Children absent from education and children missing education: staff factsheet

Use this factsheet to make sure staff are clear on:

• Why it's important to act on children who are absent from education and children missing education, and to intervene early
• What they should do if they have any concerns 

You could either use it as a basis for talking about the issue at a staff meeting, or send it round for staff to read themselves. You could also share your procedures for unauthorised absence, children absent from education and children missing education at the same time – staff are expected to know these.

Want to make it more interactive?

Ask staff about the safeguarding risks associated with going missing from education before sharing the factsheet with them.

If you want to have more of a discussion about the issue at a staff meeting, try using these questions:

• What opportunities do our pupils have to talk to us about changes they are expecting in their lives?
• Which members of staff may be particularly well placed to spot concerning absence quickly?
• Can you think of families you would consider to be at risk based on the risk factors in the factsheet?
• Why might a family be unwilling to share plans to leave the school with us? What can we do about this? 
• How important are our relationships with families who we experience barriers to engagement with? What more can we do to foster these relationships?
• Is there anything we should do to improve our systems or to change our attitudes to make sure we spot and report poor or irregular attendance quickly and intervene early?

... use our safeguarding scenario on children missing education to get staff to put the learning into practice.