School Attendance is Everyone’s Business
Schools and partners have been invited to book their place at an event called ‘School attendance is everyone’s business’. The event is to raise awareness of shared partner responsibility to support schools and the local authority to improve school attendance. The event will be from 1 – 4.30 pm on Thursday, 29th September 2022 at West Bromwich Albion Football Club, Birmingham Road, West Bromwich.
Email saeb_event@sandwell.gov.uk to secure your place by 5 pm on Wednesday, 21st September, at the latest. Please note it is one place per school / partner agency.
School attendance is a national priority and after the disruption to learning in the past two years, every school day counts towards positive outcomes for children now and in the future. The Government has set out expectations for local authorities, school and parents in a new document, ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’.
The White paper expects local authorities and partners to work more closely with schools where attendance has been identified as a concern. If a child misses too much time off school, they may be categorised as persistently absent (attendance below 90%) and/or severely absent (attendance below 50%).
The Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, has made school attendance a top priority. Read her report ‘Back into School: New insights into school absence’.