaf for 100% attendance, silver for over 98%, and bronze for over 95%. At the end of each term, the pupils add their leaves, with their names on, to the tree, and are presented with a certificate in assembly. At the end of the year, those with over 95% attendance over the whole year are entered into a prize draw.

Secondary: The school runs a weekly lottery for a five pounds cash prize. At assembly, a tutor group is drawn at random from a bag, and then a pupil number is drawn from another bag. If that pupil has a 100% attendance record for the week, they win the prize money, but if not the prize rolls over to the next week. Pupils enjoy the event and it helps to increase their motivation to come to school.

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Section Four

Case Studies and Best Practice

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4.1 Examples of Good Practice at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School

Prompt follow up by the Attendance Officer on absence – first day calling and text messaging.

‘Keep Kids Safe’

Very close cooperation between the Attendance Officer and EWO.

EWO meets fortnightly with the Attendance Lead (Deputy Headteacher).

Fortnightly meetings between Heads of Year and EWO.

Community Support Officers play an active role in attendance – regular telephone calls home. CSO’s attend meetings with parents in school where possible. CSO’s also assist in tracing non-returners and CME.

Twice-yearly meetings are organised by the Attendance Officer and EGA’s CSO’s for Bengali and Somali parents/carers, where detailed information about school’s expectations for attendance is given. Similar meetings are planned for Turkish parents/carers.

Fortnightly home visits are carried out by Bengali CSO and EWO to targeted group of poor attenders – the visits are either scheduled or unscheduled. These have proved particularly helpful where parents/carers do not attend scheduled meetings in school and have brought about marked and sustained improvement in the attendance of a group of long-term persistent absentees.

Holiday penalty notices are routinely issued to parents/carers where a minimum of 5 days unauthorised leave have been taken. Follow-up is consistent and the vast majority are paid.

EGA has taken a robust stance where statutory action is concerned – prosecutions have helped to improve attendance in the worst cases.

EWO is employed full-time and this has been helpful in improving attendance as EWO capacity is greater and allows for earlier follow-up, impromptu home visits and telephone calls, more meetings with parents/carers, greater participation in meetings (TAF, TAC, Pupil Support Panel etc.)

More preventative type attendance work is taking place at EGA. Typically, poor attendance cases are taken up by EWO/Heads of Year at an earlier point – around 92% so that the number of persistent absentees is greatly reduced.

HOY 7 and EWO have regular meetings with girls to discuss any problems/potential attendance concerns.

At EGA there is a very strong ethos of collaborative working with other agencies, i.e. Families First, CAMHS and IFIT to combat attendance problems.

The school nurse is very actively involved in cases of poor attendance, has access to consultants and other medical bodies and relays medical information to schools where relevant.

The strategic placement of professionals helps to improve communications e.g. EGA’s CP professional and EWO share an office.

‘Think Forward’ group is working to help engage those pupils in Years 10 and 11 who do not engage well with education. Effective collaboration with the EWO and joint home visits have helped to improve attendance and punctuality in under-engaged pupils.

Year 11 peer mentors help to support under-engaged pupils in Years 10 and 11.

Senior Leadership team encourages very active competition between year groups. Attendance is the first subject on the agenda of SLT meetings.

EWO arranges meetings with parents/carers of pupils in alternative provisions to address attendance problems of AP pupils who remain on the school’s roll.

EWO carries out joint home visits/visits to colleges with AP Coordinators where there are attendance concerns.

Medical reasons for absence are followed up promptly and efficiently. Parents/carers are expected to call on a daily basis to update school when pupils are ill.

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Punctuality

There is currently a drive to improve punctuality at EGA. Heads of Year are encouraged to concentrate on a group of the least punctual pupils. The Attendance Officer meets regularly with Heads of Year to examine lateness data and identify the worst offenders.

Habitual latecomers are removed from their tutor groups to take part in small group discussions around punctuality.

Daily text messages to parents/carers to alert them to lateness.

School requests proof of medical appointments when a pupil is late.

The Attendance Officer telephones all parents/carers of pupils who arrive at or after 9:30am without authorisation. The pupil must meet with the Attendance Officer for a telephone conference with parents/carers before going to class.

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4.2 Procedures in Place at Gillespie to Support Good Attendance and Punctuality

A strong ethos of good attendance and punctuality supported by all staff (Deputy Headteacher and Attendance Officer not just working in isolation).

Clear attendance policy in place reviewed and shared regularly with parents/carers. Policy shared at the start of each new academic year.

School newsletters regularly include attendance information and highlight messages we want to get across to parents/carers.

In foyer of school, attendance display reflects importance of 95+ attendance and being on time.

Each week class attendance figures (%s) for all year groups are displayed for parents/carers to see.

Beginning of summer term, a letter goes out reminding parents/carers that children need to have good attendance right up until the end of the summer term and that early leave for holidays will not be authorised.

Good attendance is also being pushed with youngest children (in nursery and reception classes). Good attendance is highlighted at home visits and at the meetings for new nursery and reception parents/carers.

Regular reminders given to parents/carers that where leave from school is required, a leave of absence form needs to be completed and again key points are highlighted and reinforced to parents/carers.

Parents/carers who speak directly to the Headteacher or another member of staff re: leave of absence is directed to the Attendance Officer and Deputy Headteacher. In this way there is a consistency of approach and all requests for leave are considered carefully and in context of previous history etc.

Attendance Officer and Deputy Headteacher take a strong line with parents/carers that we want to intervene early to avoid penalty notices, EWS involvement etc. We want to support families and to work with them.

Attendance Officer and Deputy Headteacher meet with parents/carers where there are concerns, to discuss how things can improve and how school can help. We will meet even where a child is coming regularly to school late, even by a couple of minutes and discuss the overall impact on both the child’s learning and the schools attendance. We meet with parents/carers of children Under 5 who request leave, to explain the importance of good attendance and how it impacts on whole school. We make it clear that for under 5’s, although attendance is non statutory it does impact on our attendance figures and we want to set patterns of excellent attendance as early as possible.

We are consistent in our approach which is key and quite relentless in pursuing parents where necessary. The school’s expectations re: attendance and punctuality are made clear to parents.

Where parents have to take leave e.g. visiting a sick relative abroad, we strongly request travel documents, contact details.

The Attendance Officer (working 2 days a week) and other office staff will make first day phone calls home where children are absent.

Where there is no reply, a letter is sent out requesting reason for absence.

Where parents/carers phone school to say that their child is sick and therefore will not be in, office staff will ask what is wrong so that we know the reason for sickness. Office staff consistently pursues things with parents/carers so that we can build up patterns in absences. Reasons for absence are recorded clearly in registers for teachers. Teachers will also relay reasons for absence to the office if parents/carers approach them directly.

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An ongoing log is kept by the office of some communications with parents/carers that need to be shared, or that are ongoing or that indeed need to be monitored or followed up in some way. In this way we can build up a picture of a child’s attendance.

Attendance figures for classes are taken off the computer half termly and concerns flagged. Letters are sent to parents/carers where attendance falls below that expected and sometimes they are invited in for a meeting to discuss concerns with the Attendance Officer and Deputy Headteacher.

Our annual report to parents/carers includes an attendance page at the front, highlighting the correlation between attendance and achievement.

Rewards

In assemblies each week, the attendance cup is awarded to the class with the best attendance for the previous week and ‘Early Bird’ certificates given out to classes with the best punctuality. Stickers are also given to the classes.

Each term certificates and small prizes are given out to children with excellent attendance and at the end of the academic year a class prize is given for the class with the best overall attendance. At the end of year all children who have 98% attendance receive an individual prize and those with 100% attendance receive £10 gift vouchers.

Where children improve on personal attendance after being of some concern, individual rewards may be given e.g. pens, books, book marks etc.

We use incentive schemes from time to time. For example, we monitor attendance closely over a 5-6 week period and the children get a sticker for each day they’re in school to fill up a card. All the cards with 100% attendance are put into a draw and a certain number are picked out in an assembly and win a prize. We emphasise with children regularly the importance of good attendance and how it links to excellent learning achievement.

