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Getting it right in the morning 2010

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1 ‘Getting It Right in the Mornings’ Project Report July 2010
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‘Getting It Right in the Mornings’

Project Report

July 2010

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100. Introduction 101. The ‘Getting It Right in the Morning Project’ was an action research

initiative developed by the ‘Young People Health Project’ and ‘Turning Point Education Training Consultancy’ to address the issues of poor school attendance by a small group of pupils in the London Borough of Lewisham. Historically, concerns had been raised by schools and the LEA about pupils who do not attend school regularly, have difficulty getting to school on time and also seemed to have parents who at a minimum had some collusion with their child’s inappropriate behaviour. Our programme methods were intended to operate and procedurally synchronized with both LEA and schools thereby making them readily adaptable for implementation by existing and future organisations or projects following our pilot.

102. The project was devised to be operational over four phases. There have

been two programmes of interventions spread over a two-year period with pupils and parents from Lewisham Schools with the worst rate of attendance. The first intervention lasted from to 17 May 2008 to 18 July 08 and worked with 9 pupils from years 7 and 9. The worst ‘attenders’ were selected at random from Catford High and Segdehill Schools by officers in the LEA attendance Unit based on information from the schools. The second programme of interventions commenced on 24 January 09 and ended on June 09. From inception, the pilot has worked with a total of 18 pupils and closely with 20 parents / guardians.

103. At its core, the initiative involves trained Invention Workers being

paired with a selected pupil / parents through a bonding process. A contract is agreed between pupil, parent and Intervention Worker (IW) with duties and responsibilities allocated to each party primarily aimed at improving attendance.

104. Phase 1 105. This involved undertaking Desktop Research examining documentation of

reasons of poor school attendance, initiatives for improvements and assessing proven examples of good practice. This commenced in July of 07 and lasted until January 08. A review was commissioned to explore: ‘What attempts have been made, in both the United Kingdom and internationally, to tackle poor attendance of primary and secondary school children aged between 5 and 16.’ The McLean (2008) ‘systematic review’ was the result and it offered some valuable insights. During this stage, the design intervention parameters were finalised and various

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working partnerships established including the Lewisham Education and its schools psychological services (CAMS). A series of meetings were held between Michael Hamilton (YPHP), Trevor Sinclair (Goldsmiths College), Nick Topless (CAMS) and Frank Hayward (Lewisham Education) to explore extent of the attendance problems, possible contributing factors and current practice being used to tackle it. The project’s radical remedial methodology for challenging poor school attendance was extensively discussed. Contact was made with Evan George of BRIEF for specialist training of the Intervention Workers in ‘solution therapy’.

106. Phase 2 107. The project then identified and trained a small dedicated team of

workers to carry out the intervention supervised by experienced project managers. The training schema was designed and delivered by, Young People’s Health Project and Turning Point Education Training Consultancy (Goldsmiths College) and Brief Solution Therapy organisation. This phase lasted from February 08 to May 08 for the first initiative.

108. Phase 3 109. Operationally, the programme consisted of trained intervention staff

establishing contracts with identified pupils and parents / guardians then actively engaging those clients in the mornings / evenings for a specified number of weeks over a set period. A number of different techniques were utilised to motivate, rekindle, and support an interest in regular school attendance. The first active intervention consisting of work with parents and pupils commenced in May 08 until July 08. Whilst the second active intervention started on April 09 and finished in July 09.

110. Phase 4 111. As with all action-research initiatives, our quality assurance mechanism

was intended to accumulate comprehensive documentation of the intervention - identifying its successes and weaknesses. Thus, lessons for policy and operational prerequisites will inform future procedural changes. Congruent with project objectives priority was directed to discerning effective yet easily applied measures that could successfully combat poor school attendance.

112. Project Objectives

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! To increase school attendance levels of the target group of pupils referred to the project and to facilitate and enable parents /carers to effectively get their child to school regularly and on time.

! To support parents and pupils in the exploration of lifestyle changes to promote better educational outcomes.

! To adapt ‘solution focus therapy’ as the implementation mode for the intervention and to develop a team of trained intervention workers to instigate and continue the intervention.

