{"id":230247,"date":"2025-05-27T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=230247"},"modified":"2025-05-27T09:24:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T08:24:14","slug":"cinema-trips-and-summer-schools-boost-attendance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/cinema-trips-and-summer-schools-boost-attendance\/","title":{"rendered":"Cinema trips and summer schools boost attendance\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Putteridge High School, in Luton, is bucking the national trend of declining attendance<\/a> for vulnerable pupils. How have they done it? Schools Week<\/em> takes a look…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support pupils before they join<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The school has a four-phased approach, which begins before pupils even join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving to a new school is a key time for pupils with special needs, who could struggle in an unfamiliar environment, says Laura Bartoletti, assistant headteacher for pastoral care at Putteridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Laura
Laura Bartoletti<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we get this process wrong, it can have a detrimental effect on their attendance from the very get-go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school runs three \u201csummer school\u201d days in August, for all new year 7s to \u201clearn about the school building, meet their peers and take part in school-based activities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They hold an additional day specifically for pupils with special needs, to meet the SENCo and tour the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another pre-transition day solely for SEND pupils allows them to experience a typical day at the secondary, attending lessons and eating lunch in the canteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching assistants from primary schools also meet with the school\u2019s SENCo, while Putteridge\u2019s year 7 staff visit feeder schools to meet SEND pupils too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also send photo booklets about our building and publish videos so they can watch over the summer,\u201d says Bartoletti. \u201cThis is really special for our autistic children, because they can start to familiarise themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staff \u201cgive up their time\u201d over the summer to facilitate some of the visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of year 6, a quarter of pupils with SEND are \u201cpersistently absent\u201d (missing at least 19 days or 10 per cent of school), DfE figures show. This rises to around a third in year 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Putteridge, persistent absence among year 7s with SEND is just 8.9 per cent. The school\u2019s persistent absence rate for those pupils is also 20 per cent \u2013 significantly lower than the national average of 30.3 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pupil passports and adaptive seating plans<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once at the school, staff then work to \u201cget the minor details right\u201d for vulnerable pupils. \u201cPupil passports\u201d containing likes, dislikes and special requirements are sent to their teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school also has a wide range of support including a sensory room, a full-time literacy support assistant (ELSA), ADHD and autism screening, Braille lessons, a counsellor, lunch clubs for SEND pupils, speech and language therapy, and reading and writing support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third approach is around teaching and learning. \u201cAdaptive seating plans\u201d mean teachers know which pupils are vulnerable, while \u201chover\u201d teaching assistants support children with additional needs who do not have a dedicated assistant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children with autism are also given lunch queue passes, so they \u201cdon\u2019t have to worry about that social environment\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attendance<\/a> at Putteridge is monitored closely and the school\u2019s family worker visits pupils at home if it slips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putteridge\u2019s SENCo is full-time and sits on the SLT, to help ensure SEND pupils \u201care a priority\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All lessons across the school begin and end in exactly the same way, so that teachers \u201ccreate a really consistent environment\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pupils must also follow a one-way system through school buildings. \u201cFor students with needs, this is really comfortable because they can predict what\u2019s happening next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bartoletti says that removing isolation rooms has been \u201cone of our school\u2019s biggest successes\u201d. Instead, the school focuses on \u201cworking out what that child’s barrier was to behaving in a class\u201d and addressing it so they can continue learning there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instant phone calls and cinema trips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The fourth phase is \u201cattendance support that every child in the school receives\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School-wide attendance is around 96 per cent \u2013 compared to a national average of 91.7 per cent for secondary schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school\u2019s \u201crobust\u201d attendance policy is \u201ccommunicated regularly\u201d to both parents and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If vulnerable pupils are absent, they are called \u201cstraight away to ask where they are, what\u2019s the matter? Can we support and try and get them into school?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uniform can sometimes be a barrier, says Bartoletti, so some is provided for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
David Graham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pupils hitting 98 per cent attendance are invited on a termly rewards trip, such as a cinema visit or garden party. \u201cThe students love it,\u201d Bartoletti adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pupils are also given pins for their blazers to show they have high attendance, which they \u201cwear\u2026 with absolute pride\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headteacher David Graham says attendance was \u201csignificantly below average\u201d when he joined a decade ago. The school joined the Chiltern Learning Trust in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough it defies national figures, we’re constantly working on getting it even better,\u201d Bartoletti says. \u201cWe know that the more they’re in school, the better their life chances are going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We look at a school bucking the national trend of rising absences to learn how they’re doing it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":314902,"featured_media":230147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1576],"post-theme":[2884],"class_list":["post-230247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-attendance","post-theme-solutions"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t