Schools are going to have specific minimum attendance targets assigned to aid in recovering educational setbacks caused by the pandemic. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is introducing a roadmap for all schools to enhance efforts in getting pupils back into classrooms.
Approximately one-third of schools are still struggling to boost their attendance rates. Starting this month, each school will receive AI-powered targets to enhance attendance levels, ensuring that students are present and prepared for learning.
The Attendance Baseline Improvement Expectation (ABIE) will be tailored to each school’s circumstances, taking into account factors like location, student needs, and deprivation levels. Schools will be evaluated against similar schools, with progress monitoring focused on improvement rather than formal accountability.
The performance data will guide where additional support is necessary, including through Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams. Concurrently, 36 new Attendance and Behaviour Hubs are being launched to offer personalized support to students.
However, teaching unions have expressed reservations about the plan, citing concerns about adding more pressure on already struggling schools with additional targets. Despite this, Education Secretary Phillipson emphasized the importance of schools collaborating to set individual targets to address attendance disparities and ensure all children receive the support needed to attend and excel academically.
Before the pandemic, the overall absenteeism rate stood at 4.7%, which increased to 7.6% in the 2021/22 academic year. The number of persistently absent students, those missing over 10% of school days, nearly doubled post-pandemic.
Labour has overseen improvements, with 5.3 million more days attended and 140,000 fewer persistently absent pupils last year. However, the party aims to return attendance levels to pre-pandemic rates.
School leaders’ union NAHT’s General Secretary, Paul Whiteman, emphasized that schools are already dedicated to improving attendance and urged the government to focus on providing practical resources and support rather than imposing more targets.
Association of School and College Leaders’ General Secretary, Pepe Di’Iasio, echoed the sentiment, urging the government to consider the challenges faced by schools and provide dedicated attendance officers to work with families in addressing attendance barriers.
He stressed that school leaders are already under immense pressure due to budget constraints and staffing shortages, and additional improvement targets will only add to their burdens without effectively resolving underlying attendance issues.