! To compile and disseminate practical ideas and other lessons from the intervention.

113. Target Group

! Pupils from years 7 and 9 identified as achieving less than 80% attendance over a period of 2 terms and those deemed as difficult to engage at the beginning of school day

! Pupils assessed as having parents who demonstrated difficulties in managing their child’s attendance at school in a way that facilitates their active learning.

114. Programme time-line (see diagram- appendix A)

! Informal exploration with key stakeholders around the problems of poor school attendance and the proposed intervention model

! Desktop research into previous initiatives / projects on school attendance

! Selection of intervention strategy, methodology and agreement on its key principles; devising of operational plan for project

! Recruitment and training of Intervention Workers and employment of Project Manager

! Referrals from schools of pupils with less than 80% attendance and contact/home visits to parents / pupils

! Group Awayday - Project staff, Intervention Workers, Parents & Children; devising contract between pupil, parent and intervention worker agreement

! Daily/Weekly involvement by worker with pupil / parent (according to contract)

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! Workers attend weekly Group Supervision; attendance levels of contracted pupils monitored

! A review of pupil / parent contract (after 4/6 weeks)

! Group Dinner and celebration certificate presentation attended by Parents, pupils, workers and project managers

! Ending contract agreed / future goals for pupils / parents

115. Background to Persistence Unauthorised Absences 116. The current government concern over this issue was best expressed by

MP Kevin Brennan (Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families) who made improving school attendance an area of priority. He asserted that the goals were to:

“to maintain the downward pressure on overall absence rates in schools where they are high relative to other similar schools; and to reduce significantly the level of 'persistent absenteeism' - that is, pupils who are absent from 20% or more of their education.” DCYPF

117. MP Brennan acknowledges that pupils with repeated absences are often

those less likely to do well at school or to stay on in education after 16. They are also considerably more likely to engage in anti-social behaviour and youth crime and are more at risk of suffering other negative outcomes (including teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse). (Mclean, 2008)

118. It follows that, by focusing on this high risk group, we would be in a

strong position to make progress against the range of negative outcomes for children and young people for which they are accountable. This is an area where the school standards agenda and the Every Child Matters agenda reinforce each other robustly. (Mclean, 2008)

119. MP Brennan emphasized that he expected local authorities to take a lead in identifying primary and secondary schools with high absence rates; to offer particular support to those schools to achieve benchmark levels; to encourage secondary schools to increase their capacity to address persistent absence by working in partnership with each other. (Mclean, 2008)

120. There is a plethora of research into the causes of truancy and

unauthorised absences from schools [Kinder, Wakefield and Wilkin (1996); Kinder & Wilkin (1998); Osler, Street, Lall and Vincent (2002);

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Malcolm, Wilkinson, Davidson and Kirk (2003); Easen, Clark and Wootten (1997).]

121. It is commonly agreed that causes of truancy are multifaceted but

research indicates that a mixture of home, school and individual factors dominates. As such, a multipurpose approach must be taken to resolve the pertinent issues. There are factors such as influence of friends and peers; relationships with teachers; the content and delivery of the curriculum; parental attitudes or family problems; bullying; problems arising from the child’s own personality or learning abilities. (Mclean, 2008)

122. Individual factors (Mclean, 2008) found to play a significant role in

truant behaviour included: lack of self-esteem/social skills/confidence; poor peer relations; lack of academic ability; special needs; and lack of concentration/self-management skills. Family and community factors included parentally condoned absence; not valuing education; domestic problems; inadequate or inconsistent parenting; economic deprivation; and a community lack of self-esteem.

123. Malcolm, Wilkinson, Davidson and Kirk (2003) have additionally found

that 27% of the 662 primary school children said that at some time they had truanted without their parents’ knowledge. These children highlighted school-related issues for their truancy, the most likely being bullying. 16% of the 528 secondary school pupils admitted to having skipped school at some time (Malcolm et al: 2003). In schools with all-white intakes, girls in Years 7, 8 and 9 were more likely to truant than boys (Malcolm et al: 2003). Very few pupils from ethnic minority groups admitted to truancy (Malcolm et al: 2003). Absence from school was primarily attributed to school-related as well as to personal factors.

