Attendance
Enhance attendance with Honeyguide's pupil-centred plans and a whole-school strategy. Our staff training on attendance scenarios ensures a comprehensive approach, fostering a culture where every pupil's presence is valued.
Most popular resource
Attendance Strategy, Monitoring and Training Pack
Needing to improving attendance across your school? This full pack takes the latest information from the DfE's Working Together to Improve School Attendance and provides you with easy-to-digest guidance, editable templates, multiple training PowerPoints and eye-catching attendance posters to give you a full starting package for how to tackle pupil absence and raise attendance levels.
Your key attendance questions answered
What does working together to improve attendance mean?
The government is dedicated to addressing factors that could lead to unnecessary pupil absenteeism. To assist schools to work in collaboration with parents and carers to improve attendance, the DfE has developed key guidance, Working together to improve school attendance, which highlights that attendance is everyone’s responsibility. This guidance shares that successfully treating the root causes of absence and removing barriers to attendance – whether at home, in school or more broadly – requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively with, not against families.
What is the role of an attendance co-ordinator?
The attendance co-ordinator (sometimes called an attendance lead, attendance manager or similar) plays a crucial role in managing and monitoring pupil attendance, and liaising with thesafeguarding team to identify any concerns. The primary responsibilities of an attendance co-ordinator include:
recording attendance
managing data
monitoring trends
communicating with staff, parents and pupils regarding attendance-related matters
enforcing attendance policies
planning and providing interventions and support
generating and reporting attendance data to senior leaders, governors and the local authority attendance officer
ensuring compliance with local and national regulations related to attendance
collaborating with staff and external professionals to address attendance issues within a broader context of pupil wellbeing
implementing and managing attendance incentives to motivate and reward pupils for good attendance
What factors can affect pupils’ attendance?
When a pupil’s attendance rate shows signs of decline, it’s crucial to begin to use existing information about the pupil to diagnose the underlying reason. This approach ensures that staff members are well-informed when engaging in conversations with the pupil and their parents/carers. The following factors that are known to correlate with persistent absence:
Pupils eligible for FSM may face economic challenges that impact their attendance.
Pupils with a history of suspensions or exclusions may be at a higher risk of experiencing attendance difficulties.
If a pupil has attended alternative provision, it could affect their continuity and regular attendance in mainstream school.
Looked-after children may encounter unique challenges that contribute to attendance issues.
Conditions like anxiety can significantly impact a pupil’s ability to attend school regularly.
Factors such as bereavement or being a young carer can create challenges that affect a pupil’s attendance.
Pupils undergoing transitions or facing exam years may experience heightened stress and attendance concerns.
Pupils with SEND may require additional support for regular attendance.
Language barriers can be a contributing factor to attendance challenges for pupils for whom English is an additional language.
