Raising attendance: Five good practices poster

1) Student belonging

Promote student belonging by: 

Assigning roles and responsibilities

• Consider positions and duties that students need to be at school to do. 

Supporting students to feel connected to their teachers

• Show students that teachers are people they can talk to. 

Supporting students to feel connected to their peers

• Find ways to use groups, activities, and events to build social connections. 

Tackling bullying

• Use proven whole-school strategies to prevent bullying – not just respond to it. 

2) Clear expectations

Set clear expectations by:

Communicating clear and consistent expectations with students

• Explain to students why their attendance matters and how absences can impact their futures. 

Communicating clear and consistent expectations with parents and whānau

• Show parents and whānau how every day matters for their child’s achievement. 

Keeping parents and whānau informed of their child’s attendance

• Share ongoing attendance information so parents and whānau can support their child proactively – not only once it’s a problem.

3) Practical supports

Provide effective practical supports by:

Deciding on practical supports based on school-specific data and evidence

• Find out about specific barriers to attendance and focus on those. 

Monitoring the impacts of practical supports

• This helps school leaders understand whether their support is working. 

4) Rewards

Use rewards effectively by:

Setting realistic and increasing targets

• Reachable targets are more motivating than ones that feel too aspirational too soon. 

Rewarding students collectively

• Recognise classes or year groups to help build a collective sense of ownership.

5) Patterns of closures

Minimise the impacts of school closures on attendance by:

Selecting days and times that minimise disruption to students’ routines

• Tuesdays and Thursdays aren’t best, as they lead to extended weekends. Half-day closures can also result in full-day absences. 

Communicating information about closures to parents and whānau as early as possible

• This helps ensure transport, childcare arrangements, etc., can be put in place. 

Also! An end-to-end approach

We can sustain improvements to attendance by taking an end-to-end approach.

• This is about prioritising attendance relentlessly
  across the school, every day. Great attendance is
  everybody’s business!

More info:

Want more detail, including evidence-based strategies and stories? Check out our full good practice guide here at evidence.ero.govt.nz