Mentors needed to help persistently absent pupils
The Department for Education is planning a new attendance pilot in a group of Education Improvement Areas where there is a clear demographic need to improve persistent and severe absence rates.
A tender notice published by the Department for Education reveals they are looking for an organisation to recruit and train mentors to provide targeted one-to-one support to youngsters and their families to overcome attendance barriers.
The contract is to deliver an attendance support offer, initially for one year with the intention to extend to three years (total). The support offer will start in one identified priority Education Improvement Area (EIA) in the first year and aim to support 500-1000 pupils, with the option to scale up to multiple areas nationally and support larger volumes of pupils in years two and three.
Through this work, the DfE aims to enhance capacity for early help/intervention, by working with pupils who are persistently absent and focusing particularly on those pupils who are, or are at risk of being, severely absent (missing with <50% attendance).
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