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Secondary case study: Sixth Formers supporting year 7s with Maths
The pilot Fractions Foundations project looked at supporting year 7s in the early stages of their move to secondary school
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by Huntington Research School
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With clear links between attendance, attainment and behaviour, and in the context of increased levels of absence since the pandemic, improving attendance is a challenge and a priority for many leadership teams in schools across the country.
In 2022 – 2023 just over one in five pupils missed 10% or more of their schooling (referred to as ‘persistent absence’) and those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds were twice as likely to be persistently absent than their non-disadvantaged peers. According to FFT Datalab Pupil absence in Spring Term 2024 – FFT Education Datalab, by April 2024 rates of absence and persistent absence were slightly lower than in 2022 – 23, but they remain some way above pre-pandemic levels, especially at secondary. Rates of persistent absence among Year 11 pupils remain high across the country.
Making a case for a ‘strong start’ with attendance
In September 2023, Kate Beynon, a statistician at FFT Education Datalab demonstrated the link between start of year absence and the likelihood of becoming persistently absent in her blog: How likely are pupils who are absent in the first week of term to become persistently absent? – FFT Education Datalab.
Beynon found that pupils who missed school in the first week were 2.7 times more likely to be persistently absent than those who did not. Persistent absentees from Years 1 – 11 were much more likely than others to have missed school at the start of the year. For example, those who missed at least 10% of sessions were between three and four times more likely to have missed school at the start of the year.
Since we know that pupils from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds are twice as likely to be persistently absent, paying close attention to the attendance trackers of our disadvantaged pupils from the first weeks in September seems like a crucial element of a school’s attendance approach. Additionally, those in secondary education may want to pay particular attention to the younger year groups and especially to their socio-economically disadvantaged pupils.
As Kate Beynon and Dave Bibby note in their blog from June 2024, the disadvantage gap in absence rates around the Year 6 into 7 transition point among disadvantaged pupils increased by more between Year 6 and Year 7 than absence rates among their non-disadvantaged peers. For the pupils in their sample, the disadvantage gap in absence rates grew from 3.0 percentage points (pp) in Year 6 to 4.8pp in Year 7.
Furthermore, Understanding Attendance Reports from ImpactEd published in January and July 2024ImpactEd Evaluation (impactedgroup.uk) also highlight the transition to secondary school as a potential pressure point for increased absence:
‘The start of the year is crucial. The decline in attendance in the 23/24 academic year was most steep between the first half-term and the second-half term. This is mirrored in the social and emotional data reported by young people, especially in Year 7. A strong start to attendance routines could therefore have significant benefit for the rest of the academic year.’
ImpactEd also found an emergence of a ‘second transition’ where pupils moving into Year 8 experienced a dip in attendance.
To summarise, we know what the data tells us about the impacts of absence at the start of the year. So, what does the evidence tell us about how to best support good attendance in schools? Part 2 of this blog will consider this important next step. Look out for this follow up in the next week.
Questions for reflection:
- What does your overall school data tell you about absence rates in the last 6 years? Have your absence rates fallen to pre-pandemic levels for all groups in your school?
- Which year groups or sub-groups seem to pose a particular challenge?
- What does the data from 2023 – 24 tell you? Were your persistent absentees more likely to have been absent in the first week back in September?
- What does the data from September 2024 tell you? Who might need urgent support with absence?
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