Working Together to Improve School Attendance: DfE guidance overview for schools

Summary

In this webinar, Adam Luke and Paul Baker from the Department of Education introduce the updated 'Working Together to Improve School Attendance' guidance, set to become statutory from the new school year. They discuss the reduced number of persistent absentees, changes in the guidance, and expectations for schools. They also cover the role of local authorities and clarify the process for handling absences, emphasizing a collaborative approach to support pupils and improve attendance.

Takeaways

• 📚 The webinar provided an overview of the updated 'Working Together to Improve School Attendance' guidance, which will become statutory from the new school year.
• 🎓 Adam Luke and Paul Baker from the Department of Education led the session, highlighting the progress made since the guidance's initial release in 2022.
• 📉 There has been a significant reduction in persistent absentees and an increase in pupils with high attendance rates, as reported by the new data published on Friday.
• 🔍 Paul Baker discussed the changes between the 2022 version and the new version published in February, emphasizing that the changes are minimal but important, and based on best practices.
• 🏫 The guidance is now statutory, meaning schools, trusts, governing bodies, and local authorities must consider it when working to maintain high levels of school attendance.
• 🤝 The importance of building strong relationships with families and working jointly with them to address barriers to attendance was stressed as a key expectation for schools.
• 🏛 The guidance includes a focus on developing a whole-school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance, with a dedicated senior leader responsible for overseeing attendance strategies.
• 📊 Data analysis was highlighted as crucial for identifying attendance patterns and focusing efforts where they can have the most significant impact.
• 🤔 Questions around the role of medical evidence in authorizing absence due to health issues, especially mental health, were addressed, with the emphasis on trusting parents and understanding individual needs.
• 🏢 Local Authorities are expected to provide support to schools, including named contacts in their attendance support teams, regular targeting support meetings, and opportunities for schools to share best practices.
• 📝 The session concluded with a Q&A, addressing various queries from attendees, including the role of Independent Schools, the use of penalty notices, and the expectations for joint working between schools and local authorities.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the webinar presented by Adam Luke and Paul Baker?

The main purpose of the webinar is to provide an overview of the updated 'Working Together to Improve School Attendance' guidance, which is set to become statutory from the beginning of the new school year, and to discuss the changes made since the 2022 version.

What has been the impact of collective efforts on school attendance according to the data presented in the webinar?

The collective efforts have resulted in 440,000 fewer persistent absentees compared to 2022, and an increase of 375,000 more pupils attending school almost every day with more than 95% attendance, as of the data published on Friday in the webinar.

What are the key changes in the new version of the guidance published on February 29th, 2024?

The key changes include increased clarity on the link between attendance and school culture, changes to attendance and admissions registers, a new national framework for penalty notices, and the renaming of 'parenting contracts' to 'attendance contracts'.

How does the guidance define the role of a Senior Attendance Champion in a school?

The Senior Attendance Champion is a dedicated member of the senior leadership team who has overall responsibility for setting the tone and vision for attendance, ensuring that the school's attendance strategy is followed through, and that all staff understand its importance.

What is the expectation for schools regarding the use of pupil premium funding in relation to attendance support?

While the guidance does not mandate the use of pupil premium funding for attendance support, it suggests that schools may consider it where appropriate, to ensure that attendance support is appropriately resourced, including the allocation of specific staff responsibilities.

What does the guidance say about the importance of reviewing and updating school attendance policies?

The guidance emphasizes that attendance policies should be regularly revisited and updated to reflect current practices and strategies. It should be a living document that is communicated to all members of the school community, including being sent to parents when a pupil joins and at the beginning of each school year.

How does the guidance address the issue of leave of absence for exceptional circumstances?

The guidance clarifies that leave of absence should only be granted in specific circumstances, and it is up to the school's discretion to determine what constitutes 'exceptional circumstances'. However, it suggests that a desire for holiday is generally not considered an exceptional circumstance.

What is the expectation for schools regarding data sharing with the Department for Education (DFE)?

All state schools are required to share their daily attendance data electronically with the DFE by August 19th, which will become a legal requirement. This data sharing will allow schools to access the 'View My Education' data system for analysis and comparison with similar schools.

What is the role of local authorities in supporting schools with attendance issues, as outlined in the guidance?

Local authorities are expected to provide a named contact in their attendance support team, hold regular targeting support meetings with schools, offer opportunities for schools to share best practices, and work alongside schools to provide support for pupils who are persistently and severely absent, particularly when barriers are outside of the school's control.

How does the guidance address the use of part-time timetables for pupils with mental or physical health conditions?

The guidance allows for part-time timetables in very exceptional circumstances where it is in the pupil's best interest. It emphasizes the importance of regular reviews, clear ambitions for the pupil's return to full-time education, and the involvement of the pupil and parents in these decisions.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to School Attendance Webinar

The webinar is introduced by Adam Luke, head of the school attendance policy and strategy team at the Department of Education, and his colleague Paul Baker. They express gratitude to the attendees for their efforts in improving school attendance and highlight the progress made since the guidance was first published in 2022, noting a significant reduction in persistent absentees and an increase in daily attendance. Adam outlines the webinar's agenda, which includes an overview of the updated guidance for improving school attendance, changes made since the 2022 version, and a Q&A session. Paul is set to discuss the modifications between the versions and their implications.

05:00

🔍 Overview of Changes in Attendance Guidance

Paul Baker provides an overview of the changes made to the 'Working Together to Improve School Attendance' guidance, which is set to become statutory. He emphasizes that the new guidance is part of a wider package of attendance reforms and is designed to support the education sector based on existing best practices. The changes are minimal but important, building on the 2022 version and stakeholder feedback. The guidance now includes increased clarity on the link between attendance and school culture, changes to attendance and admission registers, and a new national framework for penalty notices. The term 'parenting contracts' has been changed to 'attendance contracts' to better reflect the agreement between parents and schools or local authorities.

10:01

🤝 Expectations for Schools and Local Authorities

The paragraph discusses the expectations set out in the guidance for both schools and local authorities. It mentions that the guidance is based on best practices from schools and local authorities with high attendance rates and that it follows a support-first approach. The new version includes updated sections on physical and mental health to provide clarity on the roles of schools and local authorities. It also clarifies the expectations of the senior attendance champion and the importance of data sharing. The paragraph concludes by stating that the guidance is a continuum and not entirely new, ensuring that previous investments in implementing the guidance will not be wasted.

15:01

🛡️ Legal and Support Framework for Attendance

This section delves into the legal aspects and support mechanisms for addressing attendance issues. It covers the role of local authorities in providing a named contact for advice, regular targeting support meetings, and opportunities for schools to share best practices. The paragraph also discusses the updated expectations for informing local authorities about pupils' absences, especially when absences are due to illness or when a child is expected to miss a significant number of days. The importance of adapting support to individual cases and the potential use of legal action when necessary are highlighted.

20:03

🏫 School Culture and Attendance Policy

The paragraph focuses on the importance of cultivating a school culture that promotes high attendance rates. It emphasizes the need for schools to have a clear attendance policy that is accessible to the entire school community. The policy should articulate the school's expectations, the role of the senior attendance champion, contact details for reporting absences, and the processes for monitoring and following up on attendance. Additionally, it should detail how the school promotes and incentivizes good attendance and uses data to inform its strategy. The policy should be regularly updated and communicated to parents and staff.

25:05

📋 Legal Requirements for Admission and Attendance Registers

This section outlines the legal requirements for schools to maintain admission and attendance registers. From the next school year, these registers must be kept electronically, and schools must follow specific regulations for maintaining them, including when and why they can be amended. The paragraph also mentions that the retention period for registers is being extended from three to six years to allow for a comprehensive review of a pupil's attendance history. It touches on the granting of leave of absence only under specific circumstances and the school's discretion in such cases.

