ABSTRACT

If a parent was thinking of sending their child to your school, or an Ofsted inspector wanted to be assured that the teachers took the attendance of children seriously, where would they be able to see the evidence? It should be obvious. Policies are important; management evaluation criteria have their place (this chapter contains models of both); but the real business of encouraging children to attend is done through personal relationships, hard work and imaginative and stimulating teaching and learning. The school should ooze enthusiasm for getting the children to come. What goes on in the classroom, or in the corridors, is potentially as important as what goes on at home. Children, and their parents, need to encounter the promotion of good attendance as part of their daily participation in the school. It is not good practice just to leave it as an unspoken assumption until there is a problem. Schools can, and do, make a difference.