Whole School Approaches

Improving attendance is everyone's business. The barriers to accessing education are wide and complex and are specific to individual pupils and their families. Good attendance begins with school being somewhere pupils want to be and therefore the foundation of securing good attendance is that school is a calm, orderly, safe, and supportive environment where all pupils are keen and ready to learn. Schools and MATS may find it helpful to read this section alongside the case studies provided by the Department for Education: Improving attendance: good practice for schools and multi-academy trusts and further webinars delivered by the DfE that can be found on their YouTube page Working together to improve school attendance local authority effective practice examples - YouTube.

This section identifies the key features of robust attendance practice and how these elements are explored throughout the toolkit. The Senior Attendance Champion should review the school's current practices using the self-evaluation form to identify areas of strength as well as those requiring further development.

It is important for schools to understand that good attendance is achieved when it is an integral part of school's ethos and culture.

• Ensuring that attendance alongside good behaviour is central to a school's vision, values, ethos and day to day life
• Schools should recognise that improving attendance is part of improving a pupil's welfare and will be impacted by the school's strategies on attainment, behaviour, bullying, special educational needs support, supporting pupils with medical conditions or disabilities, safeguarding, wellbeing, and support for disadvantaged students including use of pupil premium and support for young carers and children with a social worker
• Ensure that the school have a designated Senior Attendance Champion with overall responsibility for improving and maintaining good attendance. Liasing with pupils, parents, and external agencies
• Make sure all teaching and non-teaching staff know the importance of good attendance, are consistent in their communication with pupils and parents, and receive the training and professional development they need
• Ensure that attendance support is appropriately resourced, including where applicable through effective use of pupil premium funding. Where possible this should include attendance or pastoral support who can work in partnership with families, conduct home visits and work in partnership with school leaders and other partners
• Set high expectations for attendance and punctuality. Communicating this regularly to pupil and parents through various channels to help them to understand what is expected of them. To include the impact of attendance on children's attainment, wellbeing and wider development as well as clarity on the short and long consequences of poor attendance
• Demonstrate the benefits of good attendance. Throughout school using display, assemblies and registration periods. This may also include praising and rewarding sensitively and without discrimination individually or in groups
• Recognise that attendance is a continuous process by regularly reviewing and updating messages, processes, and strategies
• Recognise children missing education can act as a vital warning sign to a range of safeguarding issues including neglect, sexual abuse and child sexual and criminal exploitation

Roles and Responsibilities

This section provides guidance on maintaining the admissions and attendance registers in line with legislation and DfE statutory guidance. It includes detailed guidance on the use of absence codes and procedures for removing a child from the school roll.  

Working Together to Improve School Attendance states that schools must use an electronic management information system (MIS) to keep their attendance and admission registers to improve accuracy, speed up the process of sharing and analysing information, and make returns to the LA and DfE easier. 

Registers are legal records, and all schools must preserve every entry in the attendance and admission register for 6 years from the date of entry. Most MIS used by schools will automatically store this data for the prescribed period. However, it would be recommended that this is confirmed with your school's MIS provider. 

As the attendance register is a record of the pupils present at the time it was taken, the register should only routinely be amended where the reason for absence cannot be established at the time it is taken and it is subsequently necessary to correct the entry. Where amendments are made, all schools must ensure the register shows:

• the original entry
• the amended entry
• the reason for the amendment
• the date on which the amendment was made
• the name and title of the person who made the amendment

The Admissions Register 

The school admission register, sometimes known as the 'the school roll', must be kept in accordance with the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024. Regulation 8 sets out the contents of the admission register: 

• The names of all pupils (both compulsory and non-compulsory school age) must be entered on the admission register
• The admission register must be kept electronically   
• The definition of a pupil is set out in section 3 of the Education Act 1996 - but includes anyone who is receiving an education at the school (except a person who is 19 or over for whom further education is being provided, or a person for whom part-time education suitable for people over compulsory school age is being provided) 

Admitting a pupil to a Norfolk school

First admission to school and school transitions are critical points at which children are at increased risk of becoming children missing education and it is essential that local procedures and statutory regulations are followed to prevent this from occurring. Efficient enrolment into school is vital to both reduce the length of time children may be missing education and prevention of pupils becoming children missing education. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 state:

A pupil is a pupil at the school from the beginning of the first day on which the school and the person with control of the pupil attendance (A person with control of the pupil's attendance is defined in regulation 3(2)) has agreed, that the pupil will attend the school.  

All schools must make a return to the Local Authority within 5 days of adding a pupil's name to the admission register (a New Pupil Return) and must provide the local authority with all the information held with the admissions register about the pupil.  

If a pupil fails to attend school on the agreed starting day, the school is expected to follow this up and try to establish the reason for absence. If they are unable to locate the pupil, school should notify the local authority. 

Independent schools in England are responsible for making their own admissions arrangements but must have regard to avoiding unnecessary delays in admitting pupils onto the admission register.

Contents of the Admission Register 

The admission register must contain the personal details of every pupil in the school, along with the date of admission or re-admission to the school, information regarding parents and carers and, details of the school last attended. 

