Included, engaged and involved part 1: promoting and managing school attendance

8. Attendance and absence data recording and management

8.1 Using data effectively

The most purposeful use of data is to inform whole school developments to improve attendance and plan to meet individual children and young people’s needs.

Most schools which have succeeded in improving attendance significantly have focused on school data for periods of concerted effort in monitoring absence in order to ensure coding is correct. Support should be targeted at children and young people where attendance is just above, or below, an agreed threshold in order to plan for improved attendance at individual level, or to address issues identified in classes or departments. Schools should consider this along with other information and data relating to the child or young person.

Class and whole-school monitoring can contribute to schools’ quality assurance and improvement planning processes.

At individual level, many schools set a threshold for attendance, triggering specific responses when a pupil falls below this (see section 3.6 for further detail). Monitoring of individual patterns of attendance and absence can help staff, pupils and parents identify support needs or isolate causes of concern. Absence may reflect other patterns in school or home life. Schools should consider this data alongside wider tracking and monitoring information, including wellbeing assessments.

8.2 Recording and coding information

The information in Appendix 2 is taken from SEEMIS guidance on recording attendance and absence.