Family Support Attendance Programme

The DfE has published new guidance for schools in tackling school attendance that will come into force from September 2022. The guidance applies to all maintained schools, academy trusts and alternative provision providers. Whilst non-statutory at present, the Secretary of State has committed to the guidance becoming statutory no sooner than September 2023 (parliamentary time permitting). The guidance sits alongside the new Schools Bill, which, in Part 3, currently contains draft provisions to make statutory the requirement for schools to have a policy to promote regular attendance of registered pupils.

School attendance has come into even sharper focus given the disruption faced by so many pupils due to the pandemic. There is a clear expectation from the DfE that schools will be working collaboratively with local partners such as local authorities, health services, local schools, voluntary and community groups and the police. It is expected that closer collaborations will ensure a consistently joined up approach to providing support to pupils and their families.

Kent County Council are looking to procure a countywide service that delivers a school-based family intervention programme to targeted pupils, with interventions specifically tailored to respond to individual pupil and family needs. The service should deliver high quality, intensive support to improve school attendance to identified children and young people who are severley absent (less that 50%) and families to better understand and overcome the barriers that they face in regularly attending school. Intensity of support should reflect needs identified at assessment, but families should receive at minimum of two significant contacts per week, for up to six months.