30:07

🔑 Data Analysis for Early Identification of Attendance Issues

The paragraph underscores the importance of data analysis in identifying attendance patterns early so that proactive measures can be taken. It mentions that the majority of schools are now sharing their data electronically with the Department for Education, which allows for comparisons with statistically similar schools and the analysis of absence data in 5% bandings. This functionality helps schools to focus their efforts on pupils who are just above or below the persistent absence threshold, enabling earlier intervention.

35:09

🤔 Collaborative Efforts to Address Persistent Absence

This section discusses the expectation for schools to work collaboratively with other schools, local authorities, and partners to address cases of persistent or severe absence. It highlights the benefits of sharing best practices and the importance of data sharing to facilitate joint efforts in supporting pupils. The paragraph also explains the requirements for schools to inform local authorities about certain types of absences and the changes in the guidance regarding the duty to inform social workers and youth offending team workers of unexplained absences.

40:10

💼 Role of Local Authorities in Supporting Attendance

The paragraph outlines the role and expectations of local authorities in supporting school attendance. From the beginning of the new school year, local authorities are expected to provide a named contact for advice, hold regular targeting support meetings with schools, facilitate opportunities for schools to share best practices, and work alongside schools to support pupils with attendance issues. It also mentions that local authorities will continue to administer penalty notices and take forward legal action where necessary.

45:11

📈 Final Questions and Closing Remarks

The final paragraph wraps up the webinar with a Q&A session, addressing questions from attendees about various aspects of the guidance and its implementation. The presenters provide clarifications on topics such as the applicability of the guidance to independent schools, the duty to inform local authorities about pupils' illness, and the role of medical evidence in absence recording. They also discuss the joint approach with local authorities for severely absent pupils and the importance of getting the message across to families about the new penalty notice framework. The paragraph concludes with information about upcoming webinars and a thank you note to the attendees.

Keywords

💡Attendance Policy

An attendance policy outlines the expectations and procedures for managing student attendance in a school. It is central to the video's theme as it sets the groundwork for strategies to improve school attendance. For example, the script mentions that 'all schools were expected to have a clear attendance policy and published on their school website'.

💡Persistent Absentees

Persistent absentees refer to students who are chronically absent from school, which can negatively impact their education. The video discusses a reduction in the number of persistent absentees, indicating a positive trend in school attendance efforts, as noted when the speaker says 'there are already 440,000 fewer persistent absentees than there were then'.

💡Attendance Contracts

Attendance contracts, previously known as parenting contracts, are formal agreements between schools and parents or guardians to address issues of poor attendance. The video script highlights the rebranding to 'attendance contracts' to better reflect the nature of the agreement, as mentioned when discussing changes to the guidance.

💡Local Authority

A local authority in the context of the video refers to a public body that manages school attendance strategies and supports schools in maintaining high attendance levels. The script explains that schools can expect support from local authorities, such as 'the local authority to provide you with a named contact in their attendance support team'.

💡Attendance Data

Attendance data is crucial for tracking and analyzing student attendance patterns. The video emphasizes the importance of data in identifying trends and taking proactive measures to improve attendance, as indicated when the speaker says 'data really is the lifeblood of attendance work'.

💡Senior Attendance Champion

The senior attendance champion is a designated member of the school's senior leadership team responsible for overseeing attendance strategies and initiatives. The video script mentions the expectation for every school to have such a role, highlighting its importance in driving attendance improvements.

💡Penalty Notices

Penalty notices are legal interventions used to address poor school attendance. The video discusses a new national framework for penalty notices, indicating a more structured approach to enforcement as part of the attendance strategy.

💡Attendance Registers

Attendance registers are records kept by schools to document student attendance. The video script specifies that from the next school year, these registers must be kept electronically and retained for six years, reflecting a change in regulations.

💡School Culture

School culture in the video refers to the overall environment and values of a school that promote the benefits of high attendance. The script discusses the importance of developing a culture that instills good attendance habits from the outset, such as 'developing and maintaining a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance'.

💡Vulnerable Groups

Vulnerable groups in the context of the video are specific populations of students who may face additional barriers to attendance. The script mentions that improvements in attendance trends hold across these groups, indicating a focus on inclusivity and support for all students.

💡Best Practice

Best practice refers to methods or techniques that have consistently shown superior results and are considered as standards for others to follow. The video emphasizes that the guidance provided is based on existing best practices from schools with high levels of attendance, as mentioned when the speaker says 'it's based on the best practice that schools and local authorities who had high levels of attendance were already doing'.

Highlights

Introduction to the webinar on improving school attendance strategies by Adam Luke and Paul Baker.

Recognition of the collective efforts in reducing persistent absentees and increasing overall school attendance.

The importance of the 'working together to improve School attendance' guidance becoming statutory from the new school year.

Overview of changes between the 2022 version and the updated guidance published on February 29th, 2024.

Explanation of the support-first approach based on best practices from schools with high attendance rates.

Clarification on the link between attendance and wider school culture, emphasizing the sense of belonging.

Details on the changes to attendance and admission registers, including the requirement for electronic maintenance.

Discussion on the role of local authorities and expectations from them in terms of support and collaboration.

Expectations for schools regarding building strong relationships with families to address attendance issues.

The significance of developing a whole-school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance.

The requirement for schools to have a dedicated senior leadership team member responsible for attendance.

Importance of setting high standards for attendance and punctuality, with clear communication to parents and pupils.

The role of data in identifying attendance patterns and focusing efforts for improvement.

Expectations for schools to work collaboratively with other schools, local authorities, and partners to share information and best practices.

Guidance on handling cases of severe and persistent absence, including the involvement of local authorities and external agencies.

The final expectations regarding additional support for pupils with mental health, physical illness, or special educational needs.

Discussion on the role of medical evidence in authorizing absence and supporting pupils with long-term health conditions.

Clarification on the use of penalty notices and the legal actions available to local authorities, including Independent Schools.

Summary of the webinar, including the next steps, resources available, and upcoming seminars.