124. When teachers and LEA’s were asked to comment on the reasons they

believed for poor attendance, the most suggested cause was home factors (Malcolm et al: 2003). This includes parents putting a low value on education, disorganised lifestyles and inadequate parenting (Malcolm et al: 2003). Primary school teachers believed that parents condoned most truancy. Whereas secondary school teachers thought that truancy was because of social factors (Malcolm et al: 2003).

125. Schools tended to promote good attendance in five main ways. These

included various forms of awards (individual and group); improvements to school ethos and facilities; closer primary–secondary school links and building good relationships with parents (Malcolm et al: 2003). The

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success of these was increased by the use of staff dedicated to supporting school attendance, the use of the EWS and input from other agencies, such as the social services (Malcolm et al: 2003).

126. Atkinson, Halsey, Wilkin & Kinder (2000) have provided a useful

classification of initiatives aimed at improving attendance, under the following headings:

" Service-level developments, involving Education Welfare Services and schools

" Preventative strategies, involving all pupils within a school or year group or all teachers within a school

" Initial responses to absence, targeting pupils absent on a particular day

" Early intervention, targeting pupils vulnerable to attendance problems

" Strategies aimed at pupils with identified attendance problems, targeting pupils with attendance below a certain level

" Initiatives aimed at disaffected pupils, with very poor attendance and often-additional problems. (Mclean, 2008)

127. Detailed investigation of this wide range of initiatives with schools led

Atkinson et al to conclude that effective strategies took account of the need both for prevention and for intervention. Easen, Clark and Wootten (1997) also argued that an attendance project aimed at younger children who have not yet become disaffected is likely to be much more effective and cost-effective than spending on special provision to support long-term non-attenders to return to schooling. (Mclean, 2008)

128. Other measures to curb absences also include parenting contracts that reinforce parental responsibility for school attendance and behaviour. (Dfcfs: 2007). Parenting orders are already available for parents prosecuted and convicted of a school attendance offence. New provisions under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 places a duty on parents to ensure that their excluded child is not found present in a public place during school hours, without a reasonable excuse, during the first five days of any exclusion (Dfcfs: 2007).

129. The ‘Getting it right in the Mornings’ project desk top research

discovered a surfeit of strategies and initiatives designed with truancy and or unauthorised absences are currently in use in schools and LEAs.

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130. Overview of Programme

131. Intervention strategy 132. In design, there was an overwhelming desire to ensure there was

coherence in choice of intervention working methods and that these were guided by reliable and trusted theoretical understanding. The choice of solution focused therapy (George, E, et al, 2007) offered the best combination of theoretical insights and practical working solutions. In essence, solution focused therapy (or 'brief therapy') is solution-based rather than problem-orientated intervention. It is less concerned with how a problem arose, rather its focal point is on the current factors sustaining it and preventing change. Thus, it focuses on what ‘clients’ want to achieve rather than on the problem(s) causing the difficulties. This approach strategically concentrates on the present and future. Trained ‘brief therapy’ workers energise their ‘clients’ to use their own strengths for solutions. Pupils and parents would be enabled to construct a concrete vision of a preferred future and to find internal resources to make it a reality. The planners wanted a team of workers who would not be tainted with that that is traditional in youth and social work of a pre-occupation with examining problems.

133. Intervention Workers (IWs) 134. Another key feature was selection of Intervention Workers (IWs) and

provision of training appropriate for proficient delivery of project outcomes. There was a concern from the outset that selection of workers was critical for effectiveness and these need not be people previously trained in youth, social or community work fields. There were intense explorations and various considerations as to the precise profile for workers who would be easily accepted as being credible by parents, pupils and schools. Initially, they were perceived as mentors and an older age group seemed favoured. In the end as the magnitude of the task became manifest they became Intervention Workers and the person specification was widen. Therefore, importance was placed on finding people who were open to new learning and therefore be more amiable to implementing the principles of solution-focussed techniques.

