Managing attendance - the three-stage approach
This section of guidance should be read in conjunction with the following statutory DfE guidance:
- Working together to improve school attendance (publishing.service.gov.uk)
- School attendance: parental responsibility measures: Statutory guidance for local authorities, school leaders, school staff, governing bodies and the police
The Department for Education's (DfE)'s ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance (2024) requires local authorities to 'circulate clear guidance on how schools, the School Attendance Support Team and other partners should work together to provide intensive voluntary and/or formal support for individual pupils and families. This should include clarity around what support schools should already have offered and the point at which the local authority will become involved in individual cases and how the local authority and
school will share responsibility...'
The three-stage approach is designed to meet these requirements by ensuring that schools, families, and professionals managing attendance issues in Southwark are clear in relation to their respective responsibilities and to provide consistency and fairness to young people and families.
Schools should continue to seek support and guidance from their FEH link manager of single point of contact in relation to attendance issues and refer to FEH services for support with attendance (where such cases meet the criteria for support), irrespective of which stage attendance and inclusion action is currently in. However, to qualify for stage three statutory interventions from EIT, there's an expectation that schools or lead professionals will have completed stage one and two attendance and inclusion action prior to making a referral.
Although professional guidance must always be applied, as a guide, the three stages of attendance action correspond to tiers two to four on the London Safeguarding Children Procedures - Threshold Document: Continuum of Help and Support (2023) as follows:
|
Level 1 |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
No additional needs |
Early help |
Children with complex multiple needs |
Children in acute need |
|
|
Stage one – initial attendance action |
Stage two – formal attendance action |
Stage three – statutory attendance action |
|
The carer positively supports learning and aspirations and engages with school |
The carer is not engaged in supporting learning aspirations and/or is not engaging with the school. |
The carer does not engage with the school and actively resists suggestions of supportive interventions. |
The carer actively discourages or prevents the child from learning or engaging with the school |
|
Child is in education/training with no barriers to learning. Planned progressions beyond school/college. Behaviour issues are managed by the school. |
Child experiences frequent moves between schools or professional concerns re home education. Reports of bullying but responded to appropriately. Peer concerns managed by the school. |
Child’s attendance is varied with missing absences and exclusions. Recurring issues raised about child’s home education. Inappropriate behaviour from carer/school has not been managed. |
Child’s achievement is seriously impacted by lack of education. Regular breakdown of school placements. Lack of trust in education system (young person or parents/carers). Repeated concerns about school’s management of behaviour. |
Download the continuum of need matrix
Page last updated: 07 November 2024
