Supporting school attendance

5. Deliver targeted interventions to supplement universal provision

Targeted intervention may be needed for persistent or particularly challenging causes of pupil absence. These should be based on knowledge of your pupils, exploration of relevant data, and diagnosis of need. The type of interventions will depend on your context and the pupils involved, but might include interventions relating to behaviour, social and emotional learning, self-regulation strategies, parental involvement, academic content, or support with specific special educational needs.

Personalise approaches to meet the needs of individual pupils

Universal approaches to teaching, learning, behaviour, relationships and communication with families will support the majority of pupils and families, but universal systems are unlikely to meet the needs of all pupils. Some, who might have very specific and individual reasons for their absence from school, may need a more personalised approach to support their attendance and engagement.

Individualised and more intensive approaches may require additional resources or time, so should not typically be the first course of action – schools should check that universal approaches are being implemented effectively and consistently first.

The three guidance reports at the bottom of this page all have recommendations about targeting interventions for pupils and families who need additional support. In addition, there are further recommendations about interventions in literacy and maths in the relevant guidance reports, which can be found here.