Admission registers must include: 

1. Pupil's name in full (legal name) 
2. Known as or prefers to be known as (name) 
3. Pupil's date of birth 
4. Year group 
5. Pupil's gender 
6. Home address 
7. Name, address and contact details of every person known by the school to be a parent of the child (including non-resident parent, stepparents or parent's partners) 
8. Identify which parent the pupil resides with 
9. Contact numbers 
10. Emergency contacts for more than one person 
11. SEN status 
12. GP contact details 
13. Date of admission or re-admission to the school 
14. Leaving date 
15. Name and address of the last school they attended, if any (this will include details of schools outside England) 
16. Where the school has boarding pupils the admission register must state whether each pupil of compulsory school age is a boarder or a day pupil 

Emergency Contacts 

The amendment to 'Keeping Children Safe in Education states that where reasonably possible, schools and colleges should hold more than one emergency contact number for each pupil. This goes beyond the legal minimum and gives schools additional options to contact a responsible adult when a pupil missing education is identified or where there is as a welfare and/or safeguarding concern. 

A regular data collection request from families will encourage parent/carers to keep schools informed of changes to contact details, with an emphasis on emergency contact numbers. 

Deletions from the Admission Register 

A pupil can lawfully be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in regulation 9 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024  as amended. For further information see "Children missing education and removal of pupils from roll" (last section below). 

The Attendance Register 

All children and pupils (both of statutory and non-statutory school age) who are receiving an education at the school during the normal school day must be placed on both the admissions register and the attendance register. 

Pupils who visit the school to attend other activities such as extended school's activities and services provided by other agencies are not pupils of the school for purposes of the pupil registration regulations and are not entered on the admissions and attendance registers. However, schools should note that they have other duties, including health and safety responsibilities, which may entail them keeping additional records for these visiting pupils. 

All schools must follow  The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 which specifies how the registers must be kept. These regulations do not apply to further education colleges, work experience providers and alternative education providers. However, we do recommend it would be good practice to adhere to the principles of the regulations wherever possible. 

Marking the register

Schools must take the attendance register at the beginning of each morning in the first session of each school day and once during each afternoon session. On each occasion they must record whether every pupil is physically present in school, or, if not the reason they are not in school by using the appropriate National attendance and absent codes from Regulation 10 of the School Attendance (Pupil Regulations) (England) Regulations 2024.

Absence codes

The school should follow up any absences to: 

• Ascertain the reason
• Ensure the proper safeguarding action is taken
• Decide whether the absence is authorised or not
• Identify the correct code to use before entering it on to the school's electronic register, or management information system which is used to download data to the school census. 

On each occasion the register is taken the appropriate national attendance and absence code must be entered for every pupil (of both compulsory and non-compulsory school age) whose name is listed in the admission register at the time (except for a pupil who is a boarder). 

Working Together to Improve School Attendance, Chapter 8, Attendance and absence codes enable schools to record and monitor attendance and absence in a consistent way which complies with the regulations. The use of the national codes facilitates the successful collection of statistics through the School Census data collection. Schools cannot add to the list of codes or use their own local codes. 

For further information on how the codes should be applied the DfE recorded a webinar entitled 'School Attendance Register: Attendance and Absence codes which can be found here.

Children missing education and removal of pupils from roll

All schools, state funded and independent, have a range of statutory duties under The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 and subsequent amendments relating to pupil enrolment and removal of pupils from the school roll.

For further information on the local procedures and expectations that all schools must follow including their joint responsibilities with Norfolk County Council to ascertain the whereabouts of any missing child prior to removal from roll. Please visit the Children missing education pages.  

All schools are required to report to the DfE with regards to their attendance data, as well as setting an attendance target. This section outlines what is required for this report, how to track, monitor and analyse your data to help inform practice.

What is the picture in Norfolk?

Since the disruption to education during the Covid pandemic, national attendance figures have dropped compared to pre-pandemic levels.  Attendance figures in Norfolk reflect the national picture.  Historically, Norfolk's attendance figures have been below the national average, and data collected by the DfE shows that overall absence rates in Norfolk continue to be above the national average in both primary and secondary phases.

In particular, in comparison with the national picture, levels of persistent absence (PA) in Norfolk is high; during the 2022-2023 academic year, the Norfolk PA figure in primary schools was 18.9% and secondary schools was 38.1%, compared to national figures of 17.2% and 28.3% respectively   This is also reflected in the overall attendance figures for that academic year - 93.7% in Norfolk primaries and 89.4% in secondaries compared to national figures of 94% and 90.7%.

The following recommendations are made in response to this data:

1. Schools need a robust attendance policy where a culture of 'attendance is everyone's responsibility' is developed, with clear roles and expectations for staff e.g. class teachers and accurate register marking, first day calling procedures, etc.
2. Schools need to set challenging targets to improve attendance and reduce both authorised and unauthorised absences from school.
3. Partnership working with health colleagues and the healthy schools programme is needed to address high levels of absence due to reported illness.
4. Continued support is still needed to address absence within minority groups, pupils with SEN and pupils entitled to FSM.