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4.3 Highbury Grove Preventative Work - Whole School Procedures and Good Practice to Help Raise Attendance

1) The regular targeting of pupils with 85-90% attendance – it’s possible to mobilise this area with a

small amount of intervention. This area can be placed into two categories – authorised and unauthorised: Authorised

When the absence is due to medical – a letter goes out advising parents/carers that their child’s attendance is falling dangerously below the school’s and Department for Education’s acceptable level – 96% and above.

Parents/carers are asked to produce medical validation – e.g. medical letters, prescriptions or appointment cards. Also, discussions with the child in school are carried out – in individual cases the school may ask for permission to contact the child’s GP.

These letters will be sent out on a half termly basis.

Unauthorised

No reason given for absences.

An initial letter goes out to parents/carers expressing concern that the child’s attendance is falling dangerously below the acceptable level – this letter will contain information about further possible action e.g. court warning and legal action.

Arrangements will be made at this point to meet with the child and parent/carer either in school or at home. There is regular discussion with the child in school.

These children are very closely monitored.

If there is no improvement - escalate action. 2) Tracking sheets are used to monitor and check progress and attendance of each child - however

because of the EWOs own monitoring system, they are aware of all children with attendance at 86% and below.

3) Once each term the EWO will go through the register for children whose attendance is at 90-95%

and below to identify emerging patterns – letters will be sent to parents/carers. There is usually a discussion with the child also. Letters to parents/carers can be a gentle reminder and can be very useful – if it does not work – escalate action.

4) The same procedure is in place for lateness – letters are sent out regularly updating

parents/carers on their child’s punctuality and possible consequences – there are usually regular discussions with the child. This, along with school measures (in school detention/Saturday detention) has had a significant effect on lateness over the past two academic years.

5) Historically, based on the advice of the EWO, the school has done whole school mailings in

regards to information about not taking holidays in term time and the consequences of absences for minor illnesses.

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4.4 Good Practice to Improve Attendance at Islington Arts & Media School

Attendance Day Once a term each Head of Year at Islington Arts & Media School carries out an attendance day along with the Education Welfare Officer to promote attendance. The aim of the attendance day is to carry out home visits to targeted pupils where:

Attendance falls between 85%-90%.

There has been a sudden decrease in attendance.

Parents/carers do not engage with the school.

Pupils are absent on the day of the home visits without communication from parent/carer. The home visits are used as a tool to offer support to families, strengthen engagement between families and the school and increase overall attendance. Appointment letters are left at home visits where there has been no response to show parents/carers that a home visit was carried out and a meeting is required to discuss a student’s attendance. Attendance days have proven to be very successful in bridging the gap between home and school and showing parents/carers that we go the extra mile when supporting pupils with their education. Late Detention Late detention was initiated in September 2012 to reduce the number of pupils that were arriving late to school. If a pupil is late, even by a minute, they will receive an hour’s detention at the end of that school day. At first some parents/carers were not keen on this initiative and would oppose the hour’s detention for their child at the end of the day, however this policy soon became an accepted part of the expectations of pupils at Islington Arts & Media School. The percentage of pupils arriving late to school between 2011-12 and 2012-13 decreased by 4%. Rewards Each year group rewards pupils who have achieved good attendance:

Year 7, 8 & 9 give out attendance badges termly; this allows all pupils to have the opportunity of receiving a badge each term regardless of their attendance previously.

Year 10 have an attendance reward that picks names at random from the best attending tutor group to win vouchers for Amazon, iTunes, etc.

Year 11 pupils are able to go out for lunch on Friday if they have attended school all week and have modelled excellent behaviour.

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4.5 Improving Attendance and Punctuality at New North Academy As an Academy we have strived to improve our attendance and punctuality. In the past, the Academy has had pupils being off school for haircuts, buying shoes/clothes and birthdays. Time off was also being taken across a number of other absence reports from parents/carers, who did not appear to fully appreciate or understand the importance of their child’s education. The response was, ‘Oh it’s only one day.’ The Academy took on board every strategy they could think of to improve attendance, without much impact. We are now at the following stage of our attendance improvement plan:

We have a much tighter lock down on registers, all SIMS registers have to be completed, saved and closed by 9:05am and 1:35pm.

The attendance is published in the newsletter alongside the rules for holidays in term time.

The Academy have made referrals to children’s social care, called 101 Police for a welfare check and involved various other agencies to help families get their children into school on time.

Staff have knocked on doors and escorted pupils to school, as well as sending texts to alert parents/carers of their child’s absence.

Alongside class awareness of their attendance, the Academy has held weekly attendance assemblies with awards for 100% attendance. These included prizes for parents/carers for getting their child in on time.

All of the above are just some of the strategies the Academy have tried to improve attendance. However, we needed a new strategy so, along with the EWS, the Academy held attendance clinics whereby all parents/carers whose children had below expected attendance percentages were called in for a group meeting and explained the consequences of their child’s low attendance. Again this had impact, but not as much as the Academy would like. The parents/carers then started to aim their anger about being questioned about their child’s attendance and penalty notices personally to members of staff and EWS. So, the Academy decided to have a monthly/half termly APSP (Attendance and Punctuality Stakeholders Panel) meeting. This consists of a member of staff from the pastoral and academic teams, a director (to represent the Academy), a member of the leadership team and a member of staff from EWS. The benefits that the Academy has seen as a result of using a parent/carer panel include:

Allowing a single approach from varying perspectives, which include governance, school, Local Authority, the parents/carers and children and can be used as part of a preventative intervention strategy. It is used as part of a consistent effort to improve attendance, in which an action plan is outlined, highlighting support and represents an escalation of concerns by the school; particularly in the event that in-house interventions have been unsuccessful.

Encourages a collective effort, in improving attendance and allows the parent/carer to be part of that process. Parent/carer cooperation is significant for success. The panels have already proved particularly successful with those parents/carers who have never had any contact with the EWO.

The panel is used to inform the parents/carers of the legal liabilities around attendance. Although panels to do not replace legal meetings, they are formal meetings in response to serious attendance concerns and are therefore often used before embarking on the statutory process. Each member of the panel discusses the impact of poor attendance, from their own perspective (the child, class, school and the community).

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Parents/carers are often unaware of the quantifying percentage in relation to the amount of days absent and this enables clarity and clearing any misconceptions of what is considered as acceptable attendance, for example that 96% attendance is considered as good, 90% attendance is considered as a concern and 85% attendance or below is a referral to EWS.

Using a panel often alleviates actions or outcomes that may be considered as biased, especially if the parent/carer feels that there is a history of grievances, or if there have been previous challenges, in improvement regarding in-house support. It is often used as an opportunity for parents/carers to talk about their experiences in an objective forum.

It is aimed to support parents/carers in a fair, transparent way, setting realistic targets for improvement. The panels work to support social inclusion and have helped panel members to identify areas of safeguarding. Panel meetings allow and encourage parents/carers to make disclosures about their circumstances, in ensuring that the most appropriate service is put in place for possible support. Having different members on the panel often encourages a different approach to finding a solution. For instance, the EWO may recommend that the family works with a supporting service, rather than pursue statutory action. Or the school may recommend that the family is supported in-house, as they have detailed knowledge of the family.

Another impact of these panels is often through word of mouth, with parents/carers discussing their meetings in the playground, which is often a deterrent for those parents/carers on the periphery of an outside referral.

Finally, panels are also used for follow up meetings and final warnings, in cases of poor improvement, in which the statutory process is clearly communicated and the possible outcomes of this process are outlined.

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4.6 Improving Pupil Attendance at New River College New River College aims to encourage and support all pupils to achieve excellent standards of attendance and punctuality. For many pupils, irregular patterns of attendance in the past have only served to compound their educational problems and increase their level of disaffection. New River College therefore places great emphasis on the need to encourage and support full attendance amongst its pupils. This is achieved through:

Fostering positive teacher-pupil relationships.

Developing and maintaining close home-school links to promote a joint commitment to learning;

Providing access to a needs’ focused curriculum.

Developing good relationships with other pupils and adults within the school community, thus developing their social skills and enhancing their emotional wellbeing.

Rewarding regular attendance.

Ensuring prompt follow-up in cases of non-attendance, to develop personalised strategies.

Collaborative working with other external professional and voluntary agencies involved in a pupil’s care.

Working in partnership with the Education Welfare Service (EWS).

Attendance Thresholds Universal All pupils aim for 100% attendance

Policy and procedures understood and known to whole school community.

