Absence management process for schools

The Education Welfare team has developed a 4-level process designed to support schools in managing cases where pupil attendance is a concern.

The process sets out steps for schools to follow in Level 1 and 2. Level 3 onwards focuses on working with parents to improve attendance before starting a formal process involving the Education Welfare Team which may lead to enforcement.

In many cases, improvement in attendance can be brought about by good communication and strong partnership working between parents and the school, identifying, and addressing the barriers to attendance.

Offering and involving Early Help services is also an integral part of this staged process in cases where more help is needed. This helps to address wider issues within a family that are contributing to irregular attendance.

Children with attendance between 93% and 100% will receive support from their school through:

• promoting good attendance
• supporting children's emotional health and wellbeing
• working together with parents via phone, texts, letters, emails and meetings

The expectation is that schools will:

• have an approach that is centered around a school attendance policy which promotes good attendance and punctuality, with clear roles and responsibilities throughout the school. This will be overseen by the member of the senior leadership team with responsibility for attendance.
• have in place a parent / carer contact system for children who are absent from school - to establish why the child is absent, and when the child is expected to return.
• escalate in a timely manner to Level 2 if a child needs greater support/ intervention to improve their attendance
• have a praise/reward system in place for children who exceed the school's attendance target and/or improve their attendance following support and intervention
• completion of the Attendance Action Plan with the pupil and parent

We also ask that schools actively monitor school attendance and hold interventions when appropriate, such as:

• talking to children about what is making them feel unsafe or anxious
• mentoring children whose attendance starts to decline
• initiating conversations with parents and carers to advise them of their child's falling attendance and to help identify any issues
• requesting medical evidence if absences continue to occur due to illness or medical reasons
• holding attendance clinics with parents and carers to identify underlying reasons for absence and to develop and agree a plan to remove barriers to regular attendance
• maintaining accurate records of any meetings/interventions and evaluations of interventions.

Intervention at Level 1 is complete when the systems in schools for supporting good attendance have been successful.

If, following a 6-week support and monitoring period, they are unsuccessful at either maintaining attendance at an acceptable level or preventing a decline in attendance, schools should transition to Level 2.

Each school has access to an Attendance Support meeting. This meeting can be used to discuss those pupils who have moved into Level 2.

The Education Welfare single point of contact will provide advice and guidance regarding the use of other agencies.

When a child's attendance continues to decline over a period, and is at risk of falling below 90%, schools should investigate to see if there are any unidentified, underlying reasons for the absences.

Absence from school is rarely an issue in isolation and is often a symptom of issues elsewhere that need addressing.

Children whose attendance has moved beyond a Level 1 response are vulnerable to becoming persistent or severely absent. 

The primary purpose of the attendance meeting is to listen to the parents and carers (and the child if it is appropriate
to do so) to understand and explore the barriers to regular school attendance that exist and then identify the appropriate support needed to overcome these.

Sensitivity and curiosity should be used when meeting with families and children. Being firm, fair and empathetic is very important in this meeting as we need to listen and understand the voice of the family.

The meeting outcome should be a plan that sets out what can be done to overcome the identified barriers to regular attendance, by:

• the child
• parents and carers
• the school
• any external agencies or services

The plan should not be limited to just improving school attendance but also consider what further additional support - if any - is needed by the child or their family. It should be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary.

If the interventions are not having the expected impact they should be changed in consultation with the child and their family, as part of a graduated response to developing a unique inclusion plan for the child.

This can be documented in the review of the pupils Attendance Action Plan completed at Level 1.

Parents / carers should be invited to any meeting in writing. This letter must advise parents of their legal obligations in relation to regular attendance at school.

It is important to remember that children and families receiving Level 3 support are still likely to benefit from purposeful support from typically Level 1 and 2 interventions, the only difference being that these interventions will form part of the targeted support plan.

School will make a referral to the Education Welfare Team requesting either of 2 routes: 

• Route 1: Issuing of a Penalty Notice Warning (This can be used when the absence is not severe). The parents and carers will be informed of the warning by letter and there will be a 3 week monitoring period (Which my be extended to 6 weeks). Should the pupil have any unauthorised absences within this period then a Penalty Notice will be issued in line with South Tyneside's code of conduct.
• Route 2: Inviting the family to a Level 3 meeting at the Town Hall (or any other appropriate venue). This meeting will review the Attendance Action Plan and clearly outline the expectations of attendance, the legal position and the role of services supporting the family. The Attendance Action Plan will be monitored for a period of 6 weeks.

If there are safeguarding concerns, the case should be considered for statutory social care involvement.

Schools should discuss this with the network around the child and the family to agree on proportionate and purposeful next steps.

Parents and carers must be notified of the referral to make sure they are aware of it prior to it being made. The only exception to this is when informing the parent or carer of the referral would place the child at increased risk of significant harm.

Statutory attendance measures should be a last resort and usually as part of a multi-Agency decision making process.