Transcripts

and welcome to today's webinar my name

is Adam Luke and I head of the school

attendance policy and strategy team here

at the Department of Education uh and

I'm joined this afternoon by my

colleague Paul Baker uh and together

between us we're going to provide an

overview of the working together to

improve School attendance guidance um

ahead of it becoming statutory from the

beginning of the new school year um

before we get started a huge thank you

to uh everybody for joining us this

afternoon but also a huge thank you uh

to everyone for all of the efforts that

you continuing to make on attendance uh

I know sometimes it feels like a slow

frustrating task uh but the collective

efforts of school staff local Authority

teams uh and indeed parents and pupils

uh up and down the country is really

starting to pay off uh since we last did

this session when the first version of

the guidance came out in 2022 uh there

are already uh fewer sorry 440,000 fewer

persistent absentees than there were

then uh and new data that we publish on

Friday just gone uh showed 375,000 more

pupils in school almost every day those

with more than 95% attendance compared

to this point last year uh and that

Trend holds across regions uh with the

exception of being in London across all

of the regions uh and for vulnerable

groups and across School types uh next

slide

please perfect so we'll start this

afternoon with Paul giving a bit of a

brief introduction of the change es that

have been made between the original

version in 2022 and the new version

published on the 29th of February this

year uh if you haven't seen it yet we'll

make sure there's a link in the chat you

haven't missed out yet uh it doesn't

come into Force till the beginning of

the new school year uh but we publish it

with a terms notice so that people had

time to read through reflect and make

any changes uh the headline there is

there are some important changes in

there but if you uh have been working

hard to put the 2022 version into place

uh you be well ahead of the curve for

2024 because the Chang is wor important

and minimal um then after Paul's done

that I between us we'll run through the

expectations that are set out in chapter

20 uh chapter 2 um that they are very

similar to the 2022 version uh so many

of you will be very familiar with those

expectations and none of it should come

as a a shock it lacked as a bit of a

refresher but we've got lots of

colleagues joining and watching along

today who are new to attendance or

who've picked up the senior attendance

Champion role uh or uh haven't seen the

guidance before so we're going to work

through them quite slowly in step by

step um so uh to to to cover the variety

of people that we've got on the call

we'll then uh touch very briefly on the

chapter four of the guidance the role of

the local Authority and what you can

expect from local authorities and other

partners again that should be familiar

to many of you but so a bit of a

refresher but we'll go through it and

through the basics so that anyone who's

new uh will hear it for the first time

um and uh at the end we'll have some

time for questions if you've got a

question try and pop that into uh the uh

question bar on the side of the screen

we're a big group um this afternoon so

it's unlikely we'll get through

everyone's questions but Paul and I will

try and uh sort of collect them up uh

and answer the key themes from people uh

and get through as many of those as as

we can great let's get started then and

next slide please

and over to you

Paul great thanks Adam uh so we're going

to have an overview of the changes that

we've made now to work together to

improve School attendance uh so next

slide

please uh so I think the first thing I'd

like to say here actually is that the

new guidance was part of a wider package

of attendance reforms uh they were all

announced on leap year day so on

February the 29th and mostly come into

effect ahead of the the next school year

um and these are uh these are reforms

that are designed to support the sector

uh they're all built on the strategy

that was already in place uh and the

great work that all of you are already

doing um and and we do think that's the

right strategy so Adams already

mentioned the large numbers of peoples

who are in school uh an increased number

of days last year which is which is

absolutely brilliant um it's also worth

noting that the organization for

economic cooperation and development uh

highlighted our comprehensive strategy

uh for recognition in their recent

report uh so so while there are there

sign there are clearly significant

ongoing challenges in relation to

attendance which we would never want to

underestimate but it does feel like

collectively uh we're we're going about

the right track uh to address them um

you'll be pleased to know I'm not going

to go through every item on this slide

in detail uh as it's not the focus of

today's session and actually a lot of

them are covered in some of the other

webinars we uh we're doing over this

term uh but I do think it's useful to

see that the guidance is part of a a

bigger picture and in fact in many ways

the the guidance is the overarching

document which brings that bigger

picture together uh so for example the

guidance is a document which explains

some of the uh the regulations on

attendance data sharing it explains what

the uh new attendance and admission

registers means for you and it explains

how you and the local Authority can work

together to uh to implement that new

National framework uh for penalty

notices uh so from all of that together

uh next slide

please right so so many of you will know

that actually working together to

improve School attendance has um has

actually already been in existence for

around two years um so it was introduced

in 2022 following the school's white

paper as a nonstatutory nonstatutory

piece of guidance uh actually we know

that the majority of schools and the

majority of local authorities are

already implementing the key the key

elements of it and and one thing I'd

really like to emphasize here is that

it's based on existing best practice uh

so um so actually the new attendance

Ambassador Rob tan mentioned recently

that he um that he felt that the answers

to the attendance problem were already

within the sector and the guidance is

based on the same principle uh so it's

based on the on the best practice that

schools and local author authorities who

had uh high levels of attendance uh but

also higher average levels of

disadvantage it's based on what they

were already doing and we've sought to

bring that together um and kind of

present back in this guidance and and

what the department found when bringing

that best practice together you won't be

surprised at all to know is that the

best practice was based on a support

first approach uh so so many of the

schools who are really tackling

attendance well were doing so by by

listening to pupils and their parents uh

by identifying the barriers that were

stopping them coming to school and by

putting support in place to moove those

barriers um and it was only where needed

would that the scores would go on from

from Vol voluntary support to

formalizing that support and again it

was only where needed where they would

move on from formalized support to uh to

enforcement and legal

action great and then if you could just

bring up the next box on that slide so

the reason we're here today really I

guess is that we've published a new

version uh of the guidance which comes

into effect uh in time for the um for

the new new Academic Year the new school

year and I'd really like to emphasize

here that this is a Continuum rather

than completely new guidance uh the

changes that we've made have have

followed on from stakeholder feedback

and consultation and they continue to be

based on best practice and we think they

are really important changes but they're

not massive changes we're not starting

again by any means we're continuing with

what we've already uh

started uh so the new guidance is

statutory uh is statutory uh so that

means that schools trusts governing

bodies and local authorities must have

regard to it uh from the new school year

as part of their efforts to maintain

high levels of School

attendance uh some of the other changes

are listed on the right of your screens

so the guidance does bring out increased

Clarity on the link between attendance

and wider School culture so part of that

feeling of how creating that sense of

belonging can really help pupils and

parents in terms of

attendance uh I've mentioned the the

changes to the attendance and admissions

registers and I've mentioned the new

National framework for penalty notices

uh the last change that you can see on

the right is that we've changed the name

from parenting contracts to attendance

contracts uh so they still do exactly

the same thing but uh but it's just the

names changed and actually one or two

areas were already doing this and found

that it had been really effective and

increasing uptake particularly amongst

parents as they just felt that the name

better reflected the nature of the

agreement uh between them and the school

or local

Authority uh great next slide

please so I've run through the the kind

of overall changes we've made to the

guidance uh We've also made uh some

changes to the expectations both for

schools and local authorities uh again

I'd really like to emphasize at this

point that this is a Continuum rather

than new guidance so if you've invested

uh invested time in implementing that

existing version of the guidance and

that's brilliant they won't have gone to

waste at all um and actually these new

changes won't lead to a lot of new work

uh for

you but we have included an updated

section on physical and mental ill

health uh so for example to give a bit

more clarity on where the school's Ro

starts and finishes uh we know that this

is a barrier that a lot of people's face

in terms of their attendance so actually

we hope that this will give you a bit

more clarity and will help be helpful to

you in that regard and Adam's going to

talk about that section a bit more later

uh We've also clarified the expectations

of the senior attendant Champion we

actually delivered a webinar on this

last week so if if that is your role if

you're on the sen senior leadership team

at the school and the champion for

attendance and then do have a look at

that when it comes on the YouTube

channel uh and I've mentioned the expect

the the new expectations on data sharing

uh the final expectation the final

