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Attendance Campaign

Moments Matter, Attendance Counts.

Attendance Campaign

Purpose of our Attendance Campaign 

Good attendance at school is crucial for children and young people in Nottingham City. Research shows a clear link between high attendance and educational outcomes, leading to better life opportunities and the best results an individual can achieve. Additionally, regular attendance benefits young people’s well-being by nurturing long-lasting friendships, engaging in new activities, and enabling development in a supportive environment. 

We understand that many families face real challenges in getting their children to attend school, and many children encounter significant barriers. We have taken this into consideration when planning our campaign. 

The attendance rate in Nottingham City has been below the national average for the last three years, at least. The rate for the year 2023/24 was 92.3% compared to the national rate of 93.3%.

While many schools are running excellent initiatives to boost attendance, we believe there is significant value in a unified campaign across Nottingham City to amplify our message. For this reason, we are launching our attendance campaign.

Our campaign aims to be:

  • Supportive: With a focus on mental health support. 

  • Understanding: We won’t imply any criticism of parents or carers. 

  • Encouraging: We will work with you

  • Respectful and Empathetic: We understand that most parents recognise the importance of school attendance, but attending school is very difficult for some children. 

Here's what to do next:

1. Prepare Resources: Meet with school staff and stakeholders to raise awareness of this campaign and discuss with pupils. Utilise the toolkit to enhance family communication. 

2. Communicate: Collaborate with communication teams to share campaign resources via social media, newsletters, websites, and common family spots like libraries and community centres.

3. Support Struggling Pupils: Adopt a 'support first' approach, using webinars and case studies to address attendance barriers. 

4. Use Attendance Data: Analyse daily attendance data to monitor trends and respond accordingly.

5. Signpost Services: Direct families facing complex barriers to local services, such as Early Help Nottingham.

5. When sharing campaign materials, signpost to where families experiencing more complex barriers to attendance can access local services, such as

6. Display Our Campaign Posters. You can download and print them using the links below, and we will also be sending some to educational settings. 

Primary school poster

Secondary school poster

 

7. Share our videos

Primary illness video

Secondary illness video

Primary curiosity and wonder video

Secondary curiosity and wonder video

View several attendance webinars from the official channel of the Department for Education.

The Senior Attendance Champion role: school senior lead for attendance
The Senior Attendance Champion role

School attendance register: attendance and absence codes 
Attendance and absence codes 

Q & A - School attendance register: attendance and absence codes 
Q & A: attendance and absence codes

Data Returns: sharing attendance information with local authorities and others 
Data Returns: sharing attendance information

Effective Targeting Support Meetings between school and LA 
Targeting Support Meetings between school and LA

National framework for penalty notices for school absence overview 
Penalty notices for school absence overview

School admission register: deletion from the school roll 
Deletion from the school roll

DfE and others - guidance and practice resources 

The Department for Education and other agencies have published a number of guidance and effective practice resources to support schools in managing attendance. This includes:

Our latest attendance guidance which sets out expectations for schools, trusts and local authorities. 
Working together to improve school attendance

A number of webinars focussed on effective attendance practice for schools, trusts and local authorities. 
Improving attendance: good practice for schools and multi-academy trusts - Case study

An attendance data dashboard showing data at a national, regional and local authority level which is updated on a fortnightly basis. 
Pupil attendance and absence in schools in England

Guidance from the National Health Service about where illness might affect a pupil’s attendance at school. 
Is my child too ill for school?

Supplementary guidance for schools and local authorities related to mental health and attendance. 
Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance: guidance for schools

A rapid evidence review of attendance interventions from the Education Endowment Foundation website. 
Attendance interventions rapid evidence assessment

A number of written case studies where schools share their techniques for managing attendance, using text messages to remind parents of their child’s attendance, and working with the community to tackle the root causes of absence. 
Texting parents: our key to success in tackling absence

How to improve your child's attendance and where to get support | The Education Hub
How to improve your child's attendance

School Attendance Toolkit: A toolkit to help schools tackle persistent absence | School Home Support
School Attendance Toolkit

Moments Matter, Attendance Counts: Attendance communications toolkit for schools
Attendance Communications Toolkit

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Secondary_illness_image_1x1.jpg
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