Rating description:
- Fully met: Records of pupil absence are recorded and if there are incidents of school absence due to bullying this is also recorded and action is taken to support those pupils.
- Partially met: Records of pupil absence are recorded and but it is not recorded if school absence is due to bullying and /or action is not taken to support those pupils.
- Not yet met: We do not monitor school absence for an indication of bullying.
Why is this important?
Research shows that at any one time 16,000 pupils ages 11-16 miss school primarily due to bullying: this is a significant number of days lost and is likely to have a significant impact on pupil attainment. It is important as a school that you monitor these absences so that you can be proactive in responding to bullying that might be causing school absence, and support pupils to feel happy and safe to return to school.
Tips:
- Have you got a way of recording absence due to bullying? If not, think about how you might adapt your recording system or monitor absence so that you can be aware of this.
- You may be able to monitor these levels via your anti-bullying staff lead and governor lead - it might be something to add to their responsibilities or oversight.
- If there are any cases of pupil absence where you suspect bullying might be a contributing factor, have a process for investigating this.
Resources and examples:
Resources
- Working together to improve school attendance (DfE)
- Read this research by NatCen on estimating the prevalence of young people absent from school due to bullying
- Read this study by NFER which found that 'encouraging rather than punitive approaches' were seen as fairer by pupils and fostered a culture of belonging
Examples
Please note that examples from primary and other school settings may still include some useful hints and tips you can adapt and apply for a secondary setting.
- Secondary School Case Study - on investigating reasons for pupil absence
- Secondary School Case Study - on improving attendance and reviewing it as indication of bullying
- Secondary School Case Study - on tracking and improving school attendance
- Primary School Case Study - on using attendance records to identify indications of bullying
- Primary School Case Study - on identifying a child being bullied based on attendance
- DfE Case Studies - schools and multi-academy trusts share their different techniques for improving attendance rates in their settings
- An example from a United Against Bullying School who used attendance data to improve their anti-bullying practices can be seen in this video, including the impact this had on the school:
See below for quotes and pieces of advice from other schools:
- "All absence is closely monitored and explored including consideration of peer relationships and their impact on attendance.
- "Regular conversations with parents identify any concerns around well-being. Quiet spaces offered at play / lunch and a range of quieter clubs i.e. yoga / IT / drawing - well attended and targetted for vulnerable children or children prone to absence / illness."
- "Our attendance officer and heads of keystage make daily phone calls home to absentees and as part of this process parents and students are asked about the causes behind their absence. If parents/students indicate that bullying may be a cause of the absence then this is logged on CPOMS which is then picked up by heads of keystage and the extended senior leader for behaviour."
- "Our attendance improvement works are our pastoral leaders, who have received a clear directive to assess for bullying on all unexplained absences. Our attendance first line responder flags up all absence issues, that parents are reporting as linking to bullying, to the Pastoral Leader and via our safeguarding system. This is now reported on half termly to AP for Pastoral and forms part of the welfare agenda at our governors meetings."
- "The earlier that attendance issues are addressed, the best outcome for the child happens. We have many issues of students worrying about something that has been said, sent on social media platform and therefor want to avoid school, parents are encouraged to send their children into school knowing that a member of staff will be on hand to meet the student and manage the situation at the start of the day."
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Note: the resources listed at the bottom of this page (below) have all been referenced in the text above.