Positive links made between attendance – behaviour – learning – progress – social and emotional wellbeing and safeguarding.

Celebrate and reward good attendance with pupil and family. Focused 94% - 90% attendance

Early intervention and prevention by responding to pupil and family needs.

First letter and text home to alert parents/carers of pupil attendance.

Pupil and parents alerted to impact on progress links between attendance and outcomes.

Form and build positive relationship with parents/carers.

Review attendance data on a 2 week cycle, if no improvement is seen then a second letter is sent out inviting parent/carer in for a holistic meeting to discuss the needs of the pupil.

Ensure all support is documented to support monitoring and review cycle.

Attendance action plan - Record what all parties agree to do: school, parents and pupil. Targeted 90 -85% attendance

Third letter and text sent home to invite parents/carers to a meeting to discuss pupil attendance, this time escalated to involve the EWO, possibly the Deputy Head.

As pupil is at risk of persistent absence, the use of appropriate formal intervention needs to be considered – CAF, SAP, parenting contract, parenting support etc.

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Promoting and Rewarding High Standards of Attendance and Punctuality New River College works hard to promote and reward good attendance and punctuality. Strategies include:

Regularly reviewing the curriculum to ensure that it is exciting and stimulating making pupils eager to come to school.

Group and individual rewards are awarded on a regular basis. These are most often agreed in consultation with pupils.

Maintaining an attendance display which shows how each class is doing against the school’s attendance target.

Presenting individual awards to those pupils who achieve 100% attendance over each term and those who have greatly improved their attendance and/or punctuality.

Including guidance, advice and information about attendance and punctuality on a regular basis in newsletters.

Reporting on a pupil’s attendance and punctuality on a regular basis

Holding well structured meetings with parents/carers and the Education Welfare Officer to support improved attendance and any returns to school following extended periods of absence.

Guidance to Staff on Attendance and Punctuality Matters

1. The role of SEAL and PHSE in securing good attendance and punctuality. To promote good attendance and punctuality, school staff should:

Regularly review the curriculum offered in an attempt to make it as topical, exciting and fun as possible so that pupils want to come to school and join in.

Work hard to create a welcoming and positive school ethos where children feel safe, settled and valued.

2. The roles and responsibilities of class teachers and support staff The member of staff in charge of the class at the beginning of each session should:

Call the register promptly and any absence notes are returned to the office.

Mark pupils present as long as they arrive before the calling of the register has been completed.

Communicate any concerns or observations about emerging patterns of absence or lateness to the school’s Attendance Lead.

Apply this policy consistently and fairly to all members of the school community.

Reflect high standards in their own attendance and punctuality practice. 3. Confidentiality

Issues surrounding attendance and punctuality can sometimes be of a sensitive or distressing nature. All school staff should maintain the highest level of confidentiality when dealing with such issues.

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4.7 Attendance Procedures at Rotherfield Primary School Attendance procedures All pupils are registered in SIMs each morning. Pupils arrive in the playground at 8:50am. At 8:55am the bell rings, pupils line up and walk in with their class teacher and TA. The doors are locked at 9:00am; any pupils arriving after this time have to enter through the main school door. Pupils arriving after 9:05 are late and issued a late pass and names are written in the late book. Pupils give the late passes to teachers so they know they have been registered as being at school. If pupils do not have a late pass they are sent back to the office to collect one. All late pupils are entered into SIMs by the Attendance Officer. Unauthorised absence A list of absent pupils is created each day from SIMs once the registers are complete. First day calls are made by the admin team for all pupils whose parents/carers have not provided the school with a reason for absence. These details are held in a file in the school office the details are entered into SIMs. Registers are printed weekly and those with unauthorised absence are sent letters requesting reasons for absence. These are all filed together on a weekly basis. Holidays are not authorised and penalty notices are issued by Education Welfare Service for those to take unauthorised leave. Monitoring and rewards Individual pupil attendance percentages are monitored every two weeks and data is entered on a tracking sheet for pupils with poor attendance. This allows us to see at a glance if a pupil’s percentages are improving or declining. Each week all classes’ attendance figures are displayed on the notice board in the entrance of the school. The class with the highest attendance is rewarded by a visit to Waterside Adventure Playground the following week. Each half term 100% and over 95% attenders receive stickers for their achievement in a special attendance assembly. Each term 100% and over 95% attenders receive certificates for their achievement in a special attendance assembly. We also a have raffle prize draw which all are entered into. Prizes include iPods, items from Arsenal, digital cameras, Lego and games. Children who have made significant attendance progress and also rewarded during these assemblies with stickers and certificates. PA pupils PA pupils are monitored rigorously and each pupil has a running record held in a PA file. There are samples of a PA Case Study Form and our PA Tracking Sheet in Appendices 5.7 and 5.8. We write Action Plans for each PA pupil during meetings with parents/carers. An example of this can be found in Appendix 5.9. These record the reasons for absence and actions to resolve these issues and by whom. Pupils are given 4 weekly sticker charts and stickers weekly to encourage good attendance. If they attend for the whole 4 weeks the chart is swapped for a certificate presented in assembly for improved attendance. This process is having a very positive impact!

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4.8 St. Mary Magdalene Academy’s Attendance Triangle - Levels of Support Required

The Attendance Triangle was initially created by the EWO to address the need for an attendance procedure. Staff at St. Mary Magdalene Academy have updated and tweaked this triangle over the years, but are still using this format. The triangle is colour coded and has been displayed around the school.

GROUP 5 59.9%- 0% Head of Year

EWO

EXTREME CONCERN

GROUP 4 79.9- 60%

Head of Year EWO

SEVERE RISK OF UNDER ACHIEVEMENT

GROUP 3 89.9%- 80%

Head of Year / EWO

RISK OF UNDER ACHIEVMENT

GROUP 2 95.9%- 90%

Tutors / Head of Year

CONCERN

GROUP 1 100%- 96%

Tutors / Head of Year

NO CONCERN

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Below is the most recent version of the Academy’s current attendance procedure:

New Team Around the School Based Attendance Procedures

100 – 96% Good attendance in line with Academy target.

95.9 – 92% Standard letter to be sent home by TEL explaining that attendance is

less than Academy target. Year Leader to phone home if attendance is dropping rapidly.

Under 85% Referral back to Team Around the School using the TAS form to

request SAP referral.

Parents to be issued with court warning at SAP meeting.

If attendance does not improve after ten school days, a penalty notice will be issued at the Academy’s discretion.

Under 92% Year Leader to complete referral to Team Around the School panel,

unless there is a reason not to do so, using TAS form.

c. 90% Following feedback from TAS panel about support available, Year Leader to send standard letter inviting parents to attend meeting.

Year Leader to invite relevant agencies and TJO if TAS panel recommend that a CAF should be used with family.

If the penalty notice is not paid after 28 days, EWS will invite the parent to a Court Assessment Meeting.

It is possible at this stage that the TAS will decide that

the pupil’s case should be referred straight to SAP if

sufficiently concerning.

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4.9 Our Approach to Improving Attendance at Winton “Headteachers need to find their courage, have the tricky conversations and then be

prepared to deal with the fallout.”

Andrew Rigby, Headteacher

Confronting the crisis “To confront a crisis, a good starting point is to describe reality without laying blame.” We needed to take responsibility for the position we were in and understand why our actions in the past had not led to the outcomes we had wanted. Accepting that we needed to raise our expectations for what was acceptable in terms of attendance was essential to creating the drive to improve attendance. The school data needed to be analysed honestly before the issues could be identified and addressed.

What did we do? Put a plan in place with a clear ‘whole school approach’ to attendance.

Set up an Attendance Improvement Team with clearly defined roles.

Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! – Get the message out to parents/carers as soon as possible! Let them know what’s coming! Posters, displays, leaflets...

SLT present at staff meetings so everyone understands the issues – locally and nationally. Get staff on board. Let them use their imaginations!

Analyse the data – to know what the issues were (term time holidays; “pampering” of younger pupils).

Built a good and emotionally intelligent working relationship with our EWO – so there was a high level of agreement around the approach we would take to change the culture of our school community.

“Blitz” Meetings - 32 parents/carers met during a single day. A further 8 parents/carers met off-site. Tracking system set up and regular communication about the attendance of all identified pupils.