135. Workers were drawn from the local community who had an interest in working with the ideals of project. The project workers then underwent an intensive training programme as outlined in paragraph 137. A total of nine intervention workers were involved across both programmes. Of these, only one was professionally qualified as a youth worker. All the others were unqualified although some had experience of being

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volunteers, two were mature students, and two had experience of working with people.

136. Intervention workers training 137. The project’s format was based on constructing a positive nexus

between intervention philosophical commitment, pupils, their parents and the intervention worker to bring about the desired behavioural change. Intervention workers occupied a pivotal place in the initiative. Thus, design of their training had to place emphasis on the role, their attitudinal orientation and the skills base that should be developed as a result of the training they would have undertaken. Without high quality training they could not make the contribution needed as their work and dedication was a significant part of achieving success in this project.

138. A crucial component of the project revolved around the content

(knowledge and skills), methodology, and intensity of the training programme for intervention workers. It was decided that training would be delivered in discrete elements prior to commencement as well as being undertaken concurrently on a weekly basis during project delivery period. Intervention workers had specialist training in solution based therapy led by Evan George head of Brief therapy organisation UK, knowledge of school policies and legislation on attendance and a thorough grounding in professional ethics plus other important components of the training programme. The training programme design and delivery was contracted to Goldsmiths College University of London Turning Point Education Training Consultancy who have extensive experience of training professional workers. The workers attended training workshop sessions at the University on the following topics:

! Solution Focus Therapy training

! Professional Ethics and its application to practice

! Understanding Diversity – working with pupils from different cultures

! School policies and procedures including legal matters

! Understanding and agreeing personal contracts

! How to use Appreciative Inquiry

! How to devise and set SMART objectives

! Using learning supervision 139. The Intervention Workers also explored various skills and working

approaches for engaging with parents and young people in order to

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identify and articulate the steps needed to address their poor attendance at school and then go on to implement their own solutions or actions for improving their attendance.

140. Project Management 141. The project had a management team consisting of Michael Hamilton,

Manager of Young People’s Health Project (YPHP), Trevor Sinclair, Course Director of Turning Point Education Training Consultancy, and Gloria Copeland, ‘Getting it right in the morning’ appointed Project Manager. Regular meetings were held to review project operations, support intervention workers and devise solutions to problems as they arise.

142. The project manager was recruited to undertake a series of vital

functions. First, to coordinate the project various dimensions, contact and undertake home visits and initiate correspondence to parents and liaise with school attendance officers. It was also her role to supervise / advise intervention workers, attend meetings with LEA, schools, and management team. An important range of functions included coordination of Away Day programme, devising of feedback and monitoring formats and production of reports.

143. Project Supervision 144. The project’s operational plan required that Intervention Workers

attend weekly combined supervision and training sessions where they shared their progress against identified criteria with the Project Manager and other members of the project’s management team. The IWs also highlighted issues and undertook practical exercises aimed at identifying and improving the quality of their individual practice. Each IW was required to complete a weekly diary sheet on their activity with their assigned pupil. In addition, they also completed a monitoring sheet on the progress of the intervention against the contract objectives. The supervisor usually speak with each worker via phone two to three times per week depending on their support needs.

For example: One intervention worker was having difficulties getting a parent to adhere to her contract of not finding minor excuses for keeping her daughter from going to school. A number of options were explored during supervision and acted on. With little change in the situation, the management team agree to visit the family and re-negotiate the contract.

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145. 1ST PROGRAMME

146. Pupil Recruitment 147. The first cohort of pupils that took part in the project came from

Sedgehill and Catford High Secondary Schools. The pupils were from years 7 and 9 and were randomly selected by Lewisham Council’s Attendance and Welfare team. They provided a list of 23 young people that were identified by them as missing 20% or more of school in the preceding two terms. A key feature of action-research aspect was that anonymity of the pupils be retained throughout the selection process so each pupil was given a numerical code. No names, ethnicity, gender, age, school attended, or any other identifiers were placed on the list.

