School attendance is a priority for all schools. No matter what your context, it is vital that you do not leave attendance to chance. Paul K Ainsworth considers four ideas to try and ensure high attendance


In the past, increasing pupil attendance may have been seen as the Cinderella of school improvement.

Thinking back to the early examples I observed of school improvement, my first experiences were of the use of behaviour systems. Then we moved on to how to develop teaching and learning, before finely honing systems to squeeze that last drop of attainment and hence progress for our pupils.

Attendance was often an after-thought and not given the attention by senior leaders that it required.

It is so very different today. We all recognise that the first pre-requisite to learning is pupils being in the classroom. Hence many schools are developing a wide range of systems and techniques which encourage pupils to attend school.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting Headteacher Update and reading some of our content for professionals in primary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcasts

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here