Chase late-comers down the street. Do whatever it takes!

How we did it? Communication and alignment Before, during and after. Once we communicated our expectations and plan to parents/carers, no excuses were accepted.

Attention to detail – this was all about interrogating the data in order to identify what the underlying problems were around poor attendance at Winton.

Signs and symbols – awards, displays, leaflets, newsletters, prizes, trophies. It is important to remember that schools can be good at this but still have low attendance! These things should support the culture, but they are not a substitute for the hard work needed to create the culture.

Getting the relationships right – changing the culture of the school. This is about raising expectations and aspirations and then working in partnership with parents/carers and pupils to achieve challenging targets.

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Possible questions for Governors and Leadership Teams

Communication and alignment

What has been communicated to parents/carers? How is it communicated? How often?

Does what you say match with what you do?

Do you have a communication strategy?

Are you confidently in a position to say that parents/carers are clear and have no excuses for not understanding the rules?

Attention to

detail

Is attendance data analysed effectively to identify the issues? (Serious non-attenders? Holidays in term time? Illness?)

What systems are in place to make sure that the information from the data leads to specific action?

How do you ensure concerns about attendance are quickly identified?

Signs and symbols

Is it obvious to anyone walking into the school that a high priority is placed on attendance?

Do you have a policy on rewards and awards? Do children understand why attendance is important beyond the ‘sticker’?

Getting the

relationships right

Do those responsible for attendance have clearly defined roles in dealing with parents/carers (e.g.: learning mentor, admin officer etc.).

Where attendance is poor –what’s going on for these parents/carers? Relationship with school? Do you have a knowledge gap?

Do you show willingness to challenge and make tough decisions?

Outcomes

2010-11 2011-12 Autumn Term 2012

Spring Term 2013 Summer Term 2013*

92.5%

94.2%

93%

92.5%

96%

Autumn Term 2013*

Spring Term 2014*

* Attendance Strategy in place.

** With Eid, where attendance for the day was 30%.

*** With Eid disaggregated.

94.9%**/96%***

96.8%

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Section Five

Appendices

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5.1 Definition of Key Terminology

Children’s Social Care (CSC) The Children’s Social Care service is responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in need and children in care. The department includes the Children in Need, Children Looked After and Quality and Safeguarding services. The service works closely with the Islington Safeguarding Children Board, who is responsible for ensuring that all professionals and agencies in Islington work well together and, where necessary share information.

Common Assessment Framework (CAF), also known as Early Help Assessment The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a shared assessment and planning tool used across all children’s services in England. It helps the early identification of children and young people’s additional needs and co-ordinates services to meet those needs.

There are three basic questions to consider before starting a CAF:

Are the needs of the child clear?

Are the needs of the child being met?

Can the needs of the child be met without additional support? If the answer to any of these questions is NO then you must consider a CAF. The CAF focuses on three areas:

Developmental Needs - How well the child or young person is developing, including their health, emotional and social development and progress in learning.

Parents and Carers - How well parents and carers are able to support their child or young person’s development and respond appropriately to their needs.

Family and Environmental Factors - The impact of wider family and environmental factors on the child or young person’s development and on the capacity of their parents/carers.

eCAF CAFs must be completed using the online eCAF – this enables practitioners to share information about children securely across agencies. It is important that all frontline practitioners who work with children receive eCAF training. Information about training and the eCAF ‘User Guide’ and ‘Quick Guide’ can be downloaded by following the links below:

For further information see: The Common Assessment Framework: A Toolkit for Practitioners at www.islington.gov.uk/publicrecords/library/Education-and-skills/Information/Guidance/2010-2011/(2011-02-14)-CAF-Toolkit.pdf

For eCAF User Guide and Quick Guide see: http://www.islington.gov.uk/services/children-families/cs-about-childrens-services/change_for_children/practitioners/Pages/eCAF.aspx

Education Supervision Order (ESO) If a child continues to have poor attendance at school they can be made the subject of an Education Supervision Order (ESO). This means that an Education Welfare Officer will supervise and support the parent/carer and their child to make sure that their attendance at school improves and that they are properly educated. The conditions of the ESO could mean that the parent/carer will have to attend meetings at the school, or parenting classes. They will also have to keep the council informed

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if they or their child change address and if they want to change schools they must get the approval of the council first. ESO's are usually for a period of 12 months. If the child's attendance doesn't improve, or the parent/carer does not co-operate, they will be referred to the Magistrates’ Court, which could result in a fine of up to £2500 and/or three months in prison or referred to social care to consider applying for a higher order, which could include care proceedings.

Family Star Family Star is an evaluation/outcomes tool used to help engage parents and children in the work they need to do to change family life and measure and record their progress. The tool covers eight areas of parenting essential to enabling children to thrive:

Promoting good health.

Meeting emotional needs.

Keeping your child/ren safe.

Social networks.

Supporting education and learning.

Setting boundaries and promoting positive behaviour.

Maintaining a family routine.

Providing home and money.

Islington Safeguarding Children Board (ISCB) The Islington Safeguarding Children Board is a statutory multi-agency body responsible for ensuring that agencies work well together to safeguard and protect all children and young people from harm. ISCB is responsible for:

Developing and co-ordinating safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures for all organisations in Islington.

Delivering multi-agency training.

Investigating allegations concerning people who work with children.

Co-ordinating, monitoring, evaluating and ensuring the effectiveness of what is done by Board members individually and across agencies.

Advising on ways to improve the welfare of and outcomes for children.

Undertaking Child Death Reviews when a child dies unexpectedly in order to learn any lessons from their death.

Undertaking Serious Case Reviews where a child has died or has been seriously harmed when abuse or neglect is known or suspected.

Developing and disseminating good practice.

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Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) A national Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) programme began in 2011 following the successful development of a model in Devon. According to a recent report from the University of Greenwich, the turnaround time for child protection cases judged as high or complex needs has almost halved in some areas since introduction. A MASH incorporates a whole range of agencies. The aim is to identify vulnerable children earlier and more efficiently through better information sharing and to enable agencies to act quickly. The MASH in Islington sits within the Children's Services Contact Team (CSCT), the single point of contact for requests for services for vulnerable children and young people, and includes Children’s Social Care, Community Health, Education, Families First, Police, Adult Mental Health, Probation, and Targeted Youth Support. When a referral is received by CSCT which raises safeguarding concerns, but the level of need or risk is unclear, the referral will be subject to a MASH check. This enables multi agency information to be shared to avoid children falling through the net of services by building a full picture of risk to assist early decision making. The MASH is a confidential environment where information is only shared between designated MASH professionals within a specified timeframe. Once the level of need and risk is clarified, the child will be matched to the most appropriate type of service, through the normal CSCT processes. MASH checks can only be carried out where there is consent or serious safeguarding concerns that indicate that seeking consent would prejudice the child’s welfare.

The role of Education: A Senior Manager from within Education is always available to follow up on MASH enquiries. When contacting a school to assist with a MASH enquiry, we will normally ask to speak with the person responsible for Safeguarding. The referral will normally make clear the nature of concern, whether consent has been given for the checks or not, and any particular aspect/s we are keen to have more information on. You will normally be asked for the following information: 1. What is the pupil’s current attendance figure? 2. If there is pupil absence, has this been authorised or unauthorised? Reasons? 3. Is the pupil regularly late to school? 4. Are there any concerns about the pupil’s behaviour? In class? Around the school? 5. Are there any concerns around the pupil’s appearance and/or emotional well-being? 6. Is the pupil currently performing below, in line with or above expected (age appropriate)

progress? 7. Are there any concerns around the effort they put into their school work? 8. Does the pupil have any other successes/achievements? 9. Is the pupil receiving any additional support from the school and/or outside agencies for

anything? 10. Are the parents/carers supportive and engaged with the school? Are there any particular causes

for concern? 11. Are you aware of any health conditions? (Are there any concerns in relation to mum’s

engagement, getting to appointments etc.)

Parenting Orders If a child does not attend school regularly, the court could give the parent/carer a parenting order to help them to correct their child's behaviour and failure to attend school. The parent/carer may have to attend a parenting programme, counselling or guidance sessions for up to three months, where they will get support and advice on making sure their child attends school regularly. Breach of the order is a criminal offence.

