How one local academy trust convinced absent pupils to come back into lessons
An academy trust that manages several schools in Swindon explained how it has improved attendance as pupil absences increase nationally.
The Department for Education recently revealed that 2.3 per cent of pupils in England missed at least half of all possible school sessions in 2023/24, the highest number recorded since 2006.
In Swindon, the unauthorised absence rate at state-funded primary, secondary, and special educational needs schools rose slightly from 2.1 per cent in 2022/23 to 2.2 per cent in the latest completed academic year, accounting for roughly 784 pupils.
The Park Academies Trust, which manages Lydiard Park Academy, Abbey Park School, Highworth Warneford School, Orchid Vale Primary School, and The Deanery Academy in Wichelstowe, says it has bucked the national trend.
Its unique School of Solutions support programme has been developed to help return struggling students to the classroom, and has helped 400 young people since the pandemic.
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It provides a blend of therapeutic and project-based learning to help students develop essential life and learning skills.
Students in the programme spend two days a week at the School of Solutions for a limited period of two terms while attending their mainstream school for the remaining three days, ensuring they continue to follow a broad and balanced curriculum while benefiting from additional support.
The programme focuses on emotional and social development, emphasising skills such as integrity, active listening, negotiation, and respect, and aims to create a safe and inclusive environment which addresses barriers to learning and improves pupils' sense of self-worth.
The curriculum is enriched with activities that build emotional resilience, problem-solving abilities, and collaboration skills, and aims to help students reintegrate into mainstream education.
As a case study, the trust highlighted how attendance rates of 10 pupils at the Deanery have improved since that educational facility joined the trust last September.
A focused programme was put into place for year 11 students, some of whom were struggling to get into school, and this group's overall attendance has moved from 26 per cent to 61 per cent, significantly improving their confidence and chances of passing GCSEs.
One pupil's attendance rate rose from two per cent to 48 per cent, while another's increased from three per cent to 33 per cent, and several others now attend lessons twice as much as before the trust took charge, with two of the 10 Year 11s attending nearly 100 per cent of their lessons after getting involved with the School of Solutions scheme.
The Park Academies Trust's director of inclusion, David Williams, said: 'The Park Academies Trust is bucking the national attendance trend in Swindon with its primary and secondary schools consistently outperforming both regional and national attendance figures.
'To help students who have been struggling with their attendance, it's vital that schools feel safe and calm, and that's why we put great focus on those key factors at TPAT.
'We have also developed a unique programme called School of Solutions, or SoS, to support students, and we are seeing some amazing results with that initiative.'
As for the wider causes of these regular absences and truancy, the trust suggests that the aftereffects of the pandemic - including mental health challenges, financial difficulties, and disrupted routines - continue to have an impact.
Before the pandemic, two-thirds of children in the UK attended school more than 95 per cent of the time, but this figure has now dropped to just 47 per cent.
A trust spokesperson added: "Improving attendance is crucial for ensuring that children receive the education they need to succeed.
"Efforts to tackle this issue must focus on understanding the root causes and providing targeted support to those most affected."
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