148. The families were contacted first by letter, followed by home visits by

Project management team. The programme was outlined by the project manager and the reasons for the referral. As participation in the programme was voluntary, both parent and pupil(s) had to agree to take part. Four pupils from Catford High and six pupils from Sedgehill agreed to participate.

149. Away Day and Contracting 150. Parents and pupils were invited to attend an Away Day at Hindleap

Warren outdoor activity centre on Saturday 17 May 2008. The day was designed to facilitate team building, group bonding, and contract enactment. Our model of intervention advocates that dealing with poor attendance requires behavioural change by key actors (pupil and parents) in this regard the programme would create the right conditions primarily through its Intervention Worker who act as a facilitator in the process. An important intervention tool involved focus on developing a contract that would outline the agreed actions of the pupil, their parent(s) and the Intervention Worker to achieve school attendance at an acceptable level.

151. The programme designers placed contract construction very high on the hierarchy of priorities and therefore, put in place an interactive process that combines a number of elements. It involved analysis of reasons for poor attendance; what steps can be taken by parents and what action can pupils take and finally, how best can they each be supported to adhere to their action plan by the intervention worker. The ‘awayday’ activities enable bonding between all parties and finished with a series of exercises guided by ‘solution based’ techniques to development of the contract.

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Hindleap Warren

152. The day comprised of teambuilding activities, outline of project

philosophy and its programme followed by development of draft contracts. During the Awayday the pupil and parent identify the issues that have contributed to poor attendance at school. The contract was in three parts – each part describes concrete actions to rectify poor attendance by the three parties to the contract. Part one identifies three actions to be undertaken by the pupil. Part two outline three things for the parent to do. Part three describe three action points required of the intervention worker to facilitate improved attendance. Each contract was specific to each pupil and sought to identify a series of action points that the parties to the contract should undertake.

153. The contracts generated commitment from both parents and pupils. For pupils it meant them being treated as grown up and for the adults it created obligations to an outside authority that had elements of compelling them to action. The contract also sought to deal with practical solutions to the difficulties identified and it then focus on the solutions that the pupils thought would aid their attendance at school. See two examples below.

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Contract Example (1):

Part one - Responsibilities’ of pupil C

1. She will place herself on report at school

2. She will go to bed at 9pm

3. On school days she will get up at 7am

Part two - Responsibilities’ of parent of pupil C

1. Dad to take her to school each morning

2. Parent to check on her progress by checking with teachers and reading her school reports

3. Parents agree to get her a mobile phone.

Part Three - Responsibilities’ of pupil C Intervention Worker

1. To call the pupil each morning

2. To call her in the afternoon to discuss how her day went

3. To call in the evening to help with homework

Contract Example (2)

Part one - Responsibilities’ of Pupil F 1. He will go to bed 9.30pm

2. He will go to all lessons

3. He will stay at school all day

Part two - Responsibilities’ of Parent of pupil F 1. Mum will wake him at 7am

2. Mum will prepare breakfast

3. Mum will call back to check that he has left for school on her way to work.

Part Three - Responsibilities’ of pupil F Intervention Worker 1. Will call him when she is outside of his house

2. She will walk him to school

3. She will phone to check that he is still in school

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154. The day was attended by five young people, 1 parent, 6 Intervention Workers and the Project’s Management Team. Parental attendance to the Away Day was adversely affected by the short notice period, difficulties in matching address and telephone numbers of selected pupils thereby making contact problematic. The time lag between programme launch and practical set up activities were detrimentally impacted on due to schools operating on a longer timescale.

155. Following careful analysis of the Awayday explorations, interactions and

observations, the project management staff allocated Intervention Workers to their respective pupils. Next, using solution based techniques; pupils with their respective Intervention Workers identified nine action points, three for each party (pupil, parent and IWs) to the contract. These objectives or action points were identified as ways of overcoming perceived problems with attendance specific to each pupil. It was important that each action point was written as a SMART objective with elements of being specific to impacting on attendance; consideration was given to can the action be achieved; will the action be relevant within the timescale; and can the action be judged or assessed at the end of each week.

