ABSTRACT
This chapter should be read in conjunction with the various Regulations (see Chapter 1) and the current guidance to schools on registration, issued by the DfES as Keeping Pupil Registers (2006). Registration is often seen as an unwelcome chore by both staff and children. But marking registers properly is fundamental to a whole-school approach to promoting attendance and an essential element of evidence-gathering in the event of parental prosecution. Registration is where pupils and parents are most likely to notice whether attendance actually matters to anyone and where staff should be identifying those who need an individual response. Registration arrangements should be a key part of a school’s written attendance policy, alongside targets, reward strategies and incentive schemes, appropriate responses to unauthorised absence and effective working relationships with parents and other professionals (see later chapters).