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“Safeguarding is everyone’s business.”

Penalty Notices The penalty notice is a fine of £60 if paid within 21 days and £120 if paid within 28 days. A penalty notice can be issued if: a) A registered pupil is absent for 15 sessions (unauthorised) or more in any ten week period. b) A registered pupil has been late (after the close of registers) for 12 or more sessions in any six week

period. c) There has been a period of unauthorised absence which has been specifically condoned by the

parent/carer e.g. a parent/carer choosing to take their child out of school during term-time without authorisation.

Penalty notices may be issued in the following circumstances:

Truancy.

Parentally-condoned absences.

Excluded pupils found in a public place during school hours.

Persistent late arrival for school. The liable parent/carer will receive a formal warning of the possibility of a penalty notice being issued. For term time holidays or leave of absence during term time, there is no requirement to issue a formal court warning. However, schools are expected to have warned parents/carers of the possibility of a penalty notice being issued without further notice if they take their child out of school for a family holiday or take leave of absence, during term time.

Persistent Absence (PA) A pupil is considered to have persistent absence if their attendance falls below 85%. The DfE and Ofsted continue to have a sharp focus on persistent absence as there is a direct link between persistent absence from school and ‘not in employment, education or training’ (NEET) status. These pupils tend to come from families that have complex needs and require concerted multi-agency approaches to help them make significant progress.

Safeguarding The Children Act 2004 states that safeguarding children is about:

Protecting children from maltreatment, abuse and neglect.

Minimising risks of harm to children.

Preventing impairment of children’s health or development.

Addressing children’s needs at an early stage rather than when serious problems have developed.

Ensuring that every child has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

Promoting children’s welfare. ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2013) sets out a clear expectation that local agencies will work together and collaborate to identify children with additional needs and provide support as soon as a problem emerges. Providing early help is far more effective in promoting the welfare of children – and keeping them safe – than reacting later when any problems, for example neglect, may have become more entrenched.

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School Attendance Order (SAO) If a child is not on roll at any school the Local Authority can issue a School Attendance Order naming a school the child must start to attend. If the parent doesn’t comply with the order then they may be fined by the Magistrate’s Court.

Team Around the Child (TAC) A multi-disciplinary team of practitioners established on a case-by-case basis to support a child, young person or family. TAC supports particular elements of good professional practice in joined-up working, information sharing and early intervention. The TAC is a model of service delivery that involves: A joined-up assessment, usually a Common Assessment Framework (CAF). A lead professional (LP) to coordinate the work. The child / young person and family at the centre of the process. A virtual or flexible multi-agency team that will change as needs change. Coordination at the point of delivery. A CAF/TAC plan to meet the needs of the child / young person. Regular meetings to which the child / young person and families are invited to attend.

In Islington, the TAC is enlarged to become: A Team Around the Family (TAF) when dealing with families. A Team Around the School (TAS) where all the children with additional needs in a school are

helped.

Responsibilities of each member of the TAC

Each practitioner in the TAC is responsible/accountable to their home agency for the services they deliver to children, young people and families.

Members of the TAC are jointly responsible for developing and delivering the delivery plan to meet the needs of the child or young person, and achieve the intended outcomes identified through the common assessment.

Each member of the TAC is responsible for delivering the activities they agreed to carry out as part of the delivery plan.

Each member of the TAC is responsible for keeping the other members of the team informed about progress in their area of responsibility providing reports promptly when requested and attending meetings.

All TAC members should contribute to taking minutes and chairing meetings, and take on other tasks as necessary.

TAC members should support the lead professional by providing information, offering guidance and advice.

TAC members should contribute actively and positively to solving problems or resolving difficulties.

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5.2 Who to Contact

If you have any concerns about the safety of a child, you should always report this to the Children’s Services Contact Team on 020 7527 7400.

Early Years Penny Kenway Head of Early Years 0207 527 6103 penelope.kenway@islington.gov.uk Gwen Fitzpatrick Team Leader Early Years 0207 527 5629

Workforce Development gwen.fitzpatrick@islington.gov.uk If you have any queries about the action you can take with regards to a child’s attendance, please contact the Early Years Service on 020 7527 5921.

Education Welfare Service Soola Georgiou Senior EWS Team Manager 0207 527 5845

anastasia.georgiou@islington.gov.uk Jackie Headley EWS Team Manager 0207 527 5973 jackie.headley@islington.gov.uk Salma Rahman EWS Team Manager 0207 527 5894 salma.rahman@islington.gov.uk

Families First Families First can be contacted on 0207 527 4343 or if you would like to refer a family you can complete an eCAF and send this to csctreferrals@islington.gov.uk.

Health Sabrina Rees Head of Children’s Health 0207 527 1771

Commissioning sabrina.rees@islington.gov.uk Islington Children's Partnership

Health and Wellbeing (Healthy Schools) Helen Cameron Health & Well Being Manager 0207 527 5591 helen.cameron@islington.gov.uk Mary Fox School Nurse Manager 0203 074 2637 mary.fox5@nhs.net

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Pupil Services Candy Holder Head of Pupil Services 0207 527 5639 candy.holder@islington.gov.uk Gabriella Di-Sciullo Head of Universal Services 0207 527 5779

gabriella.di-sciullo@islington.gov.uk Michael Gooch Strategic Lead for Attendance 0207 527 8748 michael.gooch@islington.gov.uk

School Improvement Service Jeff Cole Acting Head of Secondary School 0207 527 7668 Improvement jeff.cole@islington.gov.uk Anthony Doudle Acting Head of Primary School 0207 527 3387

Improvement anthony.doudle@islington.gov.uk

Virtual School (for Children Looked After) Hermione Michaud Headteacher 0207 527 7708/5972

hermione.michaud@islington.gov.uk

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5.3 Legal Powers and Duties that Govern and/or are Relevant to School Attendance

The Education Act 1996 - sections 434(1)(3)(4)&(6) and 458(4)&(5)

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2011

The Education Act 2002 - section 32

The Education Act 1996 – section 551(1)

The Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999

The Changing of School Session Times (England) (Revocation) Regulations 2011

The Children Act 1989 (section 36);

The Education Act 1996

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (ASB Act)

The Education Act 2005

The Education and Inspections Act 2006

The Education (Parenting Contracts and Parenting Orders) (England) Regulations 2007

Magistrates’ Courts (Parenting Orders) (Amendment) Rules 2007

The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations 2007

The Education and Skills Act 2008 (section 2 and155)

The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012. Legislation regarding Children in Entertainment

Children and Young Persons Act 1933 & 1963

Children (Performances) Regulations 1968 (as amended)

Children (Performances) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1998 Behaviour and Discipline in schools

Education Act 1996

School Standards and Framework Act 1998

Education Act 2002

Education and Inspections Act 2006

Education Act 2011 School Admissions

School Admissions and Appeals Codes, 2012

School Standards and Framework Act, 1998 Section 84 as amended by section 40 EIA 2006

Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 (as amended by section 4 of the Education and Inspection Act 2006)

Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 (as amended by section 3 of the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010)

The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006

The School Admissions Code and School Admissions Appeal Code

School Admissions (Adjudicator Determinations Relating to Looked After and Certain Other Children) (England) Regulations 2007

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School Admissions (Admission Arrangements) (England) 2008

School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Coordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) 2012

School Admissions Appeal Arrangements) (England) 2012

School Admission Code (Appointed Day) (England) Order 2010

School Admissions Code and School Admissions Appeals Code (Appointed Day) Order 2012

School Admissions (Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements (England) Regulations 2008

School Admissions (Infant Class Sizes) (England) Regulations 2012 Exclusion from School

The Education Act 2002, as amended by the Education Act 2011;

The Education and Inspections Act 2006;

The School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2012;

The School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (Pupil Referral Units) (England) Regulations 2012; and

The School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (Academies) (England) Regulations 2012

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5.4 Ofsted Grade Descriptors for Attendance

The behaviour and safety of pupils at the school Note: These descriptors should not be used as a checklist. They must be applied adopting a ‘best fit’ approach which relies on the professional judgement of the inspection team.

Outstanding (1)

Pupils’ attitudes to learning are exemplary.

Parents, staff and pupils are unreservedly positive about both behaviour and safety.

