Agenda item

Report of the Director of Children and Young People’s Futures (CS/24/15).

(Councillor A Leadbetter attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(1) and spoke to this item at the invitation of the Committee.)

The Committee received the report of the Director of Children and Young People’s Futures (CS/24/15) on School Attendance in Devon. 

The report noted that, nationally, school attendance had become a priority since 2020. Attendance levels had not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.  Different cohorts of pupils were disproportionately impacted by this, causing consequent difficulties for some pupils and their families.  Devon had limited knowledge of the quality of home education and few levers to address it.  There was a strong correlation between poverty and pupils absent from school, and national data showed the huge impact of eventual pupil outcomes if significant periods of schooling was missed.  It was known that such pupils were less likely to be safeguarded and more likely to under-achieve in later life. 

The report explained that the Department for Education (DfE) had now published fresh guidance (which would become statutory in August 2024) on how to improve attendance levels and had identified key responsibilities for schools, families and Local Authorities.

The report showed the impact on different cohorts of pupils and included some data on school absence for reasons other than illness. It also reported on projects already underway to improve this and some plans to further develop that work in the future.

Since the report was written, indicators were now moving in the right direction: attendance in primary schools was now 0.2% above national average and improving; special schools was now above national average; and the secondary school attendance had improved from 2% to 1.3% below national average.

The two cohorts Officers were most concerned about were the elective home education and persistent absenteeism in key stage 4, which both remained too high. Officers would circulate updated data as of last Friday.

The  Deputy Director provided updates that included:

·        Devon propose to share attendance data with all schools, including Trust level data;

·        It would be mandatory for all schools nationally to sign up to WONDE, an online tool for sharing data.

·        A new attendance hub was to be set up in Devon in September, which would be seen as sharing good practice across schools and trusts.

·        There would be a Conference taking place in Devon – date to be arranged.

·        Devon had a communication plan aimed for in July/August, alongside the DfE one.

·        There was a Keeping Children in School project which the Ted Wragg Trust were engaged with.

·        Due to concern that Devon only had 3.4 full-time equivalents working in the EHE team, discussions had taken place with Exeter University’s Social Mobility Commission, and there had also been involvement with Trusts in setting up their own support for EHE.

Members’ questions and discussion points with Officers included:

·        Members voiced their alarm at the contents of the report and the number of absences.

·        The Service did liaise with the Transport team, but problems did exist in Devon due to its size and rurality; and  coastal town deprivation.

·        The large list of codes showing reason for absence was set by the DfE.

·        Confidence that the Trusts had robust inhouse tracking systems.

·        An improvement strategy and plan was in place for improving attendance and would be brought to a future meeting.