Sending parents "nudge