School attendance drive fuels top exam performance

Almost 30,000 Manchester pupils improved their school attendance this year.

The news that more than half the city's primary and secondary pupils have had fewer days off school, comes as Manchester celebrates its record GSCE results.

A major drive to improve school attendance began in January led by Manchester City Council, working with schools and parents. Since the launch of the Citywide Attendance Campaign 29,383 pupils  (54% of all pupils aged 5-16) have had better attendance and of these 7,191 (13.59% of all pupils aged 5-16) improved their absenteeism by 10% or more.

Councillor Sheila Newman, Executive Member for Children's Services at Manchester City Council, said: "These figures show the direct link between good attendance and getting good results. Absenteeism rates have reduced in the year where the number of pupils who achieved five or more GCSEs at grade A* to C has risen to 45% from 38.6% last year. This is fantastic news for everyone involved."

The Citywide Attendance Campaign was threefold: it included publicity about the benefits of good attendance; a motivation programme and reward system for pupils; and a step-up in home visits and enforcement measures for parents where necessary.

During the spring and summer terms Manchester's primary and secondary schools participated in a motivation programme commissioned from award winning social enterprise Motiv by the council. Pupils with 100% or improved attendance earned badges, rewards and participated in celebration events.

In addition, a total of 3,325 home visits were carried out across Manchester in the spring term. During this monitoring period 2,500 warning letters were sent to parents. After the letters 1,500 pupils did not have any further unauthorised absences. Close consultation with schools over the remaining pupils resulted in 554 penalty notices being issued, of which 235 have led to further legal intervention.

By the end of the spring half term Manchester's results showed that:

* Absence rates in primary schools had decreased from 6.31% last year, to 5.54% this year;

* Absence rates in secondary schools, including academies, had decreased from 10.39% last year to 9.27% this year;

* Absence rates in maintained secondary schools had decreased from 9.89% last year to 8.71% this year.

The rate of persistent absence, classed as pupils who have missed 32 or more days, has also improved:

* In primary schools persistent absence reduced from 2.9% last year to 1.77% this year;

* In secondary schools including academies it reduced from 10.62% last year to 8.62% this year;

* In maintained secondary schools it dropped from 9.63% last year to 7.48% this year.

Cllr Sheila Newman concluded, "Parents, teachers and pupils should all be congratulated on their hard work. But, we can't afford to be complacent when it comes to our children's futures and we must keep up the momentum in September with the new academic year."

Recently published national data, which is due to be validated in October, indicates that Manchester's secondary school absence rates have improved by four places in country's overall performance during the spring term, and that primary schools have come in line with the national average during the same period.