Pizzas, iPads and praise stamps: pupils reap rewards for attending school
Pizza parties and iPads are being offered to pupils as incentives to improve school attendance, according to a new report which says sanctions alone are less likely to work.
While some schools in England are using fines, detentions and letters home to crack down on absence, others prefer a rewards-based approach, with prize draws for bikes and iPads, trips and 'praise stamps' which pupils collect then trade in for chocolates or stationery.
Another incentive being used is a ticket for the school prom for pupils in year 11, with attendance a key criterion for being allowed to attend.
The study by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found schools that combined rewards with sanctions reported seeing higher pupil engagement with attendance policies.
'Pupils in these schools appeared to be motivated to attend, as they saw a tangible benefit to doing so,' the report said.
'In contrast, those in sanctions-led schools were more likely to perceive attendance policies as punitive and unfair, particularly if they felt their absences were due to circumstances beyond their control.'
School absence has been a key concern for the government since attendance plummeted after the disruption caused by the pandemic. According to the NFER study, illness, mental health challenges and term-time holidays were common causes of absence.
Latest figures published by the Department for Education revealed the number of pupils who were 'severely absent' in England reached a record high last year and unauthorised absences also increased in total.
The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has backed the use of parental fines for non-attendance, which increased from £60 to £80 in September, but in an interview with the Guardian, the actor Anna Maxwell Martin described them as 'cruel and idiotic'.
Matt Walker, NFER senior research manager and co-author of the report, said: 'Attendance is strongly linked to educational outcomes, so it's concerning that absence rates remain high.
'The study responses suggest schools should consider prioritising encouraging and individualised approaches in addition to punitive sanctions.'
The study, Voices from the Classroom – understanding how secondary schools support pupils returning from absence, is based on a survey of 600 secondary school teachers and leaders in England, as well as face-to-face interviews with staff and pupils in nine state-funded secondary schools.
Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, said: 'The message is clear: fines, punitive action and bribery are not working.
'More students are struggling with anxiety and unmet SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] needs leading to increased absence, and fewer are getting the individual support, specialist input and pastoral backup they need to return to and remain in school.'
Pepe Di'Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Appropriate rewards and sanctions have their part to play, but individualised support that quickly identifies why a pupil is absent from school, and helps them to return to the classroom as soon as possible, can be hugely effective.'
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: 'These findings echo what school leaders tell us about the severe limitations of parental fines in improving pupil attendance.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
31-05-2025
- Daily Mail
White working-class pupils behind in all but 21 of UK's 3,400 secondary schools, shocking figures reveal
White working-class children are falling behind their peers in all but 21 schools across the country, shocking official data has shown. It means only a tiny fraction of more than 3,400 secondary schools across England see such pupils doing as well as their peers. Last night Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned that white working-class children were being 'betrayed' and left behind. In what has been seen as an attempt to take on Nigel Farage 's Reform UK, Ms Phillipson has launched an inquiry into why such children are failing. She said: 'Across attendance, attainment and life chances, white working-class children and those with special educational needs do exceptionally poorly. 'Put simply, these children have been betrayed – left behind in society's rear-view mirror. They are children whose interests too many politicians have simply discarded.' The proportion of white working-class pupils getting grades 5 or above in English and maths GCSE was 18.6 per cent, substantially below the 45.9 per cent national average, according to the data. But critics said Labour was only paying attention to the issue to counter the threat from Reform. Tory schools spokesman Neil O'Brien said: 'Everything Bridget Phillipson is doing is disastrous for white working-class kids. 'Her trade union-led Schools Bill is smashing up 30 years of cross-party reforms which have raised standards in England. 'Phillipson has axed support for able pupils in mathematics, physics, Latin and computing because she sees them as elitist. 'She has axed the behaviour hubs which were doing so much to improve discipline and standards in schools. 'School funding formulas still tend to heavily favour urban areas. While 40 years ago, London was an education disaster zone, today it is the highest-achieving part of the country and the lowest levels of achievement are found in shire and coastal areas.' At secondary school, white British pupils on free school meals perform around a grade and a half worse in each GCSE subject compared with the national average. Officials said the drivers of low attainment among white working-class pupils included a lack of parental involvement or aspiration. According to the research, white boys from disadvantaged backgrounds and workless homes have the lowest aspirations of all groups. But white working-class girls also fell in school attainment at a faster pace than their peers over the past five years. The inquiry will be led by Sir Hamid Patel, who runs a number of outstanding schools across Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands. Former home secretary Sir David Blunkett will also sit on the panel, alongside school standards tsar Sir Kevan Collins. It will look at why white working-class children perform worse across measures including behaviour, attendance, mental health, attainment and life chances. Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty said: 'Since the early 2000s, white working-class pupils have fallen behind their peers at every level of education. 'English and maths GCSEs are the bedrock of education and opportunity. 'The Government must develop a strategy to close this attainment gap and ensure this group are no longer marginalised. 'Labour must dispel the ongoing narrative around white privilege, as well as intergenerational disadvantage, geographic inequalities and disengagement from school, if they are serious about improving outcomes.' Announcing the inquiry, Ms Phillipson said: 'We'll look closely at what's working in the tiny number of schools that the data indicates may have cracked this problem for white working-class children. 'My message to parents is that we will create a school system where every child, in every classroom, has the support they need to achieve, and a fair crack at making a success of their life.'
Daily Mail
31-05-2025
- Daily Mail
DAN HODGES: I know the real reason Keir Starmer will never set foot in a truly working-class area ever again...
Finally. The Labour Party have discovered the British white working class do exist. Or, at least, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has. 'White working-class children, and those with special educational needs, do exceptionally poorly,' she admits. 'Put simply, these children have been betrayed, left behind in society's rear-view mirror.'
Sky News
29-05-2025
- Sky News
Starmer says government 'will look at' scrapping two-child benefits limit
Sir Keir Starmer has said his government "will look at" scrapping the two-child benefits limit. In his strongest hint yet that he will perform a U-turn - when asked if he would scrap the two-child benefit cap, Sir Keir said: "We'll look at all options of driving down child poverty." The cap means families can only claim child tax credit and universal credit for their first two children, if they were born after April 2017. It was introduced in 2017 by the Conservative government, and in 2023, Sir Keir ruled out scrapping it. However, as Labour came to power last year, he said the party wanted to remove the cap but only when fiscal conditions allowed. But he then doubled down on refusing to lift it, suspending seven Labour MPs shortly after the election victory for voting with the SNP to remove the cap. 1:01 Ministers had toed the party line for months, but the narrative started to shift in May, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson telling Sky News on Tuesday lifting the cap is "not off the table" - and "it's certainly something that we're considering". Sir Keir was also reported to have asked the Treasury to see how scrapping it could be funded. His words on Thursday are his strongest indication yet, that he could lift the cap soon. 1:01 It would mean a second benefits U-turn after he made a shock announcement last week that he was going to relax the winter fuel payment cut. The policy, announced soon after Labour won the election, has caused anger among Sir Keir's own MPs as it restricted the previously universal payment to those who receive pension credit. It will now be available to "more pensioners", but details of who and when have not been revealed.
