Why attendance matters

School attendance has obviously had a strange few years. For many months attendance became about being present online – a face in a sea of boxes on screen. Teachers reacted creatively and skilfully, high quality learning was delivered against the odds. New approaches were developed, many of which have continued rightly to shape practice now that we can be together again in real life.

However, we know that children and young people missed out. Not due to any failings on the part of their teachers – far from it – but the pandemic reinforced how important being there in person is. It is important not only for pupils, but for all of us.

No-one will be surprised to read that research shows a clear and undisputable link between attendance and achievement. Government data shows that:

• Among pupils with no missed sessions over KS2, 83.9% achieved the expected standard compared to 40.2% of pupils who were persistently absent.
• Among pupils with no missed sessions over KS4, 83.7% achieved grades 9 to 4 in English and maths compared to 35.6% of pupils who were persistently absent.

Even a relatively small number of days absent can have a significant effect on progress. Catching-up missed learning is difficult – both for the young person and for the teacher trying to revisit content whilst also moving forward the rest of the class. Missing key learning, even on one day, can have a knock-on effect for years to come as pupils lack the skills and knowledge needed to progress to the next stage.

Absence can also have profound consequences for pupils’ social development and mental health. Even as adults we can experience that ‘first day back’ nervousness after a period away. Absence can lead to a vicious cycle of anxiety – being absent makes the young person more anxious about attending, which makes them more likely to miss school.

As the powerful case study from Manchester Communications Academy in Deep Support for Social Justice highlights, attendance is also a key lever for raising the achievement of our most disadvantaged learners. It is no surprise that disadvantaged and vulnerable young people are more likely to have poor attendance – pupils often face practical barriers to attending school. This may be due to a lack of parental support, but we have to be careful that this isn’t assumed. We have heard of more than one school recently that is providing facilities for washing clothes, having discovered that parents were keeping their children off because they were too embarrassed to send them to school in dirty clothes.

Supporting good attendance is one of the most important things we can do to enable young people to succeed. It not only supports learning but also wellbeing, positive mental health and safeguarding. There are a wealth of effective strategies within the SSAT network and a lot of practical guidance in our attendance programme.