Using data to inform practice

To successfully improve attendance and reduce persistent absence schools must have a clear understanding of the attendance issues within the school. Through the analysis of data, schools can identify, track and monitor the attendance of all pupils. It is essential to highlight patterns of concern and intervene at an early stage to prevent attendance becoming an ingrained issue as well as to identify and celebrate excellent and improved attendance.

It is important that the Attendance Lead and any staff responsible for the day-to-day management of pupil attendance fully understand the management information system utilised by the school and how it can support you to report on and analyse attendance data. In most circumstances, all the information you require is stored within the system and there are several reports that can be used to extract this. However, the quality of these reports is dependent on the accuracy of the information staff input daily; it is important to ensure that data is cleansed regularly so there are no missing marks or N codes.

Strategic planning using the attendance data helps schools to manage attendance issues more effectively. The whole school attendance figures produced regularly can show not only the overall attendance trends but differences in year groups, gender and vulnerable groups. This allows schools to initiate personalised interventions for groups and individuals as necessary. This information should be kept up to date and used to inform reports for governors, pupils, parents and for Ofsted.

Using a tracking tool or system will enable all staff involved in attendance to monitor and check on the progress of pupils. To track your attendance and intervention data there are many simple ways of doing this just using an excel spreadsheet. Download a simple tracker example (Word doc) [43KB].

The example provided allows you to track a pupil's attendance to date, whether it is improving or declining, and any attendance meetings held, and actions agreed. It gives you a working document that is easy to view and to maintain regarding each pupil being monitored within school. It would also mean that it can be used for meetings with senior leadership teams and line management.

Setting and tracking attendance targets

Schools have responsibility for setting their own attendance targets in line with national data. Full attendance (100%) should be the standard expected. Attendance of 97% or above is very good, 97-95% is good, 95-90% is poor and below 90% is a serious cause for concern.

The DfE monitors pupil absence levels using two key measures overall absence rate and persistent absence (PA) rate. The key measures are calculated for pupils who are of compulsory school age i.e. aged between 5 and 15 as at the start of the academic year (31st August).

Absence information is reported as totals or rates across a period, usually by school term or academic year.  Overall absence is the aggregated total of all authorised and unauthorised absences.

As highlighted previously, authorised absence is absence with permission from a Headteacher/Principal or other authorised representative of the schools. This includes instances of absence for which a satisfactory explanation has been provided e.g. illness.

Unauthorised absence is absence without permission from the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences and arrivals after registration has closed. 

Persistent absence is when a pupil enrolment's overall absence equates to 10 per cent or more of their possible sessions.

Severe absence is when a child has an absence rate of 50% or below.

Ways to report on and analyse data

Whole school attendance figures produced monthly, termly or yearly, based on year groups, can indicate factors such as:

• Declining attendance in year groups.
• 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 effects of:

• Staff absenteeism
• Teacher training days, half terms, study Leave or work experience
• Ending terms on a Monday or Tuesday
• Activity days, day trips or residential trips
• The timing of the school day
• Pupil holidays in term time

Other analysis you might do includes looking at patterns of attendance:

• Across year groups
• In different terms and year on year
• On different days of the week
• As the term progresses
• In each class group, in the morning and afternoon
• Reasons for absence

 It will also be very important to look for patterns within identified groups, such as:

• FSM
• Children with SEN
• Children from minority ethnic groups
• Gender
• Looked after children
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• Children who may have moved from another school
• Children experiencing bullying
• Young carers

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 attendance 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.

Tracking pupil level attendance and communicating with parents

When monitoring school attendance, the use of class registers, herringbones and tracking sheets are invaluable.  Every pupil's attendance needs to be analysed by looking for patterns of absence. (Is a pupil regularly absent on a particular day of the week or before and after school holidays?  Do they often arrive late on a particular day?)  Once patterns of absence are identified, it gives schools the opportunity to establish reasons for absence and the opportunity to put robust intervention in place.

When looking at attendance data, it is important that particular attention is paid to pupils who are below 90% and those on track to become Persistently Absent (PA).  This level of analysis needs to be completed on a regular basis to put effective intervention in place.  By investigating individual circumstances, it becomes possible to treat each pupil on a case-by-case basis.

Through the use of reliable and accurate data, attendance staff will be able to identify and work with those pupils who give cause for concern, sharing attendance data with parents and pupils as appropriate. It is important to provide clear messages to pupils and parents including expected standards of attendance and punctuality.

Letters sent home from schools often express pupil attendance information as a percentage; this can be confusing as we are often told that 90% in a test is fantastic, but 90% attendance is unacceptable. It may be better to express the information in terms of hours, days and even weeks lost. A table such as the one below this will help to get the message across:

The key to tackling poor school attendance is in the creative intervention strategies that a school uses. In this section we discuss ways to approach irregular school attendance, including the legal interventions to use and how to effectively engage with families.  We outline procedures for good working practices within school and how to promote good school attendance.