Pupils’ behaviour outside lessons is almost always impeccable. Pupils’ pride in the school is shown by their excellent conduct, manners and punctuality.

Pupils are fully aware of different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying, and actively try to prevent it from occurring. Bullying in all its forms is rare and dealt with highly effectively.

Skilled and highly consistent behaviour management by all staff makes a strong contribution to an exceptionally positive climate for learning. There are excellent improvements in behaviour over time for individuals or groups with particular behaviour needs.

All groups of pupils feel safe at school and at alternative provision placements at all times. They understand very clearly what constitutes unsafe situations and are highly aware of how to keep themselves and others safe, including in relation to e-safety.

Good (2)

Pupils’ attitudes to learning are consistently positive and low-level disruption in lessons is uncommon.

There are few well founded concerns expressed by parents, staff and pupils about behaviour and safety.

There is a positive ethos in the school, and pupils behave well, attend regularly, have good manners and are punctual to lessons.

Pupils have a good awareness of different forms of bullying. There are few instances of bullying and these are dealt with effectively by the school.

Behaviour is managed consistently well. There are marked improvements in behaviour over time for individuals or groups with particular behavioural needs.

Pupils feel safe at school and at alternative provision placements and understand how to keep themselves safe.

Requires improvement (3)

Behaviour and safety require improvement as these aspects are not good.

Inadequate (4)

Behaviour and safety are inadequate when any of the following apply.

Pupils’ lack of engagement and persistent low-level disruption of learning contribute to reduced learning and/or a disorderly classroom environment.

A significant minority of pupils show a lack of respect and intolerance for each other or staff and a lack of self-discipline, resulting in poor behaviour around the school.

Incidents of bullying overall or specific types of bullying are frequent, and/or pupils have little confidence in the school’s ability to address bullying successfully.

Pupils or particular groups of pupils do not feel safe at school and/or at alternative placements.

Attendance is consistently low for all pupils or groups of pupils and shows no sign of improvement.

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Quality of leadership in, and management of, the school Note: These descriptors should not be used as a checklist. They must be applied adopting a ‘best fit’ approach which relies on the professional judgement of the inspection team.

Outstanding (1)

The pursuit of excellence in all of the school’s activities is demonstrated by an uncompromising and highly successful drive to strongly improve, or maintain, the highest levels of achievement and personal development for all pupils over a sustained period of time.

All leaders and managers, including those responsible for governance, are highly ambitious for the pupils and lead by example. They base their actions on a deep and accurate understanding of the school’s performance, and of staff and pupils’ skills and attributes.

Governors, or those with a similar responsibility, robustly hold senior leaders to account for all aspects of the school’s performance.

There are excellent policies which ensure that pupils have high levels of literacy, or pupils are making excellent progress in literacy.

Leaders focus relentlessly on improving teaching and learning and provide focused professional development for all staff, especially those that are newly qualified and at an early stage of their careers. This is underpinned by highly robust performance management which encourages, challenges and supports teachers’ improvement. As a result, teaching is outstanding, or at least consistently good and improving.

The school’s curriculum provides highly positive experiences and rich opportunities for high quality learning. It has a very positive impact on all pupils’ behaviour and safety, and contributes very well to pupils’ academic achievement and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

The school has highly successful strategies for engaging with parents to the benefit of pupils, including those who find working with the school difficult.

The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements.

Staff model professional standards in all of their work and demonstrate high levels of respect and courtesy for pupils and others.

Through highly effective, rigorous planning and controls, governors ensure financial stability, including the effective and efficient management of financial resources such as the pupil premium funding. This leads to the excellent deployment of staff and resources to the benefit of all groups of pupils.

Good (2)

Key leaders and managers, including those responsible for governance, consistently communicate high expectations and ambition.

Teaching is good and/or improving strongly as a result of accurate monitoring, effective performance management and professional development, which are closely matched to the needs of the school and staff.

Self-evaluation is robust and the school’s actions are carefully planned, concerted and effective.

The well-thought-out policies ensure that pupils make at least good progress in literacy.

Governors, or those in a similar position, systematically challenge senior leaders. As a result, the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement have improved, or previous good performance in these areas have been consolidated.

The school’s curriculum provides well-organised and effective opportunities for learning for all groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. It promotes positive behaviour and a good understanding of safety matters and provides a broad range of experiences that contribute well to the pupils’ achievement and to their spiritual, moral, social

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and cultural development.

The school works well with parents, including those who might find working with the school difficult, to achieve positive benefits for pupils.

The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements.

Governors ensure the efficient management of financial resources. This leads to the effective deployment of staff and resources.

Requires improvement (3)

Leadership and/or management require improvement because they are not good but are demonstrating the capacity to secure improvement in the school.

Inadequate (4)

Leadership and management are likely to be inadequate if any of the following apply.

Capacity for securing further improvement is limited because current leaders and managers have been ineffective in securing essential improvements.

Improvements which have been made are fragile, too slow or are dependent on external support.

Self-evaluation lacks rigour and is inaccurate in its conclusions so that leadership and management do not have a realistic view of outcomes or provision.

Leaders and managers are not taking sufficiently effective steps towards securing good teaching for all groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

Leaders and managers are not taking sufficiently effective steps towards securing good behaviour from all pupils and a consistent approach to the management of challenging behaviour.

The curriculum fails to meet the needs of pupils or particular groups of pupils, or pupils are entered for public examinations inappropriately early, and pupils’ achievement and enjoyment of learning are significantly impaired.

A lack of attention to literacy is impeding pupils’ progress.

Governors are not sufficiently robust in holding the school to account for pupils’ achievement, the quality of teaching and the effective and efficient deployment of resources.

The school’s strategies for engaging with parents are weak and parents have expressed little confidence in the school.

The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils do not meet statutory requirements and give serious cause for concern.

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5.5 Sample Attendance Policy

[Name of School] Attendance Policy Adopted: Review date:

1. Aim The aim of [name of school’s] attendance policy is to enable the school to provide a consistent practice that encourages and facilitates the regular attendance of all pupils. Regular attendance at school is key to steady pupil progress and enjoyment of learning, and for this reason the school is dedicated to ensuring its attendance policy is adhered to as much as is possible. [Name of school] takes a whole-school approach to maintaining excellent attendance and it is the joint responsibility of parents/carers, pupils, and all staff members to ensure that children are attending school as they should be. We endeavour to work with families to make sure that any problems or circumstances which may lead or be leading to poor attendance are given the right attention and appropriate support. This policy is supported by our policies on safeguarding, bullying, behaviour, and inclusive learning.

2. Legal framework

[Name of school] is dedicated to complying with attendance laws set out by the legal framework and has set out this attendance policy accordingly.

The Education Act 1996 states that:

The parent/carer of every child of compulsory school age shall cause them to receive efficient full-time education suitable —

a) to their age, ability and aptitude, and b) to any special educational needs they may have, either by regular attendance at school or

otherwise.

A person begins to be of compulsory school age — a) when they attain the age of five, if they attain that age on a prescribed day, and b) otherwise at the beginning of the prescribed day next following their attaining that age.

A person ceases to be of compulsory school age at the end of the day which is the school leaving date for any calendar year —

a) if they attain the age of 16 after that day but before the beginning of the school year next following,

b) if they attain that age on that day, or c) (unless paragraph (a) applies) if that day is the school leaving date next following their

attaining that age.

Note: Green boxes and text contain advisory notes which should be read and deleted. These indicate where schools need to make decisions or choices or write sections specific to their school.

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3. Roles and responsibilities Governing body As part of our whole-school approach to maintaining high attendance, the governing body will:

Ensure that the importance of attendance is made clear by promoting the relevant school policies and guidance directed at parents and staff;

Annually review the school’s attendance policy and ensure that all provisions are in place to allow school staff, parents/carers, and children to implement the policy effectively;

Nominate or identify a member of the governing body who will take the lead role in monitoring attendance and coordinating provision and policies for attendance;

Ensure that all legislation regarding attendance is complied with and that up-to-date guidelines are communicated to parents/carers, children, and staff;

Work out appropriate and accurate annual attendance numbers and future attendance targets, and submit these to the LA within an agreed timescale each year;

Take time at governor’s meetings to review and discuss attendance issues that have arisen in order to stay on top of expected attendance targets for the year;

Ensure that the school is implementing effective means of recording attendance and organising that data, including for children who are educated off-site;

Ensure that they are clear on how to analyse attendance data and how to communicate the findings effectively to parents and staff;

Use any data gathered to devise solutions to problems, make the proper adjustments to attendance coordination and target set for the future.

