Meeting the Needs of Children Returning to School after Periods of Persistent Absence

When a pupil has missed weeks of school, it's easy for staff to take it personally. They planned the lessons, the pupil wasn't there, and now there's catching up to do. It shows, and it doesn't help.

Every absence has a reason that's real to the family, even if it's not one the school would accept, and relationships decide whether a child returns. You'll find ways to listen, notice changes in behaviour, and remove the barriers that are in your gift, as readily as you'd hand an asthmatic child their inhaler. Attendance rewards come under question too, since absent pupils never get them.

An executive headteacher of a primary and secondary federation shares what works in its schools, and little of it costs money. A cup of tea with families that isn't about absence. A key adult each child chooses themselves. In one school, eight of them picked the cleaner.