156. For those parents or carers who did not attend the away day IWs

subsequently contacted those either by phone or in person to carry forward the actions / objectives outlined in the contract. The families who were unable to attend the ‘Awayday’ were contacted again and home visits undertaken by the project management team. As a result, five more pupils and their parents joined the programme. Some of the actions identified included the following examples;

! Intervention worker to ring the pupil in the mornings at an agreed time to ensure they got up and go to school on time

! Parent to ensure that the pupil went to bed at the agreed time in the contract

! Pupil meeting their Intervention worker at the agreed time and place in the morning for the School journey.

! Intervention worker to phone at an agreed time to discuss their daily/weekly activity and progress against agreed actions / objectives.

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157. Supervision Sessions 158. The Intervention Workers attended weekly supervision sessions where

they shared their progress against identified criteria with the Project Manager and other members of the project management team. The IWs also highlighted issues and undertook practical exercises aimed at identifying possible ways that those issues could be addressed. Each IW was required to complete a weekly diary sheet on their activity with their assigned pupil. In addition, they also completed a monitoring sheet on the progress of the intervention against the contract objectives.

159. Supervision sessions usually took place on Friday mornings and were

divided into three sections.

Section 1: 10 – 10.45

What happened this week?

This was a factual report from each intervention worker on each of their pupil.

The report back was guided by the weekly evaluation form that each worker completes on each pupil.

Workers with more than one pupil completed a form for each.

Session 2: 10.45 – 11.30

Exploring themes from the last in-put session

In this session, Intervention Workers explore ways in which the week before in-put (skills or knowledge training) session were used with pupil or parent.

This did led to other options such as

Two intervention workers being selected that week before to do a presentation

to rest of the group.

Each intervention worker is asked to give feedback on how they used the teaching with their pupil / parent or to think about other work strategies.

A group discussion related to their experiences that week.

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Session 3: 12 – 1.00

Input session

The in-put session was a space where intervention workers have an opportunity to learn a new skill or acquire knowledge that they may use with their pupil.

Intervention workers were provided with opportunities or rehearsal space to try out the method as a part of the session.

160. Ideas for input session:

• Using mind maps • Mind maps can be used as a way of thinking about what you are doing

with a young person.

• Appreciative inquiry • A system of talking to young people that recognises and appreciates

the steps that they have already taken and the strengths that they already have to meet their goals for themselves.

• Effective beginnings and even more effective endings • An exploration of dependence. How do we effectively begin a

relationship with a young person? How do we effectively end a relationship with a young person?

• Keeping things SMART • An exploration of how you use SMART goals to maintain focus in

relationships with pupil.

• Incidental conversations • An exploration of the effectiveness of staying focused even when we

are having incidental conversations with our young people and their carers.

161. Intervention workers were also contacted during the week by Project

Manager who responded to queries or was alerted to any concerns regarding the participants and their families. The Project Manager liaised with the Schools and LEA’s – Attendance Team, providing up to

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date information about the progress of the programme participants and highlighting other issues of concern.

162. Celebrating Achievement 163. The project team felt it was important to recognise the progress that

the pupils and parents had made. Consequently, a celebration dinner was held for all the programme participants and their parents, intervention workers and the Project Management Team.

164. Certificates were awarded to the participants. Parents expressed their

views about the progress of their children and the achievements of the young people were acknowledged and celebrated.

165. Ending the intervention 166. An ending questionnaire was completed by IWs with their pupil. This

gave an opportunity for the young person to give their views on the intervention partnership and participation in the programme. The questionnaire also required the young person and their family to set new

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objectives to enable their progress to continue after the ending of the intervention when they went back to school in the new term.

167. Intervention workers also were required to give their feedback and

evaluation on how they found the programme, what they had learned from their interaction with the young person and their family; the training and development sessions and the impact of the supervision. The developmental needs of the staff team were not neglected as IWs were asked to outline what they hoped to go on and do following end of the pilot programme.

168. 2ND PROGRAMME 169. Recruitment of Pupils 170. The second cohort of pupils were drawn from Deptford Green School in

the north of the borough and Sedgehill School in the south. There were 18 referrals, 11 from Sedgehill and 7 from Deptford Green. Again contact with pupils and parents was first by letters and followed up by home visits.

