Start Point: New To Attendance Leadership

Are you stepping into the role of Attendance Lead but feeling unsure where to begin or how to get a grip on everything at once? Firstly, congratulations! And secondly, you're in exactly the right place – this free Honeyguide checklist is here to support your thinking from the very first day.

As an Attendance Lead, you're responsible for one of the most complex and data-driven challenges in school leadership – one that cuts across safeguarding, SEND, pastoral care, family engagement and school improvement all at the same time. That can feel like a lot, especially at the start! This checklist breaks it down into clear, manageable tasks across your first few weeks, your first half-term and your first full term, so you can approach the role with confidence and clarity.

Whether you're a newly appointed Attendance Lead or Attendance Champion, stepping up from a pastoral or admin role, or taking over from a previous postholder mid-year, this checklist will help you hit the ground running. Ideal for new Attendance Leads, Attendance Champions, Senior Attendance Champions and anyone with combined attendance and pastoral responsibilities.

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CONTENTS

WHO IT'S FOR

HOW IT CAN HELP

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How can I structure my first few weeks as Attendance Lead?

This 21-page fully editable (Word .docx) checklist is here to support your thinking as you begin your new Attendance Lead role.

Work through it at your own pace and start to consider the tasks relevant to your setting – from reading statutory guidance including the DfE's 'Working Together to Improve School Attendance', meeting with the DSL and SENDCo, and reviewing absence follow-up processes, to getting to grips with your school's persistent absence data and understanding the Ofsted Attendance and Behaviour evaluation area.

Add or remove tasks to reflect your specific role and the context of your school, and keep the document somewhere easy to access so you can return to it throughout your first term.

Who should use this Attendance Lead checklist?

New Attendance Leads, Attendance Champions, Senior Attendance Champions, Pastoral Leads with attendance responsibilities, Assistant Headteachers responsible for attendance and anyone stepping into a combined attendance and safeguarding or pastoral role will find this checklist valuable. It is equally useful for aspiring attendance leaders who want to understand what the role involves before applying or starting.

What will I find in this free attendance leadership checklist?

This checklist will give you a clear picture of the tasks and priorities that are typical in the first term of attendance leadership. From reviewing the attendance policy and absence authorisation processes, auditing attendance tracking systems and analysing persistent absence data, to building relationships with families, connecting with the DSL and SENDCo, launching attendance initiatives, preparing for Ofsted case sampling and delivering staff CPD on attendance monitoring, you'll gain a much clearer sense of the breadth of the role and how to approach it strategically.

How can I build on my attendance leadership work after using this checklist?

As you establish yourself as Attendance Lead and start to get a handle on your school's data and systems, these resources can help you develop your expertise and drive real improvement:

☑️ Attendance Lead Ofsted Inspection Preparation Pack – everything you need to prepare for Ofsted's scrutiny of your attendance strategy, culture and impact
☑️ Attendance Champion: Monitoring and Pupil-Focused Planning Bundle – a practical toolkit for tracking persistent absentees and developing targeted, pupil-centred intervention plans
☑️ Attendance and Behaviour Audit Pack – a structured audit tool to identify gaps in your current approach and plan strategic next steps
☑️ Attendance Champion Skills Audit – a reflective tool to map your current strengths and identify your CPD priorities as an attendance leader
☑️ Attendance Staff Training Bundle – ready-to-use CPD resources to upskill your whole staff team on their role in supporting attendance

We've also created a whole set of "New To" Start Point checklists to support you, no matter what area you lead on.

Take leadership further...

Attendance Champion Skills Audit Pack

Utilise a skills audit alongside the checklist to help identify your strengths in the role and areas you wish to focus on next for professional growth and development.

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