School leadership team As part of our whole-school approach to maintaining high attendance, the school leadership team will:

Be active in their approach to promoting good attendance to pupils and their parents/carers, which includes forming positive relationships with families;

Ensure that the school’s teaching and learning experiences encourage regular attendance and that pupils are taught the value of high attendance for their own progression and achievement;

Coordinate with the governing body to monitor the implementation of the attendance policy and its effectiveness, with an annual full policy review;

Ensure that all staff are up to date with the school’s attendance policy and government legislation, and that staff are fully trained to recognise and deal with attendance issues;

Ensure that government legislation on attendance is complied with and that they (the leadership team) are up to date with any legislation changes and how to implement them;

Nominate or appoint a senior manager to take the responsibility of overseeing and monitoring attendance provision and that this person has sufficient time and resources to give to this job;

Report to the governing body each term and the lead governor for attendance half-termly on attendance records, data and provision;

Ensure that systems to record and report attendance data are in place and working effectively;

Develop multi-agency relationships to help with poor attendance and support families who are having difficulties getting their child to attend;

Document any specific interventions or steps taken to work with families to improve their child’s attendance in case of future legal proceedings.

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Teachers and support staff As part of our whole-school approach to maintaining high attendance, the school’s teachers and support staff will:

Be active in their approach to promoting good attendance to pupils and their parents/carers, which includes forming positive relationships with families;

Ensure that the school’s teaching and learning experiences encourage regular attendance and that pupils are taught the value of high attendance for their own personal progression and achievement;

Ensure that they are fully aware and up to date with the school’s attendance policy and government legislation and that they will speak to another member of staff or seek support if they are unsure how to deal with an attendance issue;

Ensure that they are following the correct systems for recording attendance and that attendance is taken daily;

Contribute to strategy meetings and interventions where they are needed;

Work with external agencies to support pupils and their families who are struggling with regular attendance.

Parents and carers As part of our whole-school approach to maintaining high attendance, we request that parents/carers:

Engage with their children’s education – support their learning and take an interest in what they have been doing at school;

Promote the value of good education and the importance of regular school attendance at home;

Encourage and support their children’s aspirations;

Follow the set school procedure for reporting the absence of their child from school (see section 4), and include a expected date for return;

Do everything they can to prevent unnecessary school absences, such as by making medical and dental appointments outside of school hours;

Use the school as a support when they or their child are having difficulties, and work to form a positive relationship with the school so that there is easy communication when a problem arises;

Keep the school informed of any circumstances which may affect their child’s attendance;

Enforce a regular routine at home in terms of homework, bedtime, etc. so that the child is used to consistency and the school day becomes part of that routine. It is vital that the child receives the same message at home as they do at school about the importance of attendance;

Do not take their children out of school during term time. If parents/carers would like to make a special request for this, they may do so to the Headteacher (see section 4.6);

Sign a home-school agreement.

Pupils As part of our whole-school approach to maintaining high attendance, we request that pupils:

Be aware of the school’s attendance policy and when and what they are required to attend. This will be communicated to them through the school staff, parents/carers, and the school timetable;

Note: Your school may have a home-school agreement for parents/carers and pupils to sign, which you may want to put in at the end of this policy, make reference to where relevant within this policy, or draw attention to with an explanatory paragraph.

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Speak to their class teacher/form tutor or another member of staff if they are experiencing difficulties at school or at home which may impact on their attendance;

Attend all lessons ready to learn, with the appropriate learning tools requested and on time for the class. Lesson times will be made clear through their school timetable;

Bring a note of explanation from their parents or carers to explain an absence that has happened or is foreseen;

Follow the correct set school procedure if they arrive late (see section 4.9). Pupils are held responsible for this and it is made clear to all students what this procedure is by their class teachers/form tutors. This will help the school to monitor attendance and keep accurate records for the child’s individual attendance, and is also vital for health and safety in the event of a school evacuation;

Sign a home-school agreement. [see the green box note above]

4. Categories of absence and procedure for reporting absences Absences will be treated as unauthorised unless a satisfactory explanation for the pupil’s absence is given to the school. Parents/carers cannot authorise absences. Staff should make it clear on the school register when taking attendance whether a child’s absence is authorised or unauthorised. When a child is to be absent from school without prior permission, parents/carers should inform the school by telephone on the first day of absence and let them know what date they expect the child to return. For a prolonged absence, this should be followed up with a written note from the parent/carer of the child. Alternative arrangements will be made individually with non-English speaking parents/carers. 4.2 Illness Most cases of absence due to illness are short term, but parents/carers will need to make a phone call to alert the school on the first day/each day of absence. When the child returns to school they should bring a note from their parent/carer explaining the absence – this is for the school records. For prolonged absence due to illness, parents/carers may be asked to provide the school with medical evidence such as a note from the child’s doctor, an appointment card or a prescription paper. 4.3 Medical or dental appointments Parents/carers should make every effort to ensure these appointments are made outside of school hours. Where it cannot be avoided, children should attend school for as much of that day as possible. 4.4 Authorised absences There may be some instances where the school will authorise absence such as for a family bereavement. 4.5 Exclusion Exclusion is treated as an authorised absence. The Headteacher/form tutor/class teacher will arrange for work to be sent home.

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4.6 Family holidays and extended leave Parents/carers should ensure that family holidays and extended leave are arranged outside of school term time. Parents/carers do not have the automatic right to remove their child from school during term time for this reason. Requests for leave from school must be made in writing to the Headteacher XX days/weeks in advance of the leave being taken. In the case of unforeseen circumstances, such as a family bereavement that requires the child to travel to another country, this will be taken into consideration. Retrospective applications will not be considered and this time taken will be processed as unauthorised absence. All requests for authorised absence will be responded to in writing, and will outline the details of when the child is expected to return to school. Parents/carers should contact the school immediately if there will be a cause for delay from the stated date of return. When deciding whether to authorise absence, the Headteacher will take the following into account:

If permission is not granted, but the child is still absent, the absence is classed as unauthorised and parents/carers may be issued with a penalty notice. 4.7 Religious observance [Name of school] recognises that there may be times where children of different faiths observe religious festivals that fall outside of school holidays and weekends, and will allow authorised absence for these times. Parents/carers will be aware of these dates and should give the school written notification in advance. 4.8 Study leave The school has a period of study leave leading up to GCSE and A Level examinations where students are granted authorised absence to revise at home. The school operates study sessions at school within this time to help with revision and to reduce the amount of time spent out of school. 4.8/4.9 Late arrival Registration begins at [insert time]. Pupils who arrive after this time but within the registration period will be marked at late. The registration period ends at [insert time.] Pupils who arrive after the registration period has ended should go straight to the school office to sign in and give a reason for their lateness. Any unjustifiable reason for absence will be marked as unauthorised. It is vital that pupils sign in at the office to ensure that appropriate health and safety regulations are followed and that all pupils are accounted for.

Note: Please list your criteria for deciding whether or not to allow authorise an absence. This may include the child’s previous attendance history, how close the time is to public examinations, the age of the child and the purpose of the leave.

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A register is also taken at the start of all subject lessons by the subject teacher, and any unexplained absences reported back to the school office. If a student is late to the lesson this will be recorded on the register. Persistent lateness may result in disciplinary action.

5. School action: following up absences Class registers are passed to the school office at the end of the registration period. Where there are unexplained or unauthorised absences, the school will contact the parents/carers. If a pattern of unauthorised absences emerges, the Deputy Headteacher or class teacher/form teacher will contact the parent/carer to discuss possible reasons and school support systems that could help. Parents/carers will be contacted if a pupil gives a reason for an unauthorised absence and there is doubt about the truth of the excuse. Class teachers/form tutors will chase students for written explanation from their parents/carers for their absence upon the student’s return from being away. This is for the school records and is necessary no matter what the reason or length of the absence. Where students have been away for either short or long term, the school will support that child when they re-enter school to help them catch up on learning and any work that they have missed. The school will take disciplinary action against any pupils who are discovered to be truanting and parents/carers will be contacted to discuss possible reasons and school support systems that could help.

