School attendance has moved firmly to the centre of school improvement, accountability and safeguarding. With strengthened statutory guidance, evolving government policy and a renewed emphasis within the Ofsted inspection framework, senior leaders are expected to demonstrate clear strategic leadership of attendance and its impact on pupils’ outcomes.
This course is designed specifically for senior leaders with responsibility for attendance in schools in England. It provides a clear and practical overview of the current and emerging national direction for attendance management, including the expectations set out in Working together to improve school attendance and how these translate into day-to-day leadership practice.
You will explore how effective leaders create the conditions for sustained improvement in attendance by building a strong culture, aligning policies, and ensuring early intervention is embedded across the whole school. Drawing on recognised change-management models, the course will support you to lead attendance improvement with confidence, clarity and consistency, working successfully with staff, families and external partners.
With increasing scrutiny on attendance data, senior leaders must be able to use data intelligently and strategically. This course will help you sharpen your approach to analysing and contextualising attendance data, identifying patterns of persistent and severe absence, and clearly articulating the link between attendance, safeguarding and attainment.
The day also focuses explicitly on preparing for Ofsted inspection under the current inspection framework. You will gain a clear understanding of how attendance is considered within inspection, what inspectors are likely to review before arriving on site, and how leaders can evidence their impact through policies, data, professional dialogue and lived practice. You will leave better prepared to support staff and present a coherent, confident narrative about attendance improvement in your school.
This is an essential course for senior leaders who want to stay ahead of national expectations and ensure that attendance improvement is robust, strategic and inspection-ready.
Who should attend?
Headteachers, Deputy Heads, Assistant Heads, Governors and anyone else on the senior leadership team should attend.
Key Learning Objectives
This course will enable staff to:
Understand the background to the DFE guidance ‘Working Together to improve attendance’
Consider the implications of the expectations placed on schools in relation to attendance management
Understand the importance of getting the management of school attendance right
Feel confident to lead change
Comprehend the strategic use of data for effective attendance management
Explore the use of an attendance audit and self- review tool
Prepare for Ofsted inspection
Know where to find resources to support you in your role
Facilitated by:
Victoria Franklin is an Attendance Management Consultant working across all phases of education with a remit to raise whole school attendance. Victoria qualified from Bristol University as a social worker with a focus on education and has 30+ years of working in education settings including Local Authorities/Multi Academy Trusts and schools. Victoria has developed systems and procedures to help organisations become more effective in the management of attendance. (Including several Local Authorities holding authority wide specialist responsibility for school attendance improvement and data analysis.)
