Congratulations are in order for the team at King’s Leadership Academy Liverpool as they are the first secondary school in the UK to be achieve the prestigious Inclusive Attendance BRONZE KITE Mark.
Led by Assistant Principal, Lousie France, alongside the dedicated team at King’s Liverpool, with support and guidance from Inclusive Attendance’s Wayne Harris, the school has achieved this milestone in just seven months!
Back in May this year, Scott Cordon and Louise France met with ex primary and secondary headteacher and founder of Inclusive Attendance, Wayne Harris for an introduction to their secondary school attendance programme. The Inclusive Attendance programme is a data driven approach to attendance which is complemented by a CPD programme for all staff in the school. Following their initial introduction Wayne and his team re-visited in June to perform attendance audit, which saw them deep dive into attendance across the school.
Following their deep dive an ‘Active Ingredients’ action plan was generated which serves as a tailored roadmap, highlighting strengths and pinpointing areas for potential improvement across the school.
In a few short weeks, by the end of the summer term the school had seen persistent absenteeism (PA) improve by 5%, rising to an decrease of 11.8% during the autumn term, which sees the school sitting 3% lower than the Liverpool City Council average for PA and 12.5% below the national average. At the point of receiving their award in November overall attendance rate across the school was up by 4.2% compared to 23/24.
Over the previous 7 months the school attendance team ensured that ALL staff accessed accredited Professional Development for attendance; created a whole-school culture of collective responsibility for attendance; embedded innovative strategies and a clear understanding of attendance pedagogy to drive support; clarified roles and responsibilities for ALL stakeholders; developed a framework for long-term, sustainable growth in support and outcomes and made a significant impact on the life outcomes of children, young people, families, and the community.
Principal and senior attendance lead at King’s Liverpool, Louise said “We are delighted to have been recognised for the work our whole school has dedicated to improving attendance rates. This achievement means more of our students are in school, safe and learning. It has truly been a whole team effort with every single staff member playing a role, no matter how small. With extra support, guidance and initiatives, I am excited to see how we can further develop our success and ultimately improve the education, wellbeing and overall development of all of our students."