Whole school approaches to improving attendance

Download an accessible PDF of the intervention diagram. (PDF) [572KB]

Schools need to adopt a whole school approach when dealing with attendance matters. Improving school attendance is a responsibility shared by governors, school staff, parents, pupils and the wider school community. Clear systems need to be implemented to monitor and track the attendance of all pupils. Early intervention is crucial to try and prevent a situation escalating. By identifying individual staff to take the lead in attendance matters there will be clearly defined responsibilities.

Improving attendance 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 robust 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 good place for all schools to start is to have clear lines of communication with all parents. Ensure parents are aware that they are legally responsible for making sure their child attends school regularly and are given clear guidance regarding attendance law. This includes term time holidays which could lead to the parent being issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Missing school causes severe disruption to their child's education and will affect their chances in later life. If their child shows any reluctance to attend school, parents and staff need to work together to address the cause.

Model of intervention

It is important to track pupil attendance and to have a particular focus on pupils with attendance below 90% and those on track to become Persistently Absent (PA). This level of analysis needs to be completed on a regular basis in order to put effective intervention in place. By investigating individual circumstances, it becomes possible to treat each pupil on a case-by-case basis. The use of a traffic light system can clearly demonstrate which interventions need to be implemented at which point.

Below is an example of some of the possible interventions:

A traffic light system can also be adopted for attendance letters sent home to parents/carers.  Each half term the relevant letter with attendance information can be sent using the definition in the above table.

It is everyone's responsibility within the school community to promote the importance of school attendance.  There are many was to publicise this message.

Assemblies

Assemblies are a good opportunity to address and talk about attendance. Highlighting the importance of attending regularly and punctually and giving them facts on the amount of school holiday they have compared with the amount of time they are in school, for example.  They should also be used to celebrate and reward good and improving attendance for individual pupils and classes.

Home-school agreement  

All maintained schools and academies are required to publish a home-school agreement and an accompanying parental declaration.  Reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that all registered parents/carers of pupils sign the parental declaration to indicate that they understand and accept the home-school agreement.

The Home-school agreement could include:

• The school's ethos.
• The importance of good school attendance.
• The responsibilities of the parent/carer in ensuring their child's attendance.
• The expectations of the school, parent/carer and pupil for attendance/behaviour and homework.
• The information schools and parents/carers will give one another e.g. home contact details and alternative emergency contact details.  

First day response

A school's first day response procedures must be included in the school's attendance policy.  This must be shared with parents/carers to ensure they know what is expected of them and what the school will do following no contact from home.  It must clearly state what happens on continuous days of absences, who conducts the follow ups and all information/conversations must be recorded clearly and accurately.  Schools must remember to be professionally curious and professionally challenge parents when there are concerns about a pupil.

Keeping the lines of communication open between parents/pupils and school can lessen the chances of having to escalate to legal action and can improve the outcomes of young people in the long term.

Working with parents and carers

It is the legal duty of parents/carers to ensure their child receives a suitable education relevant to their ability, age and any special needs. For most parents this is done by registering their child on a school roll.

It is the law that when a child is registered at school, they must attend regularly and punctually. The child should only be absent from school due to illness or an unavoidable cause.

When a child is absent from school and no reason or explanation is given, it is up to the school to professionally challenge this with the parents/carers and record the absence as unauthorised if the explanation is not satisfactory. If the absences are recorded as unauthorised the parent/carer is at risk of being prosecuted or receiving a fixed penalty notice for poor attendance.

Some acceptable reasons for a school to authorise absences are as follows:

• Illness
• Unavoidable medical or dental appointments (however, where possible these should be arranged for after school or during school holidays)
• Day of religious observance (This does not include weddings, confirmations or christenings)
• Exceptional family circumstances, such as bereavement
• An interview with a college

Examples of reasons a school may not authorise an absence:

• Shopping for school shoes, uniform etc during school hours
• Day trips
• Birthdays (theirs or other family members)
• Looking after brothers or sisters or ill relatives
• Term-time holiday
• Caring for a disabled parent

Communicating with parents/carers

• It is important to follow up in person, on absences where no contact has been made. It is necessary to challenge and probe reasons for absence.
• Letters to parents/carers of individual pupils with poor school attendance can be effective. Letters should be addressed to individual parents /carers and not just "Dear Parent/Carer" and translated if necessary to ensure inclusion for all families.
• Through the school's attendance monitoring it should be easy to identify the pupils who require a letter. For children who have a serious illness or suffered a recent bereavement this may not be appropriate.

How parents/carers can help their child have good attendance

Parents/carers should be encouraged to make sure their child arrives on time and every day, starting in their nursery and Reception years. Creating good habits from an early age will set the precedent and expectations during the child's school life.