change on this list again is a

relatively small but important one so uh

we already expected that where where

schools knew that a child had a social

worker they should inform them of any

unexplained absences we've now added the

expectation that where you know that the

pupil has a youth offending teamworker

that you also inform them of the same

and that's just that's based on best

practice and the interest of the

people uh and if we could bring up

perfect the next box uh so as I said

we've already um we've also updated the

expectations of local authorities um I

won't focus on these in detail here as

it's not the focus of today uh but we

will talk at the end briefly about what

you can expect from your from your local

Authority um and we have just to go over

it in a bit of detail we have um we have

provided a bit more detail on what local

authorities should be providing to you

as part of their core offer and then

what they can also offer to you as

additional traded Services if that would

be of benefit to you we've also thought

to provide a bit more detail on how

responsibility should be shared if a

pupil lives in one local Authority and

goes to school in another uh for example

uh so that's a very a very quick

overview of the changes we've made as a

whole um as Adam said at the start we're

now going to go in a bit more detail

through each of the expectations of

schools in chapter two of the guidance

uh so if we could have next slide please

and I'll hand back over to Adam and

bring him on

screen thanks very much Paul H yeah

let's zoom out next slide

please perfect so the first expectation

of school set out in the guidance and

this is all in chapter two uh if you

want to go back and and look at the

detail is around building strong

relationships and working jointly with

families now that sounds like common

sense but we see time and time again in

the most effective schools on attendance

that that becomes a general approach so

not being rigid um but listening to and

understanding the barriers to attendance

and working in partnership with families

and those pupils to remove them uh

paragraphs 18 to 24 of the guidance set

it out in detail but where a pattern of

absences at risk of becoming uh or

perhaps indeed becomes problematic

schools can draw on those relationships

that they've been building to listen to

uh the problems understand the barriers

that that family are facing and work

with the family to put the right uh

support in place um and that includes

involving the pupil in that if they're

old enough uh in coming up with the

solutions alongside school and parents

um in the more complex cases uh where

those barriers are often outside of the

school's control housing transport Etc

uh schools are expected to uh to still

have those conversations and to agree

the actions um but it's more about

encouraging engagement with the relevant

support services sign person and helping

families to access those right uh

Support Services um and that includes

obviously working alongside the local

Authority uh when the absence

intensifies and the additional types of

support that they can provide is needed

uh that may be acting the school acting

as part of a team around the family or

conducting an early Health assessment

and it may mean working with the local

authority to ensure the Right medical

need support in place uh and of course

where that voluntary support has not

been effective uh working alongside the

local authority to formalize the support

either through an attendance contract as

as Paul has mentioned or through taking

legal action uh and two big questions

come up really on this expectation uh

when I'm out and about firstly uh what

happens if there's long waiting lists

for that particular type of support uh

and secondly what happens if we've tried

everything and nobody's around to help

us so on the first H if there's a

waiting list for a particular type of

support again it sounds obvious but

there may be things that can be done in

the meantime there may be tweaks and uh

changes that could be put in place not

to fix the problem or to uh remove the

barrier fly but to mitigate that absence

and engage the people in as much

learning as they can whilst you wait for

that support to be put in place um and

if you're struggling with that you Lo

Authority attendant support team uh whil

they can't do everything for you may be

able to help and provide advice support

on where to go or uh of other things

that are available in the area that you

may not be uh uh aware of or share

practice from other schools in the area

that have made those tweaks and

adjustments in processes that have led

to the sort of improvement temporarily

uh whilst people on that waiting list

and then on the second uh if a

particular form of support the one

people often mention that has a long

waitting this is comes obviously uh if a

particular form of support is is uh

refused by the family or it doesn't work

work in the first instance uh that

doesn't mean it won't work if you try

again um uh if a family refused to have

an early help assessment it doesn't mean

that you can't uh continue to engage

with them and support them in some of

the ways that that early Health

assessment would have led to and then

through the the sort of perseverance the

the best schools on attendance start to

see uh that relationship with the family

improve and people feel that they can

engage in the support um so I suppose

the guidance is clear that in those

cases um uh partners are expected to

work with the school uh to provide the

right opportunities uh where those right

opportunities aren't available

immediately or they not taken up

immediately try other things uh and if

if you've gone through everything and

feel you've gone through everything

sometimes coming back to the the start

of that and thinking about the same

things again is is is the best and most

appropriate uh action and ultimately of

course if parents refuse all types of

support there is is the legal route uh

where support hasn't worked uh I think

I'm coming back to you now Paul thank

excellent next slide

please uh so so the second expectation

is uh around developing and maintaining

a whole school culture that promotes the

benefits of High attendance and this

this really reflects the idea that that

good attendance is a learn Behavior Uh

so the schools are able to develop that

positive culture and embed it in their

vision and in their day-to-day life are

the ones who can who can really instill

good patterns from the outset um

of course the factors which influence an

individual pupil's attendance can be

many and varied so so actually

developing the strategy will often

involve weaving attendance into

strategies in other areas such as

attainment Behavior bullying

scnd uh well-being use of pupil premium

and I'm sure

others going down onto the third point

on the list schools are expected to have

a dedicated member of the senior

leadership team who has overall

responsibility for really setting that

tone and vision for attendance and

having oversight for ensuring it's

followed through and again we delivered

a webinar on that last week which will

be on the YouTube channel uh shortly uh

but it's not just the the senior

attendance Champion attendance is of

course everyone's business and actually

for individual pupils the members of

teaching and non- teing staff who

interact with them will be different for

each one uh so it is really important

that everybody understands the

importance of good attendance they

understand the strategy on it um and

they also receive any training and

professional development they need uh

zooming them back out a bit from uh or

zooming back in a bit from all staff

sorry uh maintaining that culture around

attendance is also going to mean

ensuring that attendance support is

appropriately resourced in terms of

specific members of staff's

responsibilities uh and this will look

uh very different for for different

kinds of schools uh but we do say in the

guidance that where possible this should

includ include uh attendance or pastoral

support staff so they could be

school-based or they could be contracted

but there's members of Staff who can

really work in partnership with families

uh to support an attendance H and for

some schools here again depending on the

setting but it may be uh it may be

applicable to think about whether the

use of pupil premium funding could be

appropriate

here uh moving down the list uh it's

important that peoples are set high

standards for attendance and punctuality

and that this is communicated regular

and clearly uh but ideally uh this will

this will be this will be accompanied by

commun communicating why attendance is

important uh so that parents and pupils

understand the positive impact it has on

on their attainment wellbeing and

development and they can really

understand why those expectations are

being set um so lots of schools do this

uh throughout school life for example

via displays assemblies or in

registration periods um and where it can

be done where it can be done sens

itively this can also include praising

and rewarding attendance whether that be

individually or collectively uh maybe at

class or year group level uh and from an

inclusivity point of view it is worth

thinking about uh not just rewarding

High attendance but also rewarding

improved

attendance of course uh moving on to the

penultimate Point uh attendance is is

never solved um if only it were so

actually uh the the best schools as part

of their culture and attendance are

really good at reviewing what they've

done uh kind of review updating that

updating their strategies and updating

their Communications identifying what

worked really well and maybe what they

might need to look at

again and then the last point on culture

uh which um which I'm sure you all

recognize is just that it's really

important to see that um that children

missing education can actually be that

really vital safeguarding warning of

perhaps something that's going on at

home or outside of the home it can be

one of those those indicators of that uh

so that's the second expectation and

I'll hand back over to Adam perfect

thanks Paul let's have the next slide

please Perfect um there's a specific

webinar on our YouTube channel um uh and

I know people are asking questions in

the chat about whether uh this one will

be on there it will so don't worry if

you've missed part of it and you need to

go back it'll be on the YouTube channel

but there's a specific one on there

about School attendance policies um the

