Education Endowment Foundation:Supporting school attendance

Supporting school attendance

3. Communicate effectively with families

Well-designed communications with families can be effective for improving attendance and supports positive relationships through two-way communication. School communication with parents is likely to be more effective if it is personalised, linked to learning, framed positively, and promotes parent efficacy and partnership with the school. Effective communication considers frequency, timing, audience and potential barriers such as inaccessible language and professional jargon. 

1. Consider the relationships between schools and families

Schools operate within and for their communities, and the relationship between school and home is vital to how they function and support pupils to thrive. We know that levels of parental engagement are consistently associated with children’s academic outcomes. Regular attendance is linked to improved academic attainment and is an area where parental input can be particularly influential at secondary school. Well-designed school communications can be effective for generating positive engagement and having an impact on attendance and other outcomes. However, while many of these relationships are positive, some have suggested that parental attitudes have changed since the pandemic, and many schools are finding this aspect of their work a particular challenge.

Communication is key

Spending time considering the nature of communication with families is one low-cost way that schools can work towards stronger relationships based on clarity and partnership. Schools are often already spending time on communication, so this is an area where pre-existing activity can be reviewed and improved rather than ​‘doing more’. It is important to recognise that there can be a gap between what schools intend to communicate and what is received, understood and felt by families.

2. Critically review current practice

Our guidance report on parental engagement includes recommendations to support schools to build and maintain positive relationships with families. Most schools say that they do not have an explicit plan for how they work with parents: critically reviewing aims and current approaches may be a valuable place to start, considering the frequency, nature, tone, language and reception of school communications.

3. Make communications personalised and positive

The evidence suggests that communications with parents are likely to be more effective if they are personalised, linked to learning (or making the link between attendance and learning explicit), and framed positively. The nature of messages that may be more effective changes with the age of learners. In early years and primary, families benefit from a focus on activities that parents and children can do together to support learning, while in secondary the evidence is strongest for providing parents with carefully pitched factual information relating to pupil progress and upcoming tasks like assessments and potential revision activities.

Small changes to the way schools communicate can make a difference to how messages are received.

Small changes matter

Reflection and planning

Refer to the questions in the reflection tool to support your thinking and planning.

Further reading and sharing practice

Key guidance report