{"id":197587,"date":"2024-01-18T16:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T16:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=197587"},"modified":"2024-01-19T13:28:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T13:28:57","slug":"new-research-reveals-key-drivers-behind-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/new-research-reveals-key-drivers-behind-absence\/","title":{"rendered":"New research reveals key drivers behind absence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More focus is needed on a “second transition” for pupils leaving year 7 and absence sanctions are “insufficient” to meet attendance challenges, a new report has found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new study<\/a> of more than 200,000 pupils has identified some of the key drivers of absence among the attendance crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ministers this month launched a national marketing campaign to try and get more pupils back to the classroom post-pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, 22.3 per cent of pupils missed more than one in 10 sessions in the 2022-23 academic year.<\/a> This has barely improved from the 22.5 per cent rate in 2021-22, despite huge focus from schools and politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ImpactEd Evaluation has today published its first report from its Understanding Attendance Project, which analyses data from 200,000 pupils and surveys with 30,000 young people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owen Carter, director of ImpactEd Evaluation, said the findings “cast light on the approaches schools might consider as they seek to develop a culture of belonging for all young people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They also highlight the importance of schools analysing the drivers in their own setting: while there are some clear themes, there is no one size fits all solution to this complex issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. ‘Sense of belonging’ a key driver for attendance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Researchers said pupils\u2019 sense of school membership was associated with their attendance rates. It was a \u201ckey driver\u201d of attendance across all contexts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pupils in the bottom 20 per cent of school attendance scored 2.83 out of 5 in response to the question \u201cI feel like a real part of the school\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Female pupils have a weaker sense of belonging to the school community than their males peers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"absence<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Male pupils scored 3.21 out of 5 for the statement \u201cI feel I can really be myself at this school\u201d. This is compared to 2.90 for female pupils, a difference of nearly eight per cent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ImpactEd said females pupils\u2019 lower sense of belonging may also be influenced by their lower sense of safety compared to male pupils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. More focus needed on year 7 to 8 transition<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ImpactEd\u2019s data found there is a \u201cmore pronounced difference\u201d in attendance rates and the drivers of this between year 7 and 8 compared to any other year group transition. This is most pronounced for disadvantaged and pupils with SEND. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reseachers are calling this a “second transition” following the first school transition from primary to secondary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attendance rates for year 7 eligible for pupil premium or with SEND were 92 per cent. But in year 8 these figures fall to 88 per cent and 87 per cent, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For pupil premium pupils with SEND, attendance rates fell to 83 per cent in year 8 compared to 89 per cent in year 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers said year 8 scored lower in all social and emotional measures related to attendance and reported being more anxious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also a statistically significant correlation between attendance and sense of school membership for year 8 pupils, but not for year 7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis implies that from year 8 onwards, pupils\u2019 sense of community, or lack thereof, plays a more prominent role in their likelihood of coming to school,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Attendance drivers are intersectional<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

School leaders should avoid considering demographic factors in isolation. For example, pupils who are both pupil premium and have SEND have lower attendance rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference was particularly stark for female pupil premium pupils with SEND from between year 9 to year 11. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The average attendance for this group in year 11 was just 77 per cent, lower than the average national attendance and 4 per cent below male pupils in the same group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers said attention to friendships are likely to be particularly important drivers. Females scored 7 per cent lower than males in reporting they were good at making friends, and getting on well with other pupils in their class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Sanction awareness not strongly linked to improved attendance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ImpactEd said data shows that communicating clear consequences of non-attendance \u201cis insufficient\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persistently absent pupils were almost as likely as pupils with 100 per cent attendance to report there being consequences if they missed lessons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers said focusing on positive factors around the benefits of education and opportunities at school may potentially be more impactful than messaging around sanctions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the schools in the project, Mounts Bay Academy, an 11-16 school in Cornwall, found that pupils who were worried about the consequences of being late were less likely to come to school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school is revisiting late procedures to ensure pupils are rewarded for attendance, and they realise that the value of attendance is more important than the consequences of being late. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More focus needed on ‘second transition’ for pupils leaving year 7 and sanctions deemed ‘insufficient’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311127,"featured_media":197546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"post-theme":[2524],"class_list":["post-197587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","post-theme-attendance"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t