On 30th April 2025, KALE were joined by a panel of Kent leaders in education, to share some of their experiences and differences in how their schools manage attendance challenges.
We heard from a mix of school leaders, each sharing some of the strategies they have implemented in their settings and how they support their staff. We would like to express our greatest gratitude to our panel of speakers that took their time to support colleagues with this challenging topic.
We were joined by;
- Tara Deevoy - EHT of Lower Halstow and Newington CEP Schools Federation & Nursery and Michelle Crowe – HoS of Lower Halstow
Both Lower Halstow and Newington have been praised by Ofsted this year regarding their significant improvement to attendance. Tara and Michelle spoke about the introduction of an external audit at both schools, which made a very positive impact. - Catherine Maynard – Langafel CofE Primary School
Catherine has a high number of children suffering with anxiety and poor attendance which led to the introduction of ABC (Attendance/Anxiety Breakfast Club). This free club has seen a rise in attendance from those children and has allowed the pastoral staff to identity issues before they reach the classroom. - Amanda Adcock and Sarah Baker – OCMAT Attendance Manager and OCMAT Safeguarding Lead
Amanda and Sarah shared some of the ways in which their MAT support their 10 schools with managing their attendance. - Becca Powell – AHT and Attendance & Behaviour Lead at Borden Grammar School
Becca shared some of the impact following a recent trial conducted by Endowment, which changes ways in which the school communicate with students and parents around how much time the child has been absent from school. As a Psychology teacher, Becca has used this trial to consider what causes persistence absence and how the child’s brain works. Becca previously worked in a comprehensive school in London and has implemented some of the processes used at her former school, in this setting.
To view the recoding of the webinar, please click here.
You can also find copies of the panellists' PPT slides below
Tara and Michelle's PPT
OCMAT PPT
Becca's PPT
Posted: May 19, 2025