School attendance has improved again for the seventh year in Nottingham, according to new figures from the Department for Education.
The city’s rate of overall absence fell faster than the national average in Autumn 2015 and Spring 2016. This means more children are now in school for more of the time.
Statistics show that Nottingham’s absence rate is now 4.5%, compared to 4.4% across England. This has reduced in the city from 7.3% in 2009/10. Nottingham is now ranked 91 out of 152 local authorities, compared to 150 at its lowest point in 2012/13.
Nottingham City Council has been working with partners across the city to bring about improvement. As well as a tough approach to absence, the council has a regular programme of reward and recognition for pupils who have good attendance.
Pupils with the best attendance were given prizes at a special Lord Mayor’s Awards celebration at Harvey Hadden. Nottingham City Council also teamed up with Capital FM for a second year to run an award-winning campaign with secondary students to help improve attendance rates. The class from each school with the best attendance record got the chance to go to a top secret gig and watch British rapper Professor Green.
Cllr Sam Webster, Portfolio Holder for Education, Employment and Skills, said: “Congratulations to all the pupils, parents and schools across the City for their hard work and focus on good attendance. Partners across the city have really come together to crack down on school absence and celebrate good attendance. These results show that that this is making a difference.
“Nottingham has narrowed the gap in absence rates with the rest of the UK. Schools and academies, pupils and parents deserve recognition for their great work. This year we have leap frogged 29 other Local Authority areas and this gives context to the scale of the improvement, but there is still more work to do and schools must continue to focus on even better attendance rates.”
Parents can continue to help their child’s attendance at school by:
- Making sure their child gets to school on time
- Not booking holidays during term time
- Contacting the school the first day a child is off sick.
More help and advice on attendance is available from www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/schoolattendance
Figures from the Department for Education show for overall absence:
Overall absence from school
| 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | |
| Nottingham | 6.1% | 5.1% | 4.9% | 4.5% |
| England | 5.2% | 4.3% | 4.6% | 4.4% |
| Gap (ppts) | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
Sourced from official DfE releases: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-2015-and-spring-2016