• If their child arrives after the register has closed without a good reason, this will be recorded as an 'unauthorised' absence for that session
• The parent/carer must ensure that they contact the school if their child is absent, preferably on the morning that the absence occurs. It should be made clear in the school's policy what the procedure is and how the school will follow this up if a message has not been received
• Be aware of the school's daily routines to avoid issues such as whether they have their PE kit or not
• Be interested in their child's schooling and be given opportunities to find out how they are doing, through attending parent meetings, concerts and other school events
• Don't let their children take time off school for minor ailments - particularly those which would not stop parents/carers from going to work.
• If a medical appointment must be made in school time, parents should be encouraged to return the child to school afterwards. A morning appointment doesn't have to be a whole day of school missed.
• Family holidays should not be taken in term time, families should be aware of when the term dates are and encouraged to plan holidays around these.
• If parents/carers feel there is an issue with their child which could affect their attendance, they should contact the school at the earliest opportunity. It should be clear in the school's policy and on other school information who the point of contact is within the school 
• Parents/carers should know what their child's attendance is, through updates from the school. There should be no surprises when a parent sees an attendance record

Download an attendance tips for parents pamphlet (PDF) [177KB] and  download an attendance tips checklist for parents (Word doc) [45KB].

Lateness

It is vital that parents/carers and pupils know that punctuality matters, both for individuals and for the smooth running of the school community. Your Attendance Policy will state the times that your registers open and close.  Deciding on the times will vary from school to school but the registers should not be kept open for the whole morning session or afternoon session.

Parents and pupils should be made aware of these times to ensure they are punctual and not late and be aware that if they arrive late after registration closes then it will be coded as U, which is an unauthorised absence for that whole session.

If lateness becomes a continued issue for individual pupils or for the school as a whole there are strategies and incentives that can be adopted to resolve the issue.

Strategies could include the following.

Raising awareness of lateness

This can be undertaken on a whole school level by utilising displays within school to illustrate the impact of lateness. Download the following example posters:  Every minute counts bar chart (Word doc) [59KB],  Punctuality matters: Every school day counts (Word doc) [194KB],  Punctuality matters equation (Word doc) [354KB].

More concerning cases can be addressed on an individual level using a late letter, such as this example to download (Word doc) [691KB]. 

Parents evenings

Discuss good punctuality with parents/carers.  By using the school's management information system you can calculate the total number of minutes that a pupil is arriving late and state the amount of learning time lost and share this with parents/carers and pupils.

Meetings with parents/carers

A meeting can be held with the parents/carers of pupils who consistently arrive late, and where they do not respond to the school's procedures to tackle punctuality. The discussion could involve pastoral staff, members of the Senior Leadership Team and/or school governors. Ensure that parents/carers are aware of the difference between the L and U code and the implications of this. The meetings aim is to discuss the impact of persistent lateness on the pupil's education, their peers and teachers.

Explain to parents/carers that poor punctuality can lead their child to:

• Feel embarrassed in front of their friends
• Miss the beginning of vital lessons
• Miss important instructions for the rest of the school day
• Learn bad habits which could affect their employability in the future
• Be given sanctions such as detentions and negative points for lateness

Strategies to suggest to parents could include:

• Bedtime routines - setting a regular bedtime and when the child should switch off TV, games consoles and other electrical equipment
• Being organised - ensuring school bags are packed with all equipment ready and school uniform prepared. Packed lunches are made. Homework is completed
• Morning routines - setting an alarm to ensure sufficient time to get ready, have breakfast and leave in good time to arrive at school. Arranging to meet a friend to walk to school with
• Attend Breakfast Club if available
• Explaining the importance of not being late and if the parents/carers work how this would affect their work if they were consistently late

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.

Whole school initiatives

Sometimes school lateness is not just an individual problem.  Using whole school initiatives such as beat the clock (every child receives points/sticker every time they are in school on time, and the class or child with the most rewards wins a prize) is a way of promoting the importance of being in school on time.

Late patrols

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. 

Internal truancy

Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is absence caused by pupils of their own free will, and usually does not refer to legitimate excused absences, such as ones related to medical conditions.

Internal truancy can be well managed if there are good procedures in place to address the problem.  It appears more likely to take place in but not exclusive to secondary schools.

The most effective way for this to be addressed is though registration at each lesson throughout a school day where pupils are required to move between classes.  Where a pupil does not register for an individual lesson schools should have a process in place whereby key members of staff are alerted to a missing pupil in order that they can initiate a search for the pupil.

If this becomes a frequent event for a pupil to truant within school, it would be best addressed through a discussion with them and parents to identify the reasons for this happening and put necessary intervention in place to support the pupil to remain in lessons.

It may be necessary to take extreme measures where internal truancy is a cause for concern and an ongoing issue to take such actions as to lock toilet blocks during lesson times.  Pupils would require permission to leave a lesson and would only be able to access a toilet with a member of staff escorting them to and from the classroom to use an agreed toilet. 

If you are unable to locate a pupil in school and believe they may have left the school site it would be necessary to follow your normal truancy procedures.

Rewards

Providing regular recognition for good and improved attendance sends a clear message that being in school every day is a priority.  Even as adults going to work in a welcoming, friendly environment and being acknowledged for our efforts increases our self-esteem and satisfaction with our jobs.  Rewards for attendance will differ from school to school, and all staff need to be on board with any system implemented to ensure consistency.

