Working together to improve school attendance

Although not yet in statute, we thought that we should update you on the new guidance and expectations placed on schools and local authorities in regards to the Department for Education’s working together to improve school attendance which is anticipated to become statute by September 2023 once the schools bill has passed through parliament.

This guidance is most welcomed, it shines a spotlight on “support first” and the importance of all of our schools, the local authority and our partners working collaboratively to ensure children access regular education by “unblocking barriers to attendance”.

At KCC the PRU, Inclusion and Attendance Service (PIAS) policies have promoted a ‘support first’ methodology for many years with attendance prosecution always being pursued as a very last resort and only when all avenues of support have been tried and exhausted to improve a pupil’s attendance.

The PIAS management team has been developing strategic plans to help implement and embed the requirements of the new guidance to support schools to improve attendance. The service has recruited a new service manager and we are delighted to note that they will take up post from January 2023. The new service manager, will take a lead on overseeing these responsibilities and work closely with you to ensure we develop a collaborative approach to improving school attendance across Kent.

The guidance expects local authorities to provide a core offer to all schools free of charge. PIAS (referred to generically as a school attendance support team in the guidance) will have a key role in the following areas of focus including:

• Communication and advice - providing termly opportunities for groups of schools to come together at district level to discuss general attendance matters, local resources and challenges, and share good practice. In addition, PIAS will provide guidance and training to early help workers, social workers and other partners to ensure addressing absence is a key priority.
• Targeting Support Meetings (TSM’s) - to be held with each school once per term (three times per year) and led by a named PIAS officer to discuss persistently absent pupils and those falling within the new category of severe absence, i.e. pupils with less than 50% attendance, to agree a plan between the school and local authority. This will also provide an opportunity to discuss whole school attendance matters and to examine data to help shape actions required.
• Multi-disciplinary support for families - to unblock barriers to regular attendance provided by a range of integrated children’s services within the council as well as partners from voluntary and community sectors to ensure that all efforts are made to improve pupil attendance through collaborative, supportive and engaging ways.
• Legal intervention - where all voluntary support has been exhausted and proved unsuccessful, consideration must be given to the full range of interventions available such as parenting contracts, education supervision orders, fixed penalty notices and attendance prosecution to determine which is most likely to change parental behaviour and improve the child’s attendance.

The guidance also refers to the important role of virtual schools in monitoring and improving the attendance of children with a social worker. The Virtual School Kent will work closely with schools, PIAS and social work teams to build on existing work and drive our focus on promoting school attendance for this cohort of children.

If you have employed the services of an external organisation to manage school attendance, please note the new guidance requests that PIAS must still provide the core offer to all schools detailed above. Therefore, KCC will be reviewing current practice in line with the new Department for Education guidance. In order to transition to meet the new expectations of local authorities, it is necessary to pause all non-standard processes for working alongside these organisations. All schools will receive a full statutory service from KCC.

A shorter version of the main guidance can be found in the summary table of responsibilities for school attendance guidance which gives a snapshot of responsibilities for parents, schools and in the local authority. If you would like more information please contact the PIAS link officer for your school and details can be found on Kelsi.