Dealing with poor attendance

Is turning up at students’ doors the best way to deal with poor attendance? Katie Masters seeks advice from those who have crossed the threshold...

What should teachers do if pupils don’t turn up for school? Schools Minister David Laws says the answer is headteachers knocking on doors. He’s not the only enthusiast: if done in a supportive way this approach has plenty of advocates.

“Door knocking should be done in the hope that parents will realise the school cares, and is there to benefit their child and them,” says clinical psychologist Dr Helen Likierman (psykidz.co.uk). “It’s about having the desire to reach out.”

Lynne Gavin, head of Pakeman Primary School in North London, agrees. “Doing a door knock can pay off twice over,” she says. “There might be an instance in which, say, a parent has depression and is physically incapable of caring for themselves or for their child. The child can’t get to school alone. But if we go round we can get them dressed, get them to school, get their breakfast. You’re improving that child’s attainment and you’re demonstrating that you care.”

Going into a home can also reveal things that no conversation may elucidate. “You learn how those families are living,” says Nicola S Morgan, co-founder of the Family Values Scheme (nsmtc.co.uk), which helps schools build relationships with parents. “If you go into a home and there’s no carpet on the floor or almost no furniture then there’s a very good chance the family won’t be thinking about how to invest in school.”

But vital a tool as the door knock is, it doesn’t address the issues that lie behind why children aren’t coming into school. Attendance can drop due to a whole raft of reasons: working parents taking children out of school; families with low aspirations; the child who stays away because she doesn’t have clean shirts to wear; the child whose mother is an alcoholic and is afraid that if he leaves her, he’ll come home to find her dead.

“It’s really important not to make assumptions about why a child isn’t in school,” says Nicola. “What schools need to do is to keep a record of absence and look for patterns. Use the SOS method: Stop. Observe. Switch your thinking to why?”

When a child is unhappy

It could be that a child is anxious or unhappy within school. Friendships affect children’s emotional state, and a lack of attainment may make them feel separate from their peers. Equally, a child struggling with low self-esteem will find it harder to engage effectively within school.

“Schools benefit when they develop a culture of fostering pro-social skills – sharing, caring and helping,” says Dr Likierman. “Workshops can be done with parents that support those skills: how to help children integrate with their peer group; how to help children develop social skills; how to help children with homework.”

Good pastoral care and targeted academic support are key to helping children feel safe in school. Research from the Institute of Education shows that having something fun on the curriculum every day – including free after-school clubs – reduces absence. And it’s also worth rewarding good attendance. At Richmond Park School in Carmarthen, South Wales, classes compete to win an attendance trophy. “It all helps build a culture in which attendance is valued and in which children encourage one another to attend,” says deputy head Daniel Cooper.

It’s not school, it’s home

But what can schools do when the root of the poor attendance lies not at school, but at home? “Sometimes parents find themselves in situations in which getting their child to school slips down the list of priorities,” says Jan Tallis, Chief Executive of the charity School-Home Support (schoolhomesupport.org.uk). “Sometimes parents – especially if they weren’t educated in this country – don’t understand the system and need it explained to them. Sometimes parents mistrust schools: maybe because they had bad experiences of school themselves.”

As ever, there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, but the solution begins with trying to find out what’s really going on. That means reaching out to the parents: whether by making them feel confident enough to come into school, or, in the first instance, by meeting in a neutral environment, like a local café.

“We’ve worked hard to make the parents feel confident and comfortable within the school,” says Lynne Gavin. “It’s important that as soon as they come into reception they’re greeted and made welcome. We changed all our signs to make the school easier to navigate around. We have leaflets with floor plans to help too. We have informal opportunities to come into school and we run classes for parents at school – in skills like IT or ESOL – complete with a free crèche for younger children. They’re all initiatives geared to help the parents see us as a trusted place.”

“Inviting parents in to work with their children is a good way to build a parent’s confidence about the school,” says Jan. “Get the child to write the invitation, rather than creating a formal school letter. Another positive approach is to send good news about a child home. When positives are acknowledged it builds parental confidence and makes them more willing to talk. It breaks down barriers.”

Richmond Park School has recently created a ‘Generation Game’ after-school club, which children can only attend if they bring a family member with them. “It gets families having fun together and it helps the teachers build relationships with the family as a whole,” says Daniel.

And once a dialogue has been established…

“One thing that makes a huge difference is simply explaining the link between attendance and attainment,” says Jan.

That’s the best case scenario. But there are also families who need much greater support. In those cases: where addiction or violence or poverty may be causing long-term issues, having someone like a School Home Support worker – who is trained to work with and support, whole families – is invaluable.

“You need staff who aren’t tied to the timetable and who can go and talk to these parents,” says Jan. “They can build relationships. They can do things like taking a mother to the doctor or helping her find a refuge. If a school doesn’t have this resource then it still has to have something to offer a parent before it opens any cans of worms. It’s helpful if schools put together leaflets containing useful local services: details of the Citizens Advice Bureau or charities that give debt advice. It means you have something to offer if the school uncovers big problems and needs to signpost a parent on.”

Schools won’t have all the answers. But reaching out - in every way possible - is the best way to boost attendance.

What if absence is caused by…

Illness

“If a child’s ill, obviously they need to be away from school,” says Nadia Paczuska Jarana, assistant headteacher at Barham Primary in North London. “But sometimes children are kept off for longer than is necessary. When I was working in a previous school, I sat down with a local GP and compiled a leaflet for our staff. The leaflet contained lots of common health complaints: ringworm; headlice etc. For each illness it recorded what the appropriate treatment was, whether it would entail the child being off school and, if so, for how long. So when a parent rang in saying their child had such-and-such, the staff were able to say, e.g., ‘OK, so if you started treating the headlice last night, that means it’s fine for them to be back in school this afternoon. See you then!’

Religious observance

“If you know a religious festival is coming up and that a proportion of your children will be missing school as a result, it’s worth trying to be flexible about it,” says Dr Likierman. “Rather than continuing with the usual curriculum, which could result in the children who are absent falling behind, use the time to do a school-wide project on different religious festivities. Then, when the absentees are back in school, ask them to give a talk about the festival they’ve attended. They’re bringing something back into the classroom, the students have all gained something and the absences have been managed in a positive way.”

Term-time holidays

While teachers can understand a parent being tempted to take their children on holiday during term- time – when flights and hotels are cheap – it’s sometimes harder for parents to understand why schools don’t welcome this.

“The trick is to get parents on the school’s wavelength,” says Dr Likierman, “by tapping into the parental desire not to disadvantage their own child, or to be seen to disadvantage other children. The best way to do this is to get parents into school, talk about your plans for the year and explain what parents can do to support this – including making sure that their children don’t miss school unnecessarily. Explain that, despite the temptation of a cheap holiday, these absences can disrupt a child’s academic progress, disrupt child peer relationships and disadvantage other children in the class – because their learning is disrupted by the child coming back into school and needing time to catch up.”

Roll call

126, 230

Number of pupil enrolments that are persistent absentees

14.8%

The percentage of absences that were unauthorised

1.6%

Percentage of sessions missed through unauthorised absence by pupils known to be eligible for free school meals

0.5%

Percentage of sessions missed through unauthorised absence by pupils not eligible for free school meals

0.2%

Percentage of sessions missed through unauthorised absence by pupils in Cumbria and South Tyneside

1.5%

Percentage of sessions missed through unauthorised absence by pupils in Nottingham and Birmingham

Figures given are for state-funded primary schools during Autumn term 2012 and Spring term 2013.

Source: DfE.