Merrett & Merrett 2013 state:

A number of factors increase the efficacy of reward systems. These include: consistent delivery, perceived fairness of reward distribution, prompt recognition for behaviour, regular and frequent small rewards, sense of community and belonging, providing choices in the rewards available. (The Use of Reward Systems to Improve Behaviour and Attendance in Schools)

Rewards and incentives do not have to cost anything and will vary depending on the ages of the pupils. A reward that may be appealing to a Year 7 pupil may not be so for a Year 10 pupil. Pupils should be given the opportunity to give ideas about the kind of rewards they would like to receive to have some ownership over the scheme.

A reward system will always be more effective when it is embedded in a school where praise and support are a part of the ethos. Incentives are not quick fixes but part of a well-thought-through strategy that builds a culture of positive behaviour.

Below are some examples of rewards and incentives.

Welcoming school culture

Attending a school that is friendly and welcoming is a good starting place to encourage regular attendance.  School staff can greet and welcome parents and children coming into the school each morning.  If a child has been absent the class teacher can welcome the child back and ask their peers to do the same.  For older pupils, having a supportive structure in place to help them catch up on any work missed.

Community involvement

Making links with local business to provide prizes for attendance is a good way to show community cohesion.  One High School contacted their local Halfords who provided a bike for the end of year prize.  Another school received cinema vouchers from their local cinema for pupils to receive for achieving good attendance.

Assemblies

Assemblies are a good way of publicly sharing achievements. Recognition is given to those pupils who have attended 100% as well as those who have improved their attendance. Assemblies are also an opportunity to share updates of any class or form competitions promoting peer encouragement and healthy competition. It is also an opportunity to remind pupils about the importance of attendance and punctuality and share collectively how the whole is doing with regards to attendance.

Notice boards

Having a designated board for attendance gives you the opportunity to show the achievements of individual pupils, classes and the whole school. It is a space to explain the consequences of poor school attendance and what support is on offer for pupils who are struggling to attend, as well as showing what the rewards are for attending and how they can be earned.

Using your management system

Points for attendance can be given using your management system alongside any behavioural and achievement points. These are totted up at the end of each half term and rewards are given according to the number of point earned.

Postcards

Postcards are a great way of letting a pupil and parents know that they have done well. Attendance postcards can be sent out for improved attendance and 100% attendance over a half term or a term. The postcards are posted home and give a visual recognition of what the pupil and parents have achieved and the opportunity to share together.

Sticker charts

Pupils can use sticker charts to track their own attendance. Placing a sticker for each day they have attended. Sticker charts can also be used for encouraging punctuality, for example, children who arrive on time every day receive a sticker and then at the end of the week if they have filled their chart they can receive 5 minutes extra playtime. This incentive can used across the whole school (including staff) and the class/form with the highest number of children attending on time, receives a reward. High School pupils can have a punctuality card stamped each day they arrive on time, if they complete it by the end of the week then they a reward is given for example, a pass to go first in the lunch queue.

Class/Year/House competitions

Attendance rewards can be used for groups of pupils not just individuals. Recognition is given to classes/year groups/houses that have achieved the highest attendance over a set period.

• Best Form Buns - One high school enlisted the help and support of their local supermarket to provide buns/fruit for the form who had the best attendance at the end of every half term.
• Best Class Bear - An incentive for Primary Schools whereby the class with the best attendance at the end of the week receives the Best Class Bear.

Incentives

Vouchers are presented to pupils who have 100% or most improved attendance each term. These can be for books, amazon voucher etc. One high school used beautician vouchers to reward their Year 11 girls who attended during the last term leading up to prom.

Lunch/Breakfast with the Head - A Primary School Head decided to reward his 100% attenders each term to a special lunch with him.

Raffles - Each half term a child with 100% is given a raffle ticket, at the end of the year all the raffle tickets are put into a hat and one is drawn and they win the overall prize. Some schools have given away iPads. 

Weekly £5 raffle for pupils who had 100% the week before.

Trophies are awarded to the house, class, form for the best attendance. Individual trophies can be awarded for overall improved attendance, 100% for the whole academic year etc.

Certificates are given to pupils who have 100% attendance and most improved. However, they can be given to those pupils who have reached the school target or their own individual target to reward their improvement.  Download an attendance certificate (PDF) [127KB].

End of year trips are run for pupils who have 100% for the year. One school varied the trips depending on the pupil's attendance. For example, a full year of attendance the pupils went to Drayton Manor, for 96% -98% attendance went to Pleasurewood Hills.

Cost-free rewards are another way to encourage good attendance. For primary school children, using incentives such as sit with a friend pass, help the teacher pass, free choice pass, or extra playtime pass. For Secondary School pupils consider jump the queue pass, free lunch pass, extra time for homework pass, late homework pass (for 1 day), sit with a friend pass.

Early intervention and support

When a child regularly attends school, it has a positive impact on their learning and development. Starting at an early age, establishing good habits and routines will help children feel secure and settled and know what is expected. Children who have poor routines and are unsettled show higher levels of stress and this can impact on fully benefiting from the learning opportunities that schools offer.

