How we are making positive gains in improving absenteeism and inclusion at one of the region's largest secondary schools

Kenton School, main entrance

Getting children through the school gates and keeping them coming back has become one of the biggest challenges facing education.

Across England, more than one in five secondary school pupils is now classed as persistently absent, meaning they miss at least 10 per cent of their schooling. Here in the North East, the challenge is particularly acute, with our region currently recording the highest overall and persistent absence rates in England.

While school absence has recovered from some of the extraordinary levels seen in the aftermath of the pandemic, it remains stubbornly above where it was before Covid.

But statistics only tell us so much. Behind every percentage point is a child, and very often a family, with their own reasons why getting into school every day has become difficult.

We can talk about targets and attendance codes. We can introduce tougher rules and impose sanctions. And there absolutely must be an expectation that children attend school.

But none of that answers perhaps the most important question: why are so many young people choosing, or finding themselves unable, to be there? 

I was recently invited to Liverpool to take part in a roundtable hosted by Mission 44 at the Labour Party Conference, looking at how we can create a more inclusive education system for young people.

It brought together people from education, government and other organisations to discuss what needs to change, but also to share approaches that are already making a difference.

For me, the conversation reinforced something we have learned very clearly at Kenton School.

You can enforce attendance. You cannot enforce belonging. And unless we address both, I don't believe we will solve persistent absence.

That doesn't mean lowering expectations. Far from it. Parents and young people need to understand that attending school regularly is essential and that every day missed means opportunities to learn and develop are lost. 

But if we really want to change attendance, we must also understand why a child isn't coming through the school gates in the first place.

Is there anxiety? Are they struggling academically? Is something happening at home? Is there a peer issue? Do they feel they don't fit in? Have they stopped believing that school has anything relevant to offer them?

Unless we ask those questions, we risk treating the symptom rather than the cause.

At Kenton, our approach has several layers.

We have a dedicated attendance team ensuring every absence is followed up and interventions put in place quickly. Our Family Support Workers work closely with children and families struggling with attendance, including those experiencing emotionally based school non-attendance and do bespoke interventions with them.

Our Year Leaders, senior leadership and pastoral teams also take responsibility. Every child who is absent receives a call that day. Families know who they can talk to and we work closely with external organisations where additional support is needed.

But perhaps the most important layer is the culture of the whole school.

Attendance, like safeguarding and SEND, is everyone's responsibility. Every member of staff has a part to play because any one of them could be the person who gives a child a reason to want to come to school that morning.

That is why belonging matters so much.

Kenton's motto is "All different, all equal", and we work hard to make that something our young people experience rather than simply words on a wall.

Every child needs to feel seen and known. A conversation in a corridor, praise from a teacher, football, drama, music, seeing friends or simply knowing somebody will notice if they aren't there can matter enormously.

Our approach therefore goes well beyond monitoring registers.

Through Kenton CORE, our unique Elective Curriculum, students can participate in extracurricular activities within the school day because we believe developing interests, confidence and friendships is every bit as important to a young person's development.

We also recognise that a conventional school environment doesn't work in the same way for every child. Our personalised provisions enable us to tailor support around individual needs.

Inclusion cannot mean insisting every child fits neatly into the same box. Sometimes we have to change the box. And we have seen what this approach can achieve.

Over the past three years, attendance among our disadvantaged students has improved by eight percentage points. At the same time, they are achieving significantly better outcomes than disadvantaged pupils nationally, both in overall attainment and in English and maths.

Our NEET figure for young people leaving us not in education, employment or training has also fallen from 15 per cent to 2.5 per cent. These things are connected.

If children are in school, we can support their wellbeing. We can identify where they are struggling and intervene. We can help overcome barriers to learning and introduce them to careers and workplaces across the North East, showing them opportunities they may never have realised existed.

Most importantly, we get to know them; their personalities, talents, ambitions and the unique qualities they bring to our school community. 

We reward good attendance too. Our students receive certificates and badges and we hold half-termly and termly celebrations. "Miss school, miss out" has become a phrase our students themselves understand and use.

But let's not kid ourselves that a certificate will persuade a deeply disengaged child to return to school.

The real incentive is creating a place where that child feels safe, valued and wanted, where there are adults who care whether they turn up and where they can begin to imagine a future for themselves.

That was one of the reasons I valued the discussion in Liverpool so much. Mission 44's focus on creating opportunities for young people, regardless of their background, resonates strongly with what we are trying to achieve here in the North East.

Where a child grows up should not determine what they can achieve in life. 

Persistent absence is a serious national problem and there will be no single solution. Schools must be accountable, parents have responsibilities and young people need to understand that missing school has consequences for their future.

But we also need to turn the question back on ourselves.

Rather than simply asking, "Why isn't this child coming to school?", perhaps every school should also be asking:

"What are we doing to make them want to come back tomorrow?"