School's attendance policy so I won't go

into this in huge detail

uh but all schools were expected to have

a clear attendance policy and published

on their school website so everybody in

the school Community can see it it's not

meant to be a Dusty document and the the

point of it isn't the right and have a

fancy document but it's an articulation

of everything that you're doing on

attendance so everyone in the school

Community from the head teacher to the

caretaker to uh parents or a pupil

themselves are aware of what is expected

to be each other uh and you're aware and

understand how you will be working

together to make things happen um the

policies expected to set a number of

things out and they set out in the

guidance uh um uh clearly as bullet

points um the first is uh the attendance

expectations and the punctuality

expectations so that P pupils and

parents know when they have to be at

school uh the second is the name and

details of the school's senior

attendance Champion uh the third is

information and contact details for

parents who want to report an absence so

a day-to-day repor of absence and

details of who they need to contact if

they've got a problem with their P's

attendance and they want to access

support from the school um we talk a lot

about uh following up absences and

inviting people into meetings but part

of this is to encourage parents to take

a bit of ownership in fulfilling their

legal Duty so those details really

important for that um and then details

of those day-to-day processes so

everybody in school knows what what

they're responsible for doing to monitor

attendance followup absences uh take

cases forward um details how the school

is promoting an incentivizing good

attendance and why it matters uh an

explanation of what your strategy looks

like and how you using data um so how

are you using your data what does your

data tell you uh and where will you be

focusing based on that uh and then

crucially how are you going to go about

it uh and finally details of when

penalty notices notices to improve and

the other legal interventions uh in in

the guidance will be used and that

policy should be regularly Revisited and

updated um it's it's no good having it

on there for three and four years at the

time it needs to be a live articulation

of what you're doing uh everybody should

be aware of it in the in the school

community so regularly bring it to uh

staff and parents attention uh the

guidance expects that it's sent to

parents when the pup first joins the

school and then again at the beginning

of each school year but it's good

particularly at times like this of the

Year where people are thinking about

taking holidays uh to include it in

newsletters or or whatever so that

everybody is aware and clear of it

uh Back To You

Paul great thank you and next slide

please uh so hopefully I think this is

probably quite quite an obvious

expectation uh but all schools are

required by law to have an admission

register and unless all your pupils are

borders and attendance register uh these

registers one change actually so these

registers must be kept electronically

from the beginning of the new of the

next school year that's coming

um so the new School attendance pupil

registration England regulations

2024 which doesn't quite well off the

Tonk but they they given how how those

registers should be maintained uh from

the next school year and for example

when and why they can be amended the

details are also given in sections seven

and eight of the updated guidance uh and

we've got a webinar basically on the

registers uh on next Wednesday so I'll

avoid going into too much detail here

that will be an opportunity to really

dig into those those absence codes for

example and some of the details around

registers but one one change to flag

which is the third point on your list is

that from the next school year registers

will be required to be retained for six

years rather than three and this is just

to allow schools and ofstead to look

back over pup's whole time uh at the

school to identify any patterns and to

identify for example how they can

support

them uh moving on to the fourth point so

the regulation set out that leads lead

of absence should only be granted in

specific

circumstances and schools do have the

discretion to within this to Grant a

leave of absence for exceptional

circumstances taking into account uh the

individual facts of a case uh we

wouldn't as a department we could never

anticipate all the scenarios that might

cover and we wouldn't want to uh but I

think it is worth saying that the new

guidance is clear that we wouldn't

generally consider a need or desire for

Holiday uh to be an exceptional

circumstance in that regard

moving on to the penultimate Point uh so

the guidance sets out from paragraph 43

so on page 18 sets out how uh schools uh

should aim to have really clear

processes and how they track and follow

up absence and pure punctual poor

punctuality uh so for example this

includes setting setting out how long

the register will remain open which

should be the same for every session and

not longer than 30 minutes and also

setting out how parents should contact

the school when their child is absent

and how any unexplained absences will uh

will be followed

up and as part of this moving on to the

last Point uh this will include how how

the school will update parents on their

child's attendance and absence in

overall terms and we recommend that this

um this isn't just in headline terms but

is in a way that is easy for them to

understand so for example an overall

figure of of 90% actually sounds really

good when you're used to hearing about

exam results uh but maybe if you explain

that more in terms of the time that pup

has missed or the impact that this will

have on them then actually the impact

may be much more helpful in that regard

and there's I know there's some

brilliant ways that schools schools

already do this there's plenty of best

practice in the sector on how to do that

and Adam I will hand over to you for

expectation five perfect thanks next

slide

please great so we've mentioned it a few

times so far haven't we um but data

really is the lifeblood of attendance

work uh so good analysis uh as so many

of you know good analysis of your

registered data uh allows you to focus

in your efforts where you can have the

biggest impact uh it also allows you

obviously to monitor the progress and

the and and uh what is actually

happening as a result of that uh and The

crucial bit now I suppose as the data is

getting better and more sophisticated is

uh spot pattern earlier so that you can

act earlier data in itself sitting in

the document doesn't do anything but if

you can spot those patterns and you can

act earlier uh to prevent the pattern

from absence from becoming entrenched to

the point where it becomes persistent or

severe we can make a bigger impact on uh

young people and their families uh so

the vast majority of schools are now

sharing their uh data electronically

with DFE All State schools uh need to do

so before the 19th of August when it

becomes a legal requirement so if you

haven't yet please please do so uh there

is a webinar tomorrow um which will give

details up at the end for those of you

who haven't and want to find out more

information about that sharing your data

gives uh access to the view my Education

data system um which allows you to make

comparisons to statistically similar

schools uh and check your progress uh

against and Benchmark against them uh it

also allows you to analyze absence a new

functionality that came out last week is

it allows you to analyze absence data in

5% bandings uh so 95 to 100 uh 90 to 95

Etc uh and one of the things that that's

allowed schools to do is to look at who

sitting just above and just below the

persistent absence threshold which

across the country equs about 35% of all

absence and knowing who's in which

pupils they are who are in that category

really uh speaks to that earli point I

made I suppose about being able to ACT

earlier so if we know who those people

are uh and you can prioritize some of

your attention there the problems are

are very similar um in many of these

cases but it means that you can act upon

them before they become entrenched uh

and in the easy hopefully in some of

those cases at that point um I I won't

go into all the detail on on data and

and and what sort of is expected but

paragraphs 45 to 47 of the guidance set

it out in detail uh what that looks like

uh and there is a webinar on the YouTube

channel about how to make effective use

of your data to uh develop your school

strategy um you can find that on there

and as I said there is a session

tomorrow specifically about use of the

uh view view your educ data system and

signing up for that live uh data sharing

Back To You

Paul great thank you so uh next slide

please this brings us to the penultimate

expectation for schools uh and this this

is a really key part of working together

to improve attendance guess inclusing

the name but the the idea of sharing

information and working collaboratively

with other schools in your area with the

local Authority and other part parners

uh particularly when absence is at risk

of becoming persistent or severe and I

think when people hear the the phrase

other partners the things that perhaps

bring to mind are police and health

bodies which and they definitely come

under that but I think it's also worth

adding that some schools have really

benefited from investing in links with

other organizations for instance with

organizations in the volunteering

Community sector with youth services for

example um in terms of sharing with

schools so I mentioned at the beginning

of this webinar that actually many many

of the answers to attendance issues are

within the sector already um so actually

schools can really help each other out

by by working together to share that

best practice uh to show what worked for

them and maybe what they tried and

didn't work as well uh and some schools

can do this by attendance hubs but

actually uh for all schools there's an

expectation depending on your setting

but either if you're in a multi-academy

trust there's an expectation for trusts

but there's also an expectation for

local authorities in the new gu in the

guidance that they will provide

opportunities for schools in their area

uh to come together and to share best

practice and to talk about issues in

this way and this can be a really good

way of building those links can be

particularly useful for example for

establishing links between feeder

schools uh and also perhaps for looking

to support families who have children in

uh more than one school in an

area uh the second and third items on

the screen relate to data sharing but

actually there is a little difference

between them so on the second Point uh

all schools including Independent

Schools are required to make certain

returns uh to to your local Authority uh

We've listed these on page 21 of the

updated guidance but they relate for

example to uh to new pupils and

deletions to continuous periods of

unauthorized absence and to periods

where the pupil is likely to miss 15

days because of sickness uh the reasons

for the these are to allow school and

local authority to fulfill their

statutory D duty to pupils and to work

together to put any relevant support in

place and outside of those those key

things that I mentioned local

authorities can also request data at

other times when it's essential in

fulfilling their duties although they're

expected to keep the burden to a minimum

which brings us on to the third point in

the list uh so we said at the beginning

uh that new regulations will me all

states and in schools will be required

to share their daily attendance data uh

and there are links in the guidance for

the easiest way to do this and I know

other things have been shared more

widely I think there's potentially some

things in the chat as well um but

actually by sharing daily daily

attendance data this will actually

really reduce the need for any further

requests from the local Authority so we

we hope actually that will reduce the

burden for both the school and the local

Authority in terms of those additional

requests um the final point on the slide

I think I already mentioned at the start

when I run over when I uh discussed the

overall changes but essentially we've

added that requirement to inform uh not

just a social worker but also if you

know the child is a youth defending team

worker then uh to inform them of any

unexplained absences so they can take

any action as

appropriate Adam back over to you

perfect thanks Paul and next slide

please Perfect um the final section

section and his expectations uh of what

what should be done where pups who need

additional support due to mental health

or physical ill health or special

educational needs and disabilities uh

and the uh I know this is a challenging

area for many schools uh the first thing

here to know I suppose is that many

children experience those normal but

difficult emotions particularly on the

mental health side that make them

nervous about attending school um and

those pupils uh like all pupils are

still expect to attend school regularly

uh and in many instances that can

actually help with with supporting the

underlying issue um when a case is more

complex as for so many of how young

people it is uh for example pup who have

a long-term physical or mental health

condition uh or they've got a special

educational need Andor uh disability uh

the usual support processes for any

attendance care supply really so as I

said right at the beginning working with

the people and family to understand the

need in that specific case uh putting

the right in school support in place for

that specific case uh and working with

any other external agencies that are

necessary to provide the help that that

family needs to get their child into

school um School staff aren't expected

to diagnose or treat medical conditions

uh but they are uh expected to work

alongside and support families um to

ensure as much attendance as possible

all pups have that right to a full-time

education and that's an education

suitable to any special educational need

they have so it's our our responsibility

collectively to make sure that they get

as much of that as possible uh so

paragraph 57 in the guidance sets out

the expectations for these pupils um uh

for where there are mental and physical

long-term health conditions uh and

paragraph 58 sets out specifics for

those with special educational needs uh

and or

disabilities um at the end of this

section of the guidance paragraph 64 to

69 uh cover part-time timetables uh and

part-time more reduced timetables can be

used in uh very exceptional

circumstances where it's in the people's

best interest uh we're always uh

balancing this tension of their right to

as much of a full-time education as they

can receive with the need for temporary

reintegration and support and those pups

who uh full-time isn't isn't attainable

for um they should have uh if if you're

going for a part-time time table they

should have uh the agreement of both the

school and the parent uh and that's the

parent that the people nor lives with in

line with other leaves of absence uh

they have a they should have a clear

ambition uh and they should be part of a

wider plan uh to support that pupil

whether that's a sort of pastoral plan a

health care plan a reintegration plan an

attendance plan um and they should have

regular review Deb uh where the uh pupil

uh comes along if they're old enough

pupil and parent uh if not um and they

can be uh supported to to consider

whether the the uh timetable is working

uh so that they only in place for the

shortest time necessary uh all of the

part-time Tim tablers should have a

proposed end date uh when the people is

expected to be back in school full time

or back into or or into for the first

time alternative provision uh all of the

time uh of course that can be reviewed

and it can be extended if necessary but

there should always be a clear ambition

of where it's where it's uh headed to um

and I suppose really that's a Whistle

Stop tour uh of the expectations of

schools there's lots and lots of content

there but there are lots of webinars

planned this term on various elements of

the guidance uh there's lots of them on

the YouTube channel uh that we've done

in the past uh if there specific

sections from what Paul and I have said

that you want to go and look at in in in

Greater detail um before we move on to

questions could we have the next slide

please yeah before we before we go on to

questions let's just pause a little bit

on the role of the local Authority and

what us as a school can expect from

local authorities as in uh chapter four

of the guidance uh next slide

please perfect so as I said chapter four

of the guidance sets out the roles and

expectations of the local Authority uh

as many of you know since 2022 many La

have been on a on a journey to get there

and to prepare to deliver that service

they all started from different starting

points um uh which was part of the

reason in the schools right paper in

2022 that the the guidance was uh

suggested so that everybody has clear

roles and responsibilities um but from

the beginning of the new school year

after the 19th of August uh like for

schools these expectations of local

authorities will be statutory so you can

expect the following things from from

your local Authority you can expect the

local authority to provide you with a

named contact in their attendance

support team uh that isn't to take on

all of your attendance responsibility or

to do all of the case work but it is to

provide advice and guidance when that's

needed on a Case uh and it is to be a

link point between you and other

services where that's necessary you can

expect them to hold a regular targeting

support meeting with you what that isn't

is the LA coming in and holding a school

to account that's a meeting of two equal

Partners uh where you both sat on the

table and thinking about where can we

agree actions that the local Authority

can provide help and support with uh for

people who have those out of school

barriers and for the local authority to

provide advice on some of the cases that

you perhaps are struggling with a little

bit internally and things that you might

not have uh thought about uh I've sat in

on about a dozen of them so far school

year in all different parts of the

country and it's really great to see

actually that meeting of professional

minds and sort of uh people helping one

another to unblock things with things

that they hadn't necessarily thought

before um all schools were expected to

take part in those meetings and I know

many areas of the country are already

having them if they haven't uh started

in your area yet they're in train to be

developed um and please do take up that

opportunity when it comes your local

Authority will also provide regular

opport unities for for you and other

schools in the area to come together to

share effective practice uh sometimes

that's newsletters uh online uh drop in

sessions uh termly conference or yearly

conference all different parts of the

country are treating that differently

but a really good opportunity for you to

get different perspectives on how other

people are uh facing the problem and

tling the problem uh and then you can

expect the local authority to work

alongside you to provide support for

pups when they persistently and severely

absent where those barriers as I said

before outside school and on't things

that you can do um they can't and won't

always take the lead in those cases uh

the majority of cases will continue to

sit with with with you at the school um

but they will help provide access to

services that they have access to they

can help with assessments uh and in

cases where the local Authority or a

local Authority team is best place to

lead uh they will be able to do that um

too um and of course local authorities

will continue to take forward attendance

Le intervention in in uh line with that

section of the guidance that includes

administering the local code of conduct

for penalty notices uh as part of the

national framework but it also includes

things like education supervision orders

and uh ultimately of course

prosecution perfect should we take some

questions

Paul uh yes excellent so uh so I've got

a list of your questions uh please do

bear with us as we do this because we've

we've received a lot of questions which

is brilliant uh we'll try to group them

together we'll try to answer the the

main themes but there may be some that

we can't get to just for reasons of time

Etc uh but so Adam I will start we've

had quite a few questions around

Independent Schools so I might try to

group them together but questions around

uh whether the guidance applies to

Independent Schools or in what way also

um particularly I get I think in terms

of with regard to legal action as a last

resort so whether some of those measures

are available to Independent Schools um

and also question specifically around