It is key that schools get the message of good attendance and punctuality across to parents and carers right from the start of their schooling.

Focussed work with children is key and can include:

• An emphasis on attendance and punctuality across the curriculum
• Circle time, class discussions
• Peer support systems
• Celebrations and rewards
• Assemblies
• Providing positive role models, inviting special visitors to focus on particular issues
• Breakfast clubs to ensure children have a healthy and positive start to the day

School Attendance and SEN

Children with SEN are more likely to have higher patterns of non-attendance . When dealing with school attendance in relation to pupils with SEN, the attendance strategies and procedures must be the same as for all other pupils with the same focus, challenge and expectations and not an over-reliance on the child's special educational need as a cause of absence from school.

Children with SEN

A multi-agency response to poor school attendance is more likely to be required for pupils with SEN. This is to ensure all their individual needs are addressed. This could be through a review of the Education Health Care Plan, or possibly through a Early Help Assessment and Plan.

• The parents/carers should be made aware and understand the importance of their child attending school regularly by all the agencies involved with the family. Professionals should ensure that the family has the required resources and skills to achieve this and are aware that low attendance should be an indicator of concern.
• A deterioration in attendance could be an indicator that a child is struggling in their learning environment. Children who feel they cannot succeed will feel disaffected if it is reinforced daily. It is important that intervention is used at the earliest opportunity to re-engage the child with their learning by, for example, providing a provision that is more appropriate to improve progress and attendance.

It is important that all schools, including special schools, should be working to eradicate all avoidable absences and to maximise pupils' attendance. If there are health issues that have an impact on the child's attendance at schools, plans should identify support mechanisms that may assist to reduce this.

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.

Through Pupil Premium, funding support can be put in place to enable pupils to reach their full potential and expected levels of progress. If a child does not attend regularly then this is unlikely to happen. Schools could therefore use this money to target support for individual pupils, group work, or an Attendance Officer to support families and pupils. Any additional focus on attendance would help to increase the attendance of Pupil Premium pupil's therefore narrowing the gap and would improve the overall whole school attendance too.

Support for using pupil premium funding effectively can be found on The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) website (opens new window) they have produced a teaching and learning toolkit to help schools use the pupil premium effectively to support disadvantaged pupils.

Additionally, they have families of schools database which schools can access to learn about good practice from similar schools.

Looked After Children

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.

Norfolk's Virtual School in care and previously in care supports the educational progress of children in the care of Norfolk County Council, wherever they may be placed and, through support and challenge to schools, the local authority and other relevant partners, ensures they have the best possible education. It is important that schools liaise with the child's Social Worker if attendance is a concern with any LAC children at the earliest opportunity as part of the Personal Education Plan (PEP).

Leave of absence during term time

Headteachers should not grant leave of absence unless there are exceptional circumstances. The application must be made in advance and the head teacher must be satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances based on the individual facts and circumstances of the case which warrant the leave. Where a leave of absence is granted, the head teacher 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.

Under Section 444 of the Education Act, an offence occurs if a parent/carer fails to secure their child's regular attendance at the school where they are a registered pupil, and the absence is not authorised by the school.

Only headteachers can authorise absence and the only legal reasons for absence are:

• The absences are with leave (i.e. that they have been agreed by the Headteacher)
• The absences are because of sickness or unavoidable cause. Parents may be asked to provide evidence to support absences due to ill-health. This can be through a copy of an appointment card or prescription or information from a medical practitioner
• The absences fall on days of religious observance for the religion to which parents belong
• The child is entitled to free transport to school and the LA have failed to provide this

If absences do not fall into any of these four categories or the school have not been informed of reasons for absence, absences will be marked as unauthorised.

Section 23 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 (opens new window) introduced powers for issuing Fixed Penalty Notices for unauthorised absence from school. The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations came into force on 27th February 2004. This was updated with amendments in 2007, 2012 and 2013.

Read more information about the use of Fixed Penalty Notices and the Norfolk Local Protocol.

Attendance panels

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.

Attendance panels are a particularly useful early intervention where a pattern of poor attendance is apparent, whether it is authorised or unauthorised absence. Prior to this intervention it would be expected that school will have addressed early concerns through letters or phone calls to parents. The purpose of an attendance panel would be to hold a meeting with school staff, parents, pupil and any other professionals working with the family. It is a supportive process whereby the discussions and actions will be recorded in writing.

An  Early Intervention attendance plan (Word doc) [141KB] is provided as a template for such meetings. A member of staff would be expected to chair the meeting with another recording the minutes throughout.

A discussion will take place to identify the reasons why you are concerned through reviewing the child's attendance record and addressing any patterns of absence. It would be good practice to follow a signs of safety approach and discuss: what is working well? what are we worried about? and lastly what needs to happen?

This approach should enable you to gather enough information to provide a full picture of the barriers to attendance and allow you to address these individually through the development of an action plan agreed between all parties.

The actions will be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) actions and should explain how you expect your outcomes to be met. For example, we will often see written: 'Pupil to attend school every day and on time'; this is a desired outcome rather than the required steps and support needed to achieve this.

