Attendance has been a challenge across education for several years now in the aftermath of the pandemic. Before Covid absence rates hovered between 4.5 per cent and 4.8 per cent, but by 2022-23 they had risen to 7.4 per cent.

The government - both under the Conservatives and now Labour - has made moves to address this, including the announcement today of the (slightly delayed) £15 million attendance mentor pilot programme.

Of course, there is plenty that schools can do to improve attendance themselves. This is something we have worked on in our trust - made up of schools for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - over the past few years. We have seen attendance rise by as much as 18 to 20 per cent across our schools. Here’s what we have done.

Improving pupil attendance

1. Understanding the issues

First, it’s essential to start with a mindset of wanting to understand the specific barriers that keep students away from school. Low attendance can stem from many causes: unmet special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), complex home lives, sensory overload or the overwhelming environment of a large school.

A student saying “I don’t like school” could mean any number of things. By understanding each student’s challenges, we can work with them and their families to find solutions.

To do this we conduct surveys, conversations with parents, professional meetings and daily and weekly observation logs to garner a picture of needs, barriers and points of strength.

2. Practical support

With this knowledge you can better move to support families and their children with attendance - often through simple practical changes.

For instance, if parents have to leave early for work, making it hard for them to get their child ready for school on time, we can provide simple support like alarm calls made by our administration team or key worker to ensure that the child is up. Or we can provide assistance with transport services, including supporting parents’ applications and, where funding exists, organising transport contracts.

More on school attendance:

• How to tackle the UK’s attendance problem
• Pupil absence: the new regulations on fines
• Attendance: 32,000 pupils on part-time timetables

Sometimes, creative thinking is required. One student, anxious about handing in his phone at the start of the school day, was worried someone might go through it.

The solution? He locked his phone in a small box and kept the key. This small adjustment made all the difference, allowing him to follow the rules while alleviating his anxiety.

3. Personalised learning plans

In more complex situations, though, a more personalised action plan might be required. This might involve having a dedicated staff member to greet pupils each morning or allowing them to arrive at quieter times to avoid the busiest periods.

Some students at our trust enter the school through a different entrance, making the environment less overwhelming.

Crucially, we stick to these commitments. If a student expects a particular staff member to greet them, that person will be there or the student will be informed in advance of any changes.

4. Changing perceptions

Sometimes issues with attendance stem not from the child but from the parents, who may have had a difficult experience with education and do not see the merit in ensuring high attendance.

To change this perception, we need to build positive relationships with both students and their families. This might involve simply sharing good news about a child’s progress or a piece of work or holding workshops about how to tackle common parenting issues, so they know that we are on their side.

We also use anonymised real-life case studies to show students and their families what’s possible, and also use student ambassadors to welcome new students.

Sharing stories of students who have overcome similar challenges helps others to see that progress is achievable, and that school can be a place of success rather than failure.

5. Celebrating the wins

Celebrating small wins is another critical part of our approach. For students who have been persistently absent, aiming for 90 per cent-plus attendance can feel impossible. Instead, we focus on the progress they make.

A student might go from a 6 per cent attendance rate to a 60 per cent rate - still low by conventional standards but a huge leap for that individual. By rewarding progress, we help students to take ownership of their attendance.

The long-term benefits

Through all of these changes we have seen clear improvements across our schools and plenty of students who at one point would have seemed unlikely to ever sit exams have achieved impressive GCSE outcomes.

All of this success has started with understanding; with getting to know our students on a personal level, identifying the unique challenges they face and working closely with their families.

This means we’re not just getting students back through the door - we’re transforming their entire relationship with education and their future prospects.

Kevin Buchanan director of education at EdStart Schools, a group of special schools in the North West