New hubs in Liverpool and Manchester to tackle number of children skipping school
Two new so called "attendance hubs" are being launched in Liverpool and Manchester as part of a major drive to try and reduce the number of children skipping school.
Across the country, 18 new hubs are being launched.
They will be run by by schools with excellent attendance records, and will share practical ideas with other primary, secondary, alternative provision and special schools across England who need help to boost their attendance.
The Beacon Church of England Primary School in Liverpool and Wright Robinson College in Manchester will become hubs in the North West.
From direct pupil engagement initiatives including breakfast clubs and extracurricular activities, to improving their processes and analysis of attendance data, hub schools will provide a range of support to schools that they can tailor to their pupils and families.
The scheme is part of a Government push to drive up attendance and tackle persistent absences.
It has been launched on Monday 8 January to coincide with pupils retuning to school after Christmas and New Year.
The Department for Education is also investing £15 million to expand the attendance mentor pilot programme over the next three years, to help families with children struggling to attend school.
The programme will start in September 2024 and include Blackpool and Rochdale. These areas are in addition to the existing pilot programme with Barnardo’s which is already operating in Middlesbrough, Doncaster, Knowsley, Salford, and Stoke on Trent.
It provides intensive one-to-one support to pupils who are persistently absent working with them and their families to find out why the child is skipping school.
This can lead to extra support, more intensive work with teachers or in some cases bridge-building between school and family.
Letters have also been sent to schools which saw significant improvements in their attendance across England, including 12 in the North West.
According to the Department for Education, 89% of schools are now rated good or outstanding up from 68% in 2010, and this month England was ranked 11th in the world for maths, up from 27th in 2009, and in May, England was named ‘best in the west’ for primary reading.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:
"The benefits of our success in raising education standards can only be when all children are in school.
"Tackling attendance is my number one priority. We want all our children to have the best start in life because we know that attending school is vital to a child’s wellbeing, development, and attainment as well as impact future career success.
"I am hugely grateful to all our brilliant teachers, heads, and everyone whose worked with us to make the progress we’ve already made with 380,000 fewer children persistently absent."
A national communications campaign on the importance of attendance is also launching on Monday 8 January targeting parents and carers.
Under the strapline ‘Moments Matter, Attendance Counts’ it outlines the importance of attendance for attainment, wellbeing, and development as well as signposting to advice for further support.
Key advice includes a recent letter from the Chief Medical Officer that outlines best practice when it comes to attendance and illness.
It is intended to ensure that parents have the guidance they need when it comes to making decisions when deciding to send their child to school or when to keep them home.
The government has also committed to further legislation in the coming months that will mean all schools will be required to share their daily school registers.
This, together with reforming pupil registration practice, will modernise how schools record and share data on attendance and support them to understand what is driving absence in their school and provide early support and intervention where pupils are displaying worrying trends of absence.
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