Attendance and safeguarding: when a pattern needs a wider review
Use a four-question school review when attendance and safeguarding concerns overlap, with evidence limits, DSL ownership and safe next routes clear.
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Attendance article stream
Attendance and inclusion articles
Evidence-led attendance guidance for school leaders, attendance teams and inclusion staff, with practical workflows and clear safeguarding boundaries.
These guides connect attendance patterns with the practical support, communication and review work around them. A pattern is a prompt for proportionate human enquiry, never proof of a cause or an automatic decision.
Published guidance
Attendance articles
7 articles
Persistent and severe absence: what the measures do and do not tell you
Understand persistent and severe absence measures in England, then use a five-question review to check denominators, context, barriers and support.
Read articleSeven family-contact checks before attendance work restarts
Use seven checks to verify family contact details, accessible channels, named owners, support actions and safeguarding routes before attendance work restarts.
Read articleThe summer attendance report governors can actually interrogate
Use a one-page school governor attendance report template that keeps denominators, group gaps, safeguarding, support, actions and review evidence visible.
Read articleHow to build an attendance cohort view without losing the child
Build a school attendance cohort view with a stable denominator, visible missingness and a clear route back to pupil-level evidence and support.
Read articleAttendance codes and register marks: pre-term check
Check school attendance codes, register timing, unexplained absence and enrolment status before term starts, using current statutory guidance for England.
Read articleWhich pupils need a summer attendance or safeguarding plan?
A practical England guide to deciding which pupils need summer attendance support, safeguarding action or a dated September review before term ends.
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