Attendance
How we support attendance at STM
A Supportive Staff
Personal Development Tutors (PDTs) are the first point of contact for our pupils with attendance issues. PDTs will encourage and challenge pupils to improve their attendance.
Pupil Premium Champions are there to support the attendance of our PP cohort.
Attendance Champions are members of staff who will continually review attendance to see trends and determine next actions.
Heads of House promote the attendance of pupils in their half termly assemblies in a sporting manner.
Personal Development Leaders (PDLs) are committed to helping all pupils to improve their attendance.
Curriculum Leaders devise work that is fit for learners and inspire pupils to maintain their attendance. Curriculum areas will also have catch up work for pupils to complete for periods of absence.
Administration staff make contact home on a daily basis to support attendance.
Working with parents and outside agencies
At St Thomas More we will always work with parents to support the attendance of our pupils. This will be to raise awareness of any concerns in the first instance and communicate pathways forward should this not lead to improvement.
We work with agencies across Cheshire East, to highlight attendance as an important school matter. We have productive relationships with professionals from Social Care, Police, and Health who support our attendance drive.
A parent working group meets regularly to help the school identify different ways to support our pupils and improve their attendance.
Helping Pupils understand the importance of and how to stay healthy
We offer:
- Hand sanitisers for our pupils to minimise the impact of coughs and sneezes
- Water fountains across the school for pupils to access and refill their water bottles
- A range of options at lunch time for pupils to choose from to help maintain a balanced diet
- Covered areas for eating and a dedicated indoor space for pupils at break and lunch
- A free breakfast club for all
- Bike stands around school to encourage the pupils to cycle to school
We also display positive messages and school figures regarding attendance on the Pupil Information Portals (PiPs) and through social media.
Clubs, advice and the curriculum
We offer the following:
- Careers advice that highlights what employers are looking for
- Homework club to allow pupils to complete their work and remove this as an obstacle to attendance.
- Extracurricular clubs to support pupils to maintain a balanced lifestyle.
- A curriculum that explores the multi-faceted ways to stay safe and healthy in and out of school.
- Bikeability for our Year 8 cohort and storage for cycles to promote this as an active alternative for travel.
In March 2016, the Department for Education published a report on the link between absence and attainment in Key Stages 2 and 4. The findings for both Key Stages show that in general, the higher the absence rate, the lower the likely level of attainment. The report states that at Key Stage 4: "Pupils with no absence are 2.2 times more likely to achieve 5+ GCSEs A*-C or equivalent and 2.8 times more likely to achieve 5+ GCSEs A*-C or equivalent including English and Mathematics, than pupils missing 15-20% of Key Stage 4 lessons.