Signed by: ……………………………………………………. The Chair of Governors Date: ............................... ……………………………………………………. Headteacher Date: ............................... This policy will be reviewed annually.

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5.6 Off Rolling Notification Form

Current school

Child’s name

Date of birth

UPN

Parent/carer names

Address

Telephone numbers Home: Mobile: Work:

Forwarding address (where applicable)

Other contact name and relationship (e.g. family member or friend)

Contact’s telephone numbers

Home: Mobile: Work:

Pupils must not be taken off roll without a named school destination. Do not use vague destinations (e.g. Gone to Scotland/Birmingham). Please confirm with the new school that the pupil is attending before removing them from roll.

Destination School and LA

Start Date

Reason for leaving

Has the new school confirmed the pupil is attending?

YES NO

Has the CTF been uploaded to s2s? YES NO

Has the new school requested the pupil file? YES NO

Are there any safeguarding concerns? YES NO

Has the EWO been informed? YES NO

Grounds for off-rolling (please see guidance) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I confirm that this pupil’s name has been removed from the school roll in line with statutory regulations (The Education(Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006

Headteacher’s signature

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5.7 Sample Request for Authorisation of Absence

NAME OF CHILD

Please note that we can only authorise absences when we are given a valid reason why your child has been off school. Holidays in term time are not authorised.

CLASS AND YEAR GROUP

DATE OF ABSENCE

REASON FOR ABSENCE

LETTER/APPOINTMENT CARD ATTACHED

SIGNED

(parent/carer)

THIS SECTION IS TO BE FILLED IN BY SCHOOL STAFF ONLY If this form is not signed by the parent please indicate how and when the message was received.

PHONE VERBAL OTHER MESSAGE TAKEN BY DATE & TIME

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SCHOOL’S DECISION (PLEASE TICK) Child’s present attendance %.

This absence request is authorised.

This absence request is not authorised and no further action will be taken.

This absence request is not authorised and the matter will be referred to the Education Welfare Service.

This absence request is not authorised and a penalty notice will be issued.

SIGNED

DATE

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5.8 Sample Attendance Tracking Sheet

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5.9 Sustaining Progress for a Child with Persistent Absence Current year group: Ethnicity: Date of Birth: FSM: Background factors: ________ is a happy girl who enjoys school. Her persistent absence has been a feature of her whole school life. This is mainly due to her sister having type 1 diabetes. ________, ________’s sister, has been rushed into hospital many times as medical teams are finding it difficult to set the correct medication for her. As mum is a single parent, when this happens ________ has to go to the hospital with her as she cannot be left home alone. ________ and ________ share a bedroom, also making it difficult for mum to check on and regulate ________’s medication without waking ________. Mum often has sleepless nights trying to regulate ________ and finds it difficult to wake in the morning for school.

Provision at KS1:

Letter sent from Attendance Officer re absence – 24/9/12.

Regular meetings and conversations with School Attendance Officer - 4/11/11, 11/1/12, 2/2/12, 9/3/12, 17/12/12, 14/2/13.

Meeting with Attendance Officer and Headteacher 02/2012.

Attendance Officer and EWO home visit – 2/2/12.

Meetings with EWO 4.11.11, 2.2.12.

First day calls by school admin staff.

Head teacher wrote to consultant regarding concerns regarding attendance 14/2/2012.

Free breakfast club place provided. Free after school place provided.

Member of staff collecting ________ in the mornings and bringing her to school.

Referral to Children’s Country Fund All About Kids to give ________ a break – 6/10/13.

Referral offered to Chance and Friendships Works – 6/10/13.

Provision at KS2:

Discussed at Team Around The School Meeting 21/10/13 – Outcome: PM to suggest benefit check with Income Maximum Team and info from Diabetes UK.

Celebrating attendance % though informal conversations and 100% half term certificate.

Celebrating punctuality success verbally daily.

Monitoring:

Monitor attendance weekly.

Ensure the support provided for the family meets their needs.

Monitor targets on individual education programme.

Attendance Officer and mum meet regularly to discuss her progress and ensure we are supporting the family.

Monitor ________’s progress in reading, writing and maths to ensure she continues to make good progress.

Reading Writing Maths

Summer Y1 1A 1A 1A

Summer Y2 2B 2C 2C

Progress Y1 to Y2 APS 4 2 2

Spring 1 Y3 2A 2B 2A

Attendance

Summer Y1 80.9%

Summer Y2 87.8%

Autumn Y3 100%

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5.10 Persistent Absence Tracking Sheet

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5.11 Persistent Absence Action Plan

Improving Attendance Action Plan

Pupil:

Parent/carer:

School contact:

Start date and %: 24.10.13 - 83.3% Review date: 16.12.13 – 89.4% Review date: 26.3.14 - 93.4%

Reason(s) for absence: ________ is very susceptible to picking up bugs at school. Mum has taken her to the doctors and they have conducted tests including a urine test. Mum is vegetarian; doctors have suggested that mum give her some red meat to increase the protein and iron in her diet. Mum says ________ is usually a healthy child. Mum suffers from depression and is getting support for this. Mum tells me this does not impact on her ability to get ________ to school. Mum reports that at the beginning of each new year ________ has found it difficult to get to know the new teacher as she is a very sensitive and emotional child. Mum reports ________ is now happy and settled into her new class and likes her teacher very much.

Actions to be taken: By: What / When will happen?

How will we know it is working?

PM to continue to monitor.

PM offered to collect _______ from home if Mum is unable to bring her.

PM to provide a weekly sticker chart to encourage regular attendance.

PM to refer to Families First for SFSC parenting course.

School PM to collect from home if necessary.

Provided by PM weekly. Certificates to reward.

PM to email re course dates and refer.

Improved attendance.

School attendance % will increase.

Routines at home will improve and make it easier to get to school and on time.

________ to use sticker chart.

Pupil PM to provide weekly. 4th November.

________ will be motivated to come to school regularly.

Parents will bring ________ in every day even if sometimes late or with meds.

Parent/ carer

If necessary

Improved attendance

Other family members

PM to refer to SFSC to support boundaries and routines at home and provide support for mum.

Other agencies

PM to email Families First to request course dates

Mum to attend course.

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5.12 Questions to Support Working with Attendance Leads in Schools There are three key areas that all schools need to be encouraged to address and be supported with, in order to improve the attendance of their pupils: Data, Systems and Whole-school approaches:

1. Data: Does the school have accurate self-knowledge about specific attendance issues? Suggested questions: What are the school’s thresholds for attendance as far as interventions are concerned? What are staff roles and responsibilities: – Whole school? – Within a specific team?

Who are the persistent absentees (85% or below)? Are there attendance issues with particular groups of students? Do whole school attendance figures produced monthly, termly or yearly, based on classes or

year groups, indicate factors such as: – Declining attendance in year groupings; and – The effect of seasonal attendance e.g. does attendance decline during colder months and

preceding school holidays, at the end of terms and beginning of new terms?

2. Systems: What is the school doing well to promote attendance and what can it do better? Suggested questions: How are the following being used to promote attendance and to what effect?* – Attendance Policy – Registration/Form time – First Day Response – Home-School Agreement – Pupil Premium – Rewards and Incentives

* Lots of these things are often taking place in schools, but if they are not actually making a positive difference to the overall attendance, then questions need to be asked about purpose.

3. Whole school approaches: Does every adult know the part that they have to play in improving attendance? A genuine whole-school approach means attendance is a constant feature of assemblies, wall displays, parent consultations, newsletters etc. Attendance targets should be visible everywhere. Most importantly, the school should feel like a welcoming, safe and appropriately challenging place. Suggested questions: What are staff roles and responsibilities: – Whole school? – Within a specific team?

How are the following being used to promote attendance and to what effect? – Assemblies – Parents’ Evenings – School Newsletter – School Noticeboard

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Michael Gooch

Strategic Lead for Attendance London Borough of Islington

Pupil Services 1st Floor, 222 Upper Street

Islington, London N1 1XR

Tel: 020 7527 8748

Email: michael.gooch@islington.gov.uk

www.islington.gov.uk

June 2014