Pupil premium students and attendance
Author
Nadya Holcombe
Summary
This inquiry conducted by an attendance support worker, sought to address issues of poor attendance among disadvantaged students (eligible for the Pupil Premium Grant) by conducting short interviews with students in Year 7 (identified as at risk in terms of their low attendance) each time they had been absent from school. The questions looked at reasons for absence and the students’ own views on their attendance, positives and negatives of returning to school after an absence, catching up with work after an absence and what support they feel they needed. The simple process of talking to the students may in itself have helped to bring about an improvement in the students’ attendance (which happened for all but two or the student) but the project also gave rise to a number of strategies shared with all staff to help encourage attendance.