School attendance
Early years attendance
Children learn and develop more from birth to five years than at any other time in their lives and any gaps in their learning by the end of the Early Years will, on average, double by the end of primary schooling.
Early Years providers have a very important role to play in encouraging and establishing good attendance habits. This is vital both in ensuring that children make the best possible progress and that any gaps in learning are minimised, and also in establishing good habits which will continue throughout their education and into later life.
Good attendance practice promotes good outcomes for children including accessing their educational entitlement, supporting their learning and development, developing social skills and forming secure attachments. In a small minority of cases, good attendance practice may also lead to the earlier identification of more serious concerns for a child or family and may have a vital part to play in keeping a child or other family members safe from harm.
It is important that all Early Years practitioners understand the principles of good attendance practice and the importance of good attendance by children and that these messages are shared consistently with parents.
Good attendance in the early years leads to:
- the best opportunities for social development, including making friends and learning how to get on with others
- the best opportunities for children to learn and develop their skills and learn through play, this includes early language, reading and maths skills
- the development of good habits for future school attendance and good attendance and punctuality skills into adulthood
Early Years providers support good attendance habits by:
- developing positive and open relationships with parents and carers, including sharing children’s achievements regularly and offering opportunities for parents to share any concerns
- communicating the importance of regular attendance with parents and carers
- maintaining an expectation that parents and carers inform the provider of any absences and the reasons for them
- considering ways of celebrating good attendance
- contacting parents and carers when there are instances of unexplained absence seeking assurance about the child’s safety and welfare
- discussing any support they may be able to offer if children’s absence falls below the expected level. This may include support for the family such as early help or referral to other services as appropriate.
- Using the early years attendance toolkit which is available on the Hub for Eearly Years website.
Parents can encourage good attendance by:
- having a regular bedtime and morning routine
- preparing for the morning routine by packing a bag the night before and setting out clothes
- talking together about all the fun their child will have at nursery
- having a back-up plan for getting there if something happens
- arranging routine medical appointments, outings and holidays for the times their child does not attend nursery if possible
- talking to their child’s key worker if there are any concerns or anxieties
- working with their child to develop healthy hygiene practices
Further information for parents can be found via the following links: