Improving attendance remains an ongoing focus across education - and rightly so.

According to the Department for Education, students in Year 11 who miss 10 per cent or more of school are 50 per cent less likely to achieve a grade 5 in GCSE English and maths. Yet 22.6 per cent of students nationally remain persistently absent (missing 10 per cent or more of school time).

This is why the 90 per cent threshold for attendance has often been treated as the red flag.

However, the reality is that once a student dips below this point, the issues or habits that have led to this have been formed and are often harder to stop and change.

Improving school attendance

This is why at The Compton School, since the beginning of the year, we have made 95 per cent attendance our red flag. After all, while a student hovering at 94.5 per cent might not draw much attention under traditional systems, that is still around ten days lost in a school year.

So by making 95 per cent the benchmark, we can act sooner, communicate clearly and offer support and ask questions before problems escalate.

Indeed, since doing this we have witnessed that early dips in attendance are often the first signal of something more: low-level anxiety, emerging peer issues, growing disconnection.

This is key - we don’t just run reports and leave it there. We act on it. Our pastoral team reviews each case individually and looks beyond the percentage to understand the person.

We follow up our day one contact with additional calls, often on the second or third day of absence - not to issue a warning but to check in: “We hope you are OK. We have missed you. Let us help you catch up.”

It sounds simple, but these calls can take families by surprise and have often led to students returning to school that afternoon.

Many parents do not realise how quickly time out of school adds up, or how closely we are tracking it. That early touchpoint helps to reduce anxiety and keeps the door open for support.

Whole-school systems and targeted support

Complementing this, we have also built a clear internal structure to support early intervention.

Tutors, pastoral leads, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teams and our education welfare officer (who visits weekly from the local authority) all play a part. From 97 per cent attendance downwards, we are watching. At 95 per cent, we are acting. At 92 per cent, we may start requesting evidence of illness.

Again, not punitively, but to ensure that we are working with accurate information and can direct support effectively. With this information, we can then also help to tailor plans relevant to students’ needs. For one, it might mean adjusting their timetable to reduce pressure points.

For another, it is about providing a quiet space in the morning to ease their transition into the day. In some cases, we offer tech access or breakfast club places. Whatever the need, the message is consistent: we care, we are here and we are not giving up.

Embedding a culture of belonging

Finally, we have worked to build this culture from the outset. Attendance expectations are set early, beginning in transition conversations from Year 6, when families who may need support are offered it before an issue can worsen.

These families know they are joining us with no preconceived notions but instead with the full support to ensure that their child is able to settle in well and wants to attend school.

This is achieved by setting up a specific meeting with the family and talking them through our approach to attendance so they, from the outset, feel a part of our school.

We also talk with them about the link between attendance and achievement, but also wellbeing, friendships and confidence.

The impact

The results speak for themselves. Our attendance rates remain well above national averages, and our persistent absence figure is significantly lower than the national benchmark.

But more than that, we have created a culture in which students feel seen and supported. They know that missing school is not just about marks on a register; it is about missing out, and they know we will notice.

In the end, attendance is everyone’s business. The key is getting ahead of the problem, not waiting for it to take hold. That means noticing the small signs, starting supportive conversations early and building a system that prioritises curiosity, compassion and consistency.

Hannah Mann is assistant headteacher at The Compton School, part of Middlesex Learning Trust