171. The Away Day 172. The Away Day took place on Saturday 24th January 2009. Four parents

and seven pupils attended. Two young people (only one designated for programme) were escorted back to their homes due to in-appropriate behaviour. Despite this the parents and young people who attended the day reported that they had enjoyed the day and had discovered new things about themselves and each other and were now more aware of their abilities. Draft contracts were devised following a similar format to that of the 1st programme Away Day and allocation of Intervention Workers to selected pupils.

173. Following the Away Day, six pairings were made. Another three pairings

were also made during further follow-up home visits. 174. Challenges of the 2nd Programme 175. The second programme proved to be much more challenging, as a number

of the pupils were persistent truants whose parents seemed to be complicit in their children failing to attend school. Intervention workers reported numerous incidents of non-compliance with contract objectives. From the information shared during supervision sessions it was clear that a number of parents had significant dysfunctional issues that was preventing their children from attending school on a regular

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basis. One intervention pairing was ended prematurely due to the failure of the parent to adhere to agreed contract objectives despite the contract objectives being revised on two occasions. Parental issues ranged from alcohol and drug use to very poor parenting skills and inadequate behaviour management.

176. Celebrating Achievement 177. Once again, the project team felt it important to recognise the progress

that the pupils and parents had made and held its celebration dinner. Certificates were awarded to the participants. Parents expressed their views about the progress of their children and the achievements of the pupils were acknowledged and celebrated.

178. What did the project achieve? 179. From the outset the project was determined to see success in very

precise terms namely, if its primary objective were tackling poor attendance then success would ultimately be improved attendance at school. For evaluative purposes, three phases are important for statistical comparison - attendance to prior joining the programme; attendance during the intervention and post programme attendance. It

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was agreed with all participating schools and the LEA that attendance records for before, during and post programme completion would be made available for the evaluation. We are grateful for the statistics from Catford High, Sedgehill and Deptford Green schools.

180. Attendance prior to joining the programme was the benchmark for all further comparison. Therefore, both programmes had pupils who the relevant schools thought were below the 80% attendance rate. It was postulated during the initiative development that there were likely to be important differences in attendance between phase comprising intense involvement with intervention worker and pupils interacting and the period after. It was important to note any significant difference.

181. 1st Programme Success

182. An analysis of the statistics (see fig 1) indicates that the majority of pupils improve their attendance during the intervention and these improvements continued after the programme active phase. It was also noticeable that significant improvement during the active period was not always sustained at the same level, however, in some instances, it was maintained, and in a few cases exceeded. (Please note pupil C and D moved away from the area so there are no post programme statistics). It must also be noted that in many cases attendance showed a more than 20% increase and in some examples 40% increases during active and post intervention phase.

Fig 1

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

% o

f Atte

ndan

ce

Names of students

Cohort One

Before

During

After

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Fig 2

183. 2nd Programme Success 184. An analysis of the statistics (see fig 2) indicates that a few of the

pupils improved their attendance during the intervention, a majority displayed major improvements after the programme active phase with some achieving 100% attendance. There were instances of where pupils’ attendance had gone up from 43% to a 100%. Unlike the first programme, there was less marked change during the operational phase but importantly the post phase illustrated significant improvement being sustained and in some cases exceeded. Once again, it must be noted that in many cases, attendance showed a more than 20% increase and in some examples 40% increases during post intervention phase.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

Pupil A Pupil B Pupil C Pupil D Pupil E Pupil F

% o

f Atte

ndan

ce

Names of students

Cohort Two

Before

During

After

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185. Wider Beneficial outcomes for Pupils

! Enhanced confidence and improved attendance at school

! Tools for self reflection and being able to identify their own solutions

! Tools to develop action plan

! Skills to identify their needs and avenues to seek support

! Improved communication skills and time management skills 186. Benefits to Parent/Family

! Skills for more effective communication with their child or children

! Action planning techniques

! Awareness of their role in their child’s behaviour patterns

! Improved time management and listening skills 187. Benefits for the Intervention Workers

! Improved social skills

! Enhanced communication skills including telephone and face to face.