independent special schools um are you

able to say a bit more on that yeah okay

so on Independent Schools we working

with the Independent Schools Council and

the Independent Schools Association on a

fact cheet that sets out everything as

clearly as we can for for specific

schools and uh we'll we'll make sure

people have access to that but in terms

of um a high level rule of thumb

everything in the guidance applies to uh

all types of school including

Independent Schools unless it's

specifically otherwise says not so the

same expectations apply of uh

Independent Schools that we've talked

through this afternoon and as set out in

chapter two of the guidance uh

Independent Schools can expect the same

support from the local Authority in line

with chapter four uh those four core

expectations we've talked through and

that are uh up there on the screen uh

there's flexibility in how local

authorities provide that to Independent

Schools recognizing that there is a a

vast range of different types of uh

Independent Schools so it may not look

exactly the same as it does for your

peers in St funded schools but you can

expect those core for offers on legal

intervention uh penalty notices uh can't

be used for pups who are registered in

Independent School uh but that doesn't

mean that uh attendance prosecution

can't be taken forward apparently still

committing the offense or potentially

committing the offense uh of failing to

secure their child's regular tendance in

in the same way um so local authorities

can and will take forward legal action

for people's for parents of pters in

Independent Schools but the penalty

notice isn't an option um the other only

other thing that can't be used by

Independent Schools is a formal

attendance or parenting contract the

legislation doesn't allow for that uh

from the 2003 antisocial Behavior act

but it doesn't mean that's a specific

thing that governing bodies of schools

can use and local authorities use but

that doesn't mean you can't uh replicate

what is in it h it just won't uh s you

know fit that uh specific legal Tool uh

but there's no reason you can't have an

attendance support plan that does

exactly the same thing setting out um

this is the problem this is what we as a

school are going to do this is what you

as a parent are going to do this is what

you as a people are going to do if

you're old enough uh this is what you as

a local Authority are going to do to

help you and we want to see this level

of improvement by this time and we're

going to review them at this date you

can have a document that does that but

it can't be a formal attendance contract

in the same

way and actually that brings us nicely

on one of the other questions which was

one school uses attendance agreements

and there's a question around whether

that still allowed whether they need to

be changed to attendance contracts and

line with the change from parenting

contracts yeah so

um there there's very I mean there's

very little uh uh difference between the

parenting contract and an attendance

contract it is it is just a rebranding

as Paul mentioned at the beginning so if

you meeting the conditions that are set

out in the uh in the guidance on what

goes into an attendance contract or a

parenting contract then it is a

parenting contract for the purposes of

the antisocial sorry I presented but so

if they're using ES is using the phrase

attendance agreement yeah F in the same

yeah if it's if it meets the conditions

of of a parenting contract then it's a

parenting contract if you just want to

uh have a a slightly less formal tool of

a sort of attendance action plan

attendance support plan there's no

reason you can't have any of those um

but if it meets the definition of being

a parenting contract then it's a

parenting contract um and it you know we

calling it attendance contract for the

purposes of School attendance and you

could call that attendance agreement or

I have you but best to stick to things

that are in the guidance if you've got

if you are going to do a proper contract

because then everybody's clear local

Authority will know what you're talking

about parents clear if they look at the

guidance Etc but if you want a slightly

less formal Tool uh in in the voluntary

section of uh support then an attendance

agreement attendance of Port plan can do

lots of the same things but without the

sort of legal constraint of that

particular

tool thank you um we've got a question

around the um the duty to inform the

local Authority where a pupil has or is

expected to have 15 days of illness and

whether that is 15 consecutive days or

non consecutive um the guidance does say

that it is both Andor so it is both both

consecutive or cumulative and I think we

would suggest that schools talk to the

local authority to out how they best

want to be informed of that the local

Authority has set out for you how they

want to receive that information the

purpose of that is to make sure that

you're both aware of the cases where um

section 19 exceptional provision of

Education may be necessary it doesn't

mean that in every time that that

threshold is meant that you're going to

need something to do something specific

yourselves or require something

specifically from the local Authority

but it allows both parties to be aware

that that Duty may have um uh been

enacted so there are three things you're

thinking about when you're looking at

that uh sickness return as it's called

in the guidance the first is has this

child had 15 days of uh sickness AB

illness absence either consecutive or

cumulative we' talked about it depending

on whether it's consecutive or

cumulative it will obviously uh change

whether something is needed in many of

those cases but it allows the

conversation to happen the other crucial

thing the third thing is to make sure

that um if you be are made aware that a

child is going to miss this time the

duty also kicks in to inform the local

authorities so for example if you told

that a child has received a diagnosis

for something that means they likely to

be have need impatient uh Healthcare

every Thursday of the school year then

you make your sickness return to the

local Authority now you don't wait until

15 of those Thursdays have passed so

that you can discuss and agree whether

something needs to be put in place for

continuity of education on those days

brilliant thank you um just looking for

another question

um so there's a question around school

policies so one school says they have a

trust policy that each School links to

and each school then adds in their

contact details on their own attendance

page um is that still okay to do do they

need to have a policy for each School

separately uh so it's it's fine to have

that I always caution against local

authorities or anybody having a model PL

policy because as I said when we talk

about this earlier on the the the idea

is it's an articulation of what you as a

school are doing but it's fine as a

trust to have or a local authority to

have a a policy that school then adds in

those specifics that we talked about

that they uh add in where they focus in

what their processes look like who you

need to contact Etc but yeah try try not

to copy and paste policies because it's

it is supposed to be an articulation of

what you're doing but you could start

with the template like that and as this

uh person sorry I didn't catch the name

as the person is suggesting add in the

detail um uh specific VR

School excellent thank you um we've got

a couple of questions around the senior

attendance Champions so that role on the

senior leadership team um so both a

question around whether that's different

to the attendance lead and also a

question around whether it is a

statutory requirement to have a senior

champion on the to have an attendance

champion on the senior leadership team

yeah I suspect we talk about the same

thing when we talk about the senior

attendance champion in the attendance

lead there's a statutory expectation

from the beginning of next school year

that every school has a uh senior

attendance Champion or attendance lead

on the schools leadership team so

somebody who's responsible for all

seeing attendance in school that doesn't

mean they do all of all of the

attendance seeing attendance is

everyone's business and we ran last week

a uh webinar that's uh available on

YouTube where we looked at what that

role looks like it doesn't mean you do

everything but that person's a sort of

figurehead of attendance in the school

making sure that those processes are in

place that everybody knows what they're

expected to do making sure that

attendance is talked about at leadership

and Governor level um tracking and

monitoring whether it is uh improving

across the school

excellent thank you um I think as two

questions related to um to health um so

physical and mental health I'll do them

one at a time but one on part-time

timetables so uh just a request for

perhaps a bit more information on how

long a part-time timetable can be

considered for pupil so the previous

version of the guidance said it should

be reviewed at least every six weeks um

does that still hold or was only F the

guidance on how long it can be so it

doesn't give a specific because uh the

the ethos of the guidance is thinking

about the individual case and what is

appropriate in that individual case so

for some people uh a 3-we part-time

timetable is sufficient to help recover

from coming out of hospital all the way

through to uh so perhaps a um a people

who's had a baby and for a prolonged

period may be able to take part in a

couple of sessions a week after that

that baby's been born and everywhere in

between TW so there is no specifics but

regular review uh reviewed is in there

and I think uh you know you're not wrong

to think that half termly six weekly is

a sort of um uh uh minimum really to to

do that but uh just checking in and

seeing whether um uh the the conditions

and the things that were in place the

context is still right whether more

could be done or you know conditions

worse and slightly less might be able to

be provided um so it is keeping that

live uh with all the partners

involved and um yes so I guess the

second question connected to to health

uh particularly mental health is uh

whether there's anything we can say

about the role of medical evidence um

particularly I'm trying to find the

question now but particularly around

what role medical evidence plays where

people has mental health issues which

affect their attendance yes so there are

two things that for medical evidence

