Government announces four new attendance hubs

Four more attendance hubs have been announced by the government to help schools that need support boosting their attendance levels.

Hubs are led by schools with excellent attendance which share practical ideas with other primary, secondary, alternative provision and special schools in England who need support to boost their attendance.

The four new attendance hubs are in Nottingham, Grimsby, and two in Swindon.

The new hubs are St Giles Special School in Nottingham, John Whitgift Academy in Grimsby and Ridgeway School and Sixth Form and The Croft Primary School both in Swindon.

This brings the total number of hubs to 14 and they will start working with schools over the next two weeks for the rest of the academic year.

Lead hub schools share practical approaches to improving attendance with other schools. This could include advice about how to make their school warm and welcoming, building strong relationships with families, working effectively with wider services where there are complex reasons for absence, and using data to identify pupils at risk of not coming in, to intervene early.

Hub schools also share ideas for how to use extra-curricular activities such as school trips, sports teams or breakfast clubs to create a positive culture where children want to attend.

This term, the Department will also be looking for more schools to establish new attendance hubs.