Late last year, I was asked to go on the radio to discuss a school attendance campaign run by East Sussex County Council. It had, shall we say, ruffled quite a few families’ feathers with its tone and approach. However, when I got into discussion with Holly Dawson, one of the key parents upset with the ‘Get a Grip’ campaign, it was clear that we had far more in common on the issue than we disagreed with.
Several tweets & a working lunch later, I was delighted when Holly agreed to work with us on a project to explore the things that schools in different contexts, but with amazing attendance in common, do. In particular, we’re planning to analyse what it is that happens in these schools such that types of students who tend to have lower attendance elsewhere are in school more here.