! New areas of Knowledge

! Development of Solution Focused Therapeutic practice

! Enhanced confidence levels

! Development of transferable skills

! Greater awareness of the issues that contribute to poor school attendance.

! Working in a team and sharing of good practice

188. Of the nine-recruited intervention workers four are now in full-time employment in people orientated work fields, two have successfully completed their course of studies and two employed as part-time workers.

189. Benefits for School/LEA

! Improved attendance rates

! Cost effective tool to combat truancy and poor attendance

! Pool of skilled volunteers

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! Improved dialogue between home and school 190. Areas of concern

! Lack of knowledge in the two schools about the project

! Some teachers were unaware that the pupils were participating in the project

! More effective communication needed between schools and the Project Management Team especially around issues related to pupils participating in the project

! More up to date information needed on pupils referred to the project. Many of the contact details were found to be inaccurate.

! Lack of formal acknowledgement of the pupils achievement from schools

! Need for a formalised handover process with the pupil’s school and attendance team when the pupil’s intervention contract ends, to ensure that the pupil and their family continue to receive support to maintain improved attendance levels.

! Additional sources of support for parents, whose own personal needs impacted adversely on their child’s ability to attend school on a regular basis.

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191. Conclusion 192. The Getting it Right in the Mornings (pilot) programme has enormous

potential as a short-term initiative for pupils with their families to overcome the barriers and behaviour that contribute to poor attendance. Through the relationship with the Intervention Worker, pupils have been supported to take responsibility for their actions in getting themselves to school and for their actions and behaviour whilst in school. Parents have been encouraged to reflect on their parenting practices and develop more appropriate parenting skills that if followed through will see an increase in their child’s attendance.

193. It has become clear that for some parents, they would benefit from

attending additional support provision such as parenting classes that focus on managing behaviour, setting and maintaining boundaries and understanding the role of parent and child and the legal requirements for their child to participate more effectively in the educational provision. Parents with more serious personal issues need to be referred to other support agencies and encouraged to seek help. The young people, whose parents have these serious underlining issues have in some instances taken on the responsibility for their parent’s wellbeing and social and health issues resulting in the young person being reluctant to leave the parent and therefore manifesting a variety of ailments and/or excuses not to go to school.

194. The training and development of the Intervention Workers to take on

the role incumbent have resulted in those individuals acquiring a variety of valuable skills and pools of knowledge that can be utilised within other areas of employment and could be harnessed to provide future benefits in the wider community. This initiative has the potential to be developed into a viable provision that could target pupils at the early stages of erratic school attendance as well as an intervention that could be a compulsory element of support for more persistent truants and their families before the schools and LEA enters into more formal legal proceedings.

Project Management Team July 2010

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Bibliography

Audit Commission (1999) Missing out: LEA management of school attendance and exclusion. (Briefing, October 1999) London: Audit Commission.

Department for Children, Schools and Families (2007) Tackling it Together: Educated-Related Parenting Contracts.

Easen P, Clark J & Wootten M (1997) Focusing on the individual while ignoring the context: an evaluation of an attendance project. Newcastle: University of Newcastle, Department of Education.

George, E et al, 2007, Briefer – A Solution focused manual, London, BRIEF

Hallam, Rogers, and Shaw (2004) Improving Children’s Behaviour and Attendance through the Use of Parenting Programmes: An Examination of Good Practice. Department for Education and Skills.

Learmonth J (1995) More willingly to school? An independent evaluation of the DfEE’s Truancy and Disaffected Pupils (TDP) GEST Programme. London: DfEE.

McLean K, (2008) Getting right in the mornings A Systematic Review, McLean’s Consultancy, London

Malcolm, Wilkinson, Davidson and Kirk (2003) Absence from School: A study of its causes and effects in seven LEAs. The SCRE Centre, University of Glasgow, Research Report no 424.

http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/154303?uc=force_uj

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance/otherinitiatives/parentingcontracts.cfm

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