Westminster Attendance Service Presentation to Governors

Westminster Attendance Service Presentation to Governors Wednesday 5th October 2011 Tom Manneh Head of Attendance Service

Overview • Introduction • The Council’s responsibility • School attendance and persistent absenteeism (PA) in Westminster • The role of an Education Welfare Officers in schools • Reasons for absence • Ofsted Framework for Attendance • Role of Governors in School attendance.

The Attendance Service • The Attendance Service fulfils the Council’s responsibility under the Education Act 1996, to enforce the regular school attendance of registered pupils of compulsory school age • The sections of the Act most commonly used for enforcement are under Sec 444 however under more serious cases Sec 444(a) can be used.

Persistent Absenteeism • Persistent absenteeism is defined as any pupil who has more than 20% absence whether it be authorised or unauthorised. • In 2012 this will be reduced to 15% as the government strives to improve attendance and reduce absenteeism

Sanctions • Penalty Notices; • Sec 444 carries a fine of up to £1000; • Sec 444(a) carries a fine of up to £2500 and or 3 months imprisonment. • Non-school attendance is a criminal offence and for those it involves it may affect their ability for employment or for travelling abroad.

The Role of the EWO To support the school, children and families around school attendance, including: • Working with children, young people and parents to ensure maximum attendance; • Support the school where attendance concerns arise; • Carry out the statutory function of the local authority in ensuring school attendance.

Westminster Attendance Attendance in Westminster is one of the most improved in the country, our secondary schools have the lowest persistent absenteeism (PA) in the country and have held this position for the past two years. The challenge for Westminster is in the primary schools. Whilst there has been improvement in both reducing PA and increasing attendance a number of primary schools still fall into unsatisfactory.

Data for 2010-2011Terms 1 - 5 The following data is for the primary schools for terms 1 – 5: 10 schools were below 94.0% (Unsatisfactory) 10 schools were between 94.0% - 94.8% (Satisfactory) 10 schools were between 94.9% - 95.6% (Good) 8 schools were above 95.7% (Outstanding)

Data continued • All of the secondary schools not including academies fell into outstanding in terms of attendance. • Whilst we do not have the full data for the academies their attendance has vastly improved.

Reasons for absence • Illness • Medical absences • Holidays in term time • Unauthorised absences

Ofsted Framework for Attendance Schools are judged in various ways and one of the most important is attendance. It is not the LA who will be setting targets it is the responsibility of the school to set challenging targets against the thresholds set in the framework.

The role of the Governing Body • The governing body has the strategic responsibility to ensure that procedures and a robust attendance policy is in place • It is your responsibility to ensure that data is understood and that challenging and attainable targets are set

Questions and thank you

Westminster Attendance Service Presentation to Governors