Working together to improve school attendance
Recording pupils’ attendance during strike action
- If a school has to restrict attendance by telling some pupils not to attend school on a strike day, the Y code should be used for pupils who told not to attend.
- Pupils who are required to attend should be marked in the normal way. If a pupil is required to attend school on a strike day but does not, then they must be recorded as absent.
- The Y code does not count towards the pupil or school’s absence record.
Providing remote education: guidance for schools - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Prioritising attendance is essential for pupils to get the most out of their school experience, including for their attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances.
Remote education should not be viewed as an equal alternative to attendance in school. For this reason the DfE expect schools to consider it only as a last resort when the alternative would be no education, and only after it has been established that the pupil is, or will be, absent from school. In such cases, remote education can have the benefit of allowing absent pupils to keep on track with their education and stay connected to their teachers and peers.
Schools should consider the approaches set out in this guidance while also working closely with pupils, parents, carers, and any other relevant partners such as the local authority, to remove any barriers to attendance as detailed in the Working together to improve school attendance guidance.
- Pupils absent from school and receiving remote education still need to be marked as absent in the register.
- Schools should continue to record pupil absence in the register in line with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 and attendance guidance, using the most appropriate code.
2nd February 2023 – 2pm – How schools are sharing automatic daily attendance data with DfE - Governors
Reminders
- School Attendance Network – Save the Date
The Warwickshire Attendance Service and the Stowe Valley Multi Academy Trust are jointly planning a school attendance network event. The purpose of the event will be to discuss the new attendance guidance and begin the development of an attendance support network.
The proposed date is 6th March 2023, 12:30pm to 3:30pm
The initial meeting will be in person and is targeted at those responsible for school attendance, especially the school’s Attendance Champion. The venue is currently being arranged and further details will follow.
- An invitation for schools to share daily attendance data and sign up for webinars
The DfE have advised local authorities that at some point this academic year they will start to contact schools who have not yet signed up to Wonde, as this will become a requirement.
75% of schools in England (74% of schools in Warwickshire) are now sharing daily attendance data with the DfE. Sharing data means you’ll be able to access daily attendance reports on view your education data.
- To help you access and use the free reporting service, the DfE have a series of webinars for schools, trusts and local authoritiesstarting this month. They will be holding monthly webinars, where you can learn about new features and get support with non-urgent technical issues.
- Working together to improve school attendance is now the attendance guidance that should be used for schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities.
- Improving attendance: good practice for schools and multi-academy trusts. There are some really useful effective practice attendance webinars produced by the DfE in conjunction with schools, with good or improved attendance, sharing their good practice. It is highly recommended that your attendance lead/champion access this free resource.
- Additional attendance resources are available on the Education Huband Teaching Blogs
- The code ‘X’ code can no longer be used in the attendance register to record COVID-19 related absence.
Contact Us
If you wish to discuss any issues relating to school attendance, please feel free to contact the Warwickshire Attendance Service:
was@warwickshire.gov.uk