A good practice example would read:

Parents of Pupil A will ensure that pupils lunch box and school bag are packed and ready the evening before. That they are resting in plenty of time to allow them to settle down to sleep by 8pm in order that they are well rested and alert during the next day. To make sure pupil is up by 7am and that they eat breakfast and are ready for school by 8am to leave for school in plenty of time to arrive by the beginning of the school day.

The minutes recorded in the meeting record and plan (Word doc) [141KB] should be read to close the meeting and signed by all present to state their agreement. A review meeting will be held no more than 6 weeks later to review pupil's attendance. The action plan set at the initial meeting will be reviewed along with the pupil's current attendance.

If there has been no improvement the appropriate action would be for the case to proceed to Fast Track but where an improvement is seen it would be appropriate to close the case and to monitor. A clear outcome should be given to parents at the end of this process.

Targeting Support Meetings (TSMs) are essential for early identification and support of pupils with habitual attendance issues, requiring collaboration between schools, local authorities, and partners. Local authorities are expected to organise these meetings regularly with each school to build strong relationships, discuss overall trends and emerging trends in the school's attendance data, identify and agree on action plans for severely absent pupils, and discuss approaches for persistently absent pupils needing multi-agency responses. The meetings should be short, focused, and prioritise cases needing joint action, with the structure tailored to local needs.

Schools are expected to participate in these meetings in accordance with their safeguarding duties. The number of meetings a school is expected to book depends on the level of the attendance challenges in the school:

• If your school's attendance levels were below the national average for your phase, it is expected that you book a TSM for each term.
• If your school's attendance levels were above national average for that phase, you may if you want only schedule one TSM for the academic year.
• We would encourage all secondary schools in Norfolk to book a TSM for each term, whether above or below national average, due to the overall challenges in secondary school attendance.

If you are above the national average and wish to meet with us termly, you are welcome and invited to do so.

If your school is part of a trust that has an allocated Attendance and Entitlement Officer, an LA maintained specialist school or an independent school, you do not need to book through the online system as you will be contacted directly to arrange your TSMs.

You can download and view the Targeting Support Meeting Record 2024-25 (Word doc) [85KB] here or in Attendance Forms and Templates.

Booking your TSM

To book your TSMs for the academic year:

• Visit the following page: NCC Targeting Support Meeting Bookings
• Select the meeting type that applies to your school setting.
• Select the date you wish to book in the calendar.
• Select a time from the available options.
• Add your details into the required fields, ensuring to include the name of your school.
• Select book and you will receive an email confirmation of your booking.

Please note:

If you wish for other colleagues to attend, you will be able to forward on the meeting invitation.

When booking a meeting for each term, you will need to repeat this process for each booking.

If a date or time is unavailable that is because the slot is already booked, or the date falls outside of term-time based on the Norfolk calendar.

In line with The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 and the requirements of 'Working Together to Improve School Attendance', all schools are now legally required to share information from their registers with the Department for Education and the local authority.  

Sharing data with the DfE 

From the start of the 2024 to 2025 academic year, schools have a duty to provide the information in this guidance to the Department for Education (DfE) on request.  It is important that all schools ensure that they have completed this process and for those schools who have not, further guidance on how to share your data is available via this link: Share your daily school attendance data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Once you are sharing data with the DfE you will have access to a range of tools that will support you to analyse your data. The DfE has published guidance for schools, academy trusts and local authorities on using the monitor your school attendance tool: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitor-your-school-attendance-user-guide/monitor-your-school-attendance-user-guide 

Sharing data with the LA 

Further, to facilitate timely collaborative working across partners, all schools are also required to share information from their registers with the local authority. As a minimum this includes:  

• New Pupil and Deletion returns: notifying the local authority when a pupil's name is added to or deleted from the school admission register outside of standard transition times. For full details see paragraphs 211 and 219 of the statutory guidance. Schools currently fulfil this requirement via completion of a Deletion Return form and New Pupil Return forms.  
• Attendance returns: providing the local authority with the names and addresses of all pupils of compulsory school age who fail to attend school regularly or have been absent for a continuous period of ten school days where their absence has been recorded with codes statistically classified as unauthorised (G, N, O, and/or U). 
• Sickness returns: providing the local authority with the full name and address of all pupils of compulsory school age who have been recorded with code I (illness) and who the school has reasonable grounds to believe will miss 15 days consecutively or cumulatively one or more of the because of sickness. 

Local authorities must agree the frequency that attendance returns are to be provided with all schools in their area. This should be no less frequently than once per calendar month. We want to reduce the administrative burden placed on schools as well as support them to meet with national requirements. As a result, we need schools to engage with both our local attendance data arrangements as well as the DfE collection of attendance data. This is because the DfE does not currently provide the facility to export data relating to sessional attendance codes that are required for the purpose of the sickness and attendance returns. As the DfE systems develop, we envisage that we will be able to cease the local collection of data and are providing feedback on proposed future development of the national system. Engaging with both systems simultaneously will not add to schools workloads nor compromise information security.