Attendance

The 2011 Ofsted annual report discusses attendance on page 62. "As with behaviour, there is a strong correlation between deprivation and poor attendance .... attendance was more than three times as likely to be high or above average in schools with the least deprived pupils compared with schools with the most deprived pupils."

Ofsted identifies factors that support good attendance:

• "A curriculum that interests and excites pupils"
• "Opportunities to undertake work outside the classroom"
• "Excellent relationships between teachers and pupils
• "Rigorous monitoring of patterns of attendance" including 
• "immediate" following up of absences
• "Identifying quickly a trend in poor attendance"
• "Early notification of the problem to parents and carers"
• "Clearly explaining the link between achievement and attendance to pupils and parents .... reinforcing the importance of the issue"
• "Targeted approaches to supporting the attendance of individual pupils"
• Ensuring that teaching is "focused on the individual’s needs"
• "Close liaison with ...  the education welfare service and police"