School attendance strategy

We know that there are lots of positive examples of good practice in schools, teams, and organisations in relation to the management of attendance. We have a plethora of good practice, services and approaches that are part of the wider picture in improving the attendance of children in school. These are: 

• Early Help Strategy - the strength of our Early Help offer means that a child, young person or their carer who is worried about attending school can share this at an early point.  This allows all professionals to take the best actions at the right time and for the right period of time. It supports schools to address the cause of the absence before the absence becomes the concern.
• Futures4me - a specific Early Help response focusing on support for young people who may be at risk of being in the criminal justice system and, or committing crimes and likely to be absent from school as part of this.  
• Young Carers  - a specific Early Help resource focusing on support for children and young people who find themselves caring for others within the home or extended family.  This is a role that is most likely to impact on their ability to attend school regularly. 
• Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) pathway - introduced in January 2022, to give schools guidance and support to begin to address the extreme absence due to school phobia and anxiety. 
• Healthy Minds and CAMHS (include SEMH strategy) is available to all children under 19 to support the emotional wellbeing of children and help address the factors affecting their inability to attend school. The social, emotional and mental health strategy for Lincolnshire demonstrates the commitment to supporting children to achieve better mental health and enjoy their time at school.
• Behaviour Outreach Support Service (BOSS) support for schools to manage the behaviour of children which may impact on their ability to engage in school activity and sustain good attendance. 
• Graduated Approach - the Assess, Plan, Do and Review considers the impact of the special educational need on the attendance of a child and builds this into plans and future provision.
• Ethnic Minority and Traveller education - support for those new to the UK or who may have different experiences of education which impacts on their understanding of parental expectations around attendance or ability to participate fully, adding risk to good attendance. 
• Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership - focus on keeping children safe and committed to understanding and addressing the risks associated with non-attendance for our most vulnerable groups.
• Virtual School - regular monitoring of provision for children in care and focus on improving achievement of children with a social worker, including whether they are in school and attending well.
• Voluntary sector - a wide range of organisations with specific expertise who can work with individuals and families on the particular issues that are impacting on a child’s ability to attend school.
• Alternative provision - local authority commissioned and independent provision that can provide a different educational experience for those children and young people who find attending their mainstream school challenging.
• Early Years Support - in our early years settings to embed the importance of attending a provision; good attendance in pre-school setting is a strong indicator of good attendance later in the child’s education.

We know that schools already work effectively with this wide range of services and approaches. However, data analysis of attendance tells us that there is more we can do together to ensure consistency across the local authority.