aren't there there's a f there's a first

set of medical evidence when you

thinking about how you recording the

absence and whether an absence is

recorded as illness or not um the the

sort of rule of thumb there is in the in

the P registration regulations that

govern the keep of the register you have

to choose the most appropriate

attendance code for that case and in the

vast majority of cases if a parent is

clear that the the pupil is too un well

to be in school then that will be

recorded as sickness if you have genuine

doubt in that individual case that that

isn't the case then you can talk to the

family about medical evidence

it's difficult to request some of the

things that schools try to request

sometimes so if the parent hasn't yet

got a diagnosis that doesn't necessarily

mean that that child isn't ill um what

medical evidence have they got can we

have a conversation about it can we look

at when they might need to be off and

equally parents who go to the GP and

come back with the letter that says this

child is ill that doesn't mean they

can't be school any of the time so it's

good to have a conversation about it if

you're worried about it but so there's

medical evidence about authorizing

absence the general rule of firm to

trust parents if you got got genuine

doubt look at what they can provide have

a conversation Etc the second set of

medical EV and actually more important

is understanding what sort of provision

if it's a long-term health condition the

child can access when they can be in

school how can we support them uh so

it's good to try and move the

conversation onto that so that parents

are clear what they've been asked to

provide evidence for really and that

stops some of the breakdown in

relationship on this uh vexed question

about how the absence is recorded um the

the sections in the guidance under code

I uh in chapter 8 uh on that and there's

a section under this uh in chapter two

under the support for pups with uh

long-term medical conditions that talk

specifically about so if you want more

further information that's that's in

there excellent thank you very much um

there's a really I think a really

helpful question here um uh about what

we would envisage a joint approach with

the local Authority looking like for

their severely absent people's so we I

guess would expect those regular uh

targeting support meetings so the local

Authority and school to be meeting to

discuss that severely absent cohort to

discuss how they could support them and

obviously the approach will vary for

each pupil but are there any general

things that you think might happen or

how responsibilities might be shared

yeah it's it's a good question isn't it

and again slightly unhelpful answer uh

because it doesn't answer the question

directly but coming back to this ethos

of individual needs of that individual

ual family in that individual case as a

rule of thumb as I mentioned in school

barriers are things where the school

would be holding the case um and

supporting with where there are outter

School barriers it will be a joint case

between the school and local Authority

uh so if transport is part of the issue

or housing is part of the issue where a

local Authority team is engaged uh then

you'd be working together and where a

case becomes really severe and you need

a local Authority uh Team involved so

like the ones we were just talking about

about medical evidence for example where

if a child was going to miss every uh

Friday and you've agreed with the local

Authority that actually we do need to

put some sort of formal um medical

support plan in place or an ATP or uh an

early health plan then obviously the

local Authority uh are leading in that

case and school of support and so there

are different cases for different types

but the ethos of the guidance is that uh

we stop seeing local authority over

there and school over there and we start

seeing those working together uh as I

mentioned local authorities in many

parts the country on a journey to be

able to get there uh their service uh

has changed hugely over the 10 years and

we starting to see people moving back to

work in that way um but it it isn't

there overnight for everybody um but

hopefully you starting to see the

network uh meetings or opportunities to

share best practice you will start to

see the termly support the targetting

support meetings um and you will uh have

your points to contact so if you're in

doubt in the case you talk to the local

Authority but you know please don't go

away from here thinking the local

Authority can take every case from you

they can't they're not resourced and

able to do that um but they will work

with you wherever they can on those

cases that's really that last as well is

really helpful I think there's perhaps

one or two questions just about that

where that um that kind of joint working

isn't maybe isn't quite there yet

between and local Authority um or maybe

some of it's there but not not quite

everything in the guidance and I think

what you've said is really helpful just

in terms of both scores and local

authorities are kind of adjusting to

these new um this new guidance and kind

of as we lead up to the next schol

year excellent um so there's I know

there's there's a seminar next week on

the register and the attendance and

admission registers so we we don't have

time to go into too many questions on

that but there have just been a couple

of people who have asked whether the H

code will continue to exist from the

next school year um is there anything we

can say on that as a so the the H cod's

been retired from the new code set so

from from the beginning of next school

year you won't have H code uh there's

still J code for unauthorized holidays

um as Paul mentioned earlier on the

guidance the new version of the guidance

is clearer on on holidays Mak clear uh

ministers took a very clear position

that uh a need or desire for a period of

recreation or Leisure isn't generally

considered an exceptional circumstance

so they've taken away that uh we've

taken away that specific code if in

exceptional circumstances you need to

Grant a leave of absence that includes

holiday for part of that um for any

exceptional reason uh the guidance is

generally uh so there may be the odd

case where that is necessary uh then

it's recorded under C code and the rest

of just the same as another exceptional

leave of

absence excellent thank you uh we've had

I'm just trying to find them now

apologies um uh there's there's been a

lot of questions which is great but just

a couple of questions around the fixed

penalty notice

uh framework and what that will look

like in terms of the next school year I

think so there is a webinar in around

two weeks time isn't there which there

should be a link in the slides which I

think would be really helpful in terms

of talking through what uh what that

looks like um I think is there any I

guess uh local authorities should be

working would be expecting them to be

working with schools on their code of

practice for how they're going to

implement the new network ahead of the

next school year so I think probably a

case of uh speak to a local Authority

and um yeah ask them what they're

planning is there anything more you'd

like to say on that so on the national

framewor all the details are set out in

the uh working together to improve

School attendance guidance talk to your

local Authority uh about how it's going

to operate in your area many of them are

uh running sessions or giving updates to

people and fact cheats to schools in

their area to know how to follow them uh

the other crucial thing is this the

framework will only work if we get the

message across the family so we doing

some of of that nationally local

authorities are doing some of that but

please do include the details in uh in

your um newsletters or Communications to

parents so that people are aware they

the fine increase cut through very

clearly in the media uh they love that

type of story don't they and it it it

cut through very clearly on television

and uh newspapers I think what has been

less clear is the escalation so a second

penalty note is being charged at a

higher amount and a parent only being

able to receive two in a three period to

prevent uh repeat offending um with that

third one considering prosecution or

another uh activity at that point um I

don't think that has cut through as much

to parents yet so there is something

that schools can do there to help us to

get that message across to to to parents

uh particularly where there have been

patterns of repeat offending in the

past perfect I think that's us so I just

very there's one final question which I

can answer here and now but just for

clarity somebody's asked whether non

maintained schools will be uh working

with their local Authority going forward

on attendance as well and the answer is

yes I think uh so I will for clarity

I'll hand over school shouldn't be

treated differently depending on the

school type chapter four is clear on

that the only slight caveat that I

mentioned earlier is Independent Schools

where the same four things can be

expected the same core service offer

expected fre charge from the LA but um

it can be delivered in a sight different

way to meet the needs of uh those some

of those schools which have a very

different context size uh makeup Etc um

perfect thank you very much everybody

for your time this afternoon uh and for

being with us could we have the next

slide Emma um we uh are enormously

grateful and I know ministers are

enormously grateful for everything

everyone continued to do if we didn't

get chance to answer your question this

afternoon apologies um we will uh try

and pick up as many of these questions

through the the future webinar series as

we can uh in the topics on those

specific areas uh the next one as I

mentioned is tomorrow at 2:00 uh and

that is specifically uh for information

on how to share data with uh DFE via the

one system for state funded schools uh

and also how to access that information

uh in the view my Education data system

so questions on that uh please sign up

for that uh tomorrow it's in the

calendar of uh

invitation team isn't it where where do

people go to sign up for

it and we get a link for people that

might be easier

yes so there was a link right at the

beginning of the chat but I appreciate

there's been a lot of questions I think

we'll aim to put something in the chat

as well at the bottom so you can see the

calendar of

activity perfect thank you very much

have a lovely evening everybody uh and

thank you bye