Whole School Approaches

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, 43 KB).

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: