Thank you!

We're looking for those with at least two years experience (KS2 - KS4) and commitment involves 2 X 45-60 min online focus groups with a £25 voucher per session. Register interest here: southampton.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

#edusky #teachers #schoolleaders #education #alternativeprovision

We're looking for those with at least two years experience (KS2 - KS4) and commitment involves 2 X 45-60 min online focus groups with a £25 voucher per session. Register interest here: southampton.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

#edusky #teachers #schoolleaders #education #alternativeprovision

This must be really tough to manage. I'm glad you've got a supportive working relationship with the school!

Precisely - and all co-exist within the same classroom let alone system! For every child you can point to with genuine anxiety about school, I can point to family not seeing value of school in the form it is in (and sometimes I sympathise), or cheap holidays, or insufficient SEND it goes on and on.

There's a huge unanswered Q about what's happened in school/society. "Pandemic" or "Gove" or "child poverty" are the common answers but none are entirely satisfactory.

There's no quick fix here. The solution requires both hard graft with systematic approaches, data analysis and persistent outreach alongside the soft power from relationship building, cultural shifts and community engagement. Love to hear others thoughts...

Making schools places where students actually want to be. This may require some uncomfortable mirror-gazing for all of us in education. Are our environments truly places students & their parents are keen for them to be to be in? And if they aren't what do we need from policy-makers to get us there?

But we also need to be thinking about our messaging and relationships with our communities. The uncomfortable truth is that some parents simply don't buy into our arguments about education's importance – a challenge we must acknowledge rather than dismiss. The most crucial element?

We need our staff to have the capacity to be able to put in the time with students and to pick up these cases quickly before habits set it. But schools can't do this alone. We need communities to reinforce the value of education through consistent messaging and support.

When students feel genuinely connected to their school community, attendance improves. This requires consistent relationship-building from teachers and staff who show students they're valued beyond their academic performance. I know staff are working tirelessly to do this. It also requires resource

Anyone who has experienced this battle knows that threats/fines pale in comparison to the daily emotional/practical challenge and genuine struggle parents face managing a child who simply refuses to attend. From my experience what goes a long way to improve attendance is strong relationships...