Attendance improvement

The Attendance Improvement Service wants every child thriving in an education setting every day. We do this by supporting  schools, settings, children, and their families to aspire to and maintain high levels of attendance by identifying and breaking down the barriers preventing children from attending school regularly.

Under the guidance Working together to improve school attendance (publishing.service.gov.uk), the Attendance Improvement Officer (AIO) will:

• support and work with Devon schools on the early identification of emerging patterns of irregular pupil attendance, whilst paying particular attention to supporting our most vulnerable pupils
• work together to agree a joint approach for severely absent pupils (50% and below), this may include specific support with attendance or a whole family plan
• provide ad hoc advice, support and guidance via email or telephone
• arrange a termly targeted support meeting for all secondary schools and large primary schools
• have regular contact with smaller primary schools
• advise the family’s lead practitioner on any attendance elements of a family’s attendance plan
• give advice on legal intervention where all support processes have failed or where there has been non engagement and all parties agree this is the most appropriate course of action
• advise schools about undertaking formal legal escalation meetings (formally fast track) work to develop strategic policies and procedures in partnership with schools and other agencies to improve pupil attendance across the county.

This means that the Attendance Improvement Officers (AIOs) will no longer be able to visit schools on a regular basis (unless you have purchased additional time on the shop) to discuss attendance or be able  to attend school-based meetings which are arranged to discuss and agree action plans in relation to individual pupil absence. The AIO may attend to offer support to new members of school staff where  structuring such meetings is an identified training need.

• providing strategic advice on policy and practice
• offering advice and training on the evaluation of attendance data
• early help establishing rigorous and detailed casework improvement
• instigating an effective legal process to address parental responsibility
• maintaining multi-agency practice to address issues affecting good attendance
• Attendance Improvement Officer (AIO) time to address Ofsted identified areas for improvement

Available to both teaching and non-teaching staff, focussing on efficient registration processes, effective data collection and analysis and identifying possible barriers to attendance as well as opportunities for sharing and disseminating good practice.

This will involve an in-depth look at the school or setting’s attendance data and linked to other relevant data such as behaviour (suspensions), bullying, prejudice and hate related incidents, to analyse trends. Data analysis can be based at an individual level, registration, or specific year group as well as at a whole school/academy level. This data analysis can be used to inform the school or setting’s overall strategy and can be included as part the school development plan to measure progress made.

• High-quality service from skilled and experienced professionals with a sound knowledge of legislation, current guidance and best practice
• Support to develop a strong attendance culture in your school or setting with robust policies and processes designed to improve attendance for all pupils
• Clear pathway of support to address barriers to attendance for your pupils including where medical needs are a barrier
• Effective strategies and support early for tackling attendance-related concerns, including lateness
• Support to make the best use of your school data to inform your strategy and wider school improvement plan
• Support for all staff in specific roles such as designated teachers, safeguarding leads, child protection and early help co-ordinators, mental health and pastoral leads, SENCOs
• Access to a ‘one-stop shop’ service for all attendance and safeguarding concerns