Parents should be informed of the plan to proceed to statutory intervention in good time.

Level 4 will include a further meeting offered to the family to explore the reasons for continued concerns around school attendance. The Attendance Action Plan will be reviewed, and a full explanation of statutory action will be explained.

Following this meeting a Final Warning will be issued to the parents or carers with a maximum of a 6 week monitoring period. During this monitoring period the Education Welfare Team will make fortnightly contact with the family.

Should the attendance not improve at the end of the monitoring period then the case will be prepared for Court.

From September 2024, every school in South Tyneside will be offered a minimum of one targeted support meeting with their named Education Welfare Officer, this will be based on need.

Education Welfare Officer's will contact the school's attendance champion or lead and their main point of contact for attendance matters (usually the attendance officer responsible for day-to-day attendance processes) to arrange the meeting. The school may invite additional colleagues to the meeting to support these discussions, such as pastoral staff or heads of year. A representative from the Early Help Team, who is identified as the school's Early Help single point of contact, will also be invited to attend the meeting.

Schools will be offered a face-to-face meeting, but remote meetings can also be arranged if requested by the school or where this is the only option due to availability of colleagues.

Education Welfare Officer's will advise on the expected length of the meeting, which will be based on the persistent absence rate and population for the school.

The main purpose of the Targeting Support meeting is for the Education Welfare Officer to work collaboratively with school attendance leads to identify, discuss, and agree targeted actions for pupils who are persistently absent (90% or less attendance) or severely absent (50% or less attendance).

Prior to the meeting, the Education Welfare Officer will review the school's attendance data and identify trends within groups such as pupils eligible for free school meals or  pupils with EHCP.

Schools will be expected to share information on the application of the Attendance Process in relation to each pupil, including:

• Contact with family in relation to attendance concerns
• The reasons for absences or barriers to attendance
• Strategies and interventions in place to reduce barriers to attendance
• Whether Early Help has been offered and actions taken as a result
• Whether a Social Worker, or other early help worker are acting as lead professional and how attendance concerns are being addressed as part of the family's plan

Advice to schools will include:

• How to apply the Attendance Process in relation to each case and next steps to take when attendance isn't improving, or parents are not engaging
• When and how to offer early help and involve other services where appropriate
• Whether a referral for attendance enforcement at Level 3 is appropriate

Schools do not need to wait for their Targeting Support meeting before making a referral if they have followed the Staged Attendance Process and can evidence that they have reached Level 3.

Education Welfare Officer's will record any actions agreed and share with the attendees following the meeting.

Education Welfare Officer's can offer advice and support to lead practitioners in cases where attendance is not improving despite actions within a family's plan or where it is considered that more could be being done to address attendance through that process.

All schools should expect the following service standards from the Education Welfare Service:

• The Education Welfare Officer will respond to telephone messages and emails from schools as quickly as possible, but within two working days (other than where exceptional circumstances apply). Education Welfare Officer's who work part-time will make their linked schools aware of their available days and hours
• If the link Education Welfare Officer is unable to attend any pre-arranged meetings, this will be communicated to the school with as much notice as possible
• Education Welfare Officer's may take annual leave in term time. Where this is the case, the school's linked Education Welfare Officer will advise schools when they will be absent from work and will provide contact details for another member of the Education Welfare Team should the school need any advice or support during their absence
• Where possible, meeting cover will be arranged, but will be dependent on availability of other colleagues and the amount of notice given
• Education Welfare Officer's will consider the voice of the child and parents, and will strive to work restoratively with colleagues, schools, and other key partners
• Attendance enforcement referrals will be processed within a maximum of 10 working days. Outcomes will be communicated by email to the named referrer
• Education Welfare Officer's involved in cases that have reached Level 3 of the Staged Attendance Process will ensure that an Attendance Action Plan includes SMART targets, agreed actions arefollowed up in the stated timescales and cases are monitored to avoid drift
• Education Welfare Officers will carry out any actions agreed with schools and families and will communicate the outcome of these to schools and other relevant services within the agreed timescales
• Schools should expect a level of challenge from their Education Welfare Officer as well as support. The Education Welfare Team will use data to inform discussions with schools, for example relating to attendance rates, attendance of vulnerable groups, removals from roll, absence coding and part-time timetables
• Education Welfare Officer's within the service may contact schools in relation to other areas of the service's work and statutory duties, such as exclusions, children missing in education (CME) and missing from school. Schools should expect the same level of service and professionalism, bearing in the mind the role the service has in challenging practice as well as providing advice and guidance to schools

If schools are concerned that standards are not being met, they can report it to the Attendance Manager or Service Manager:

Service Manager: Enid Fairbrother

• email: enid.fairbrother@southtyneside.gov.uk
• telephone: 01914247698

Attendance Manager: Graeme Stobbs

• email: graeme.stobbs@southtyneside.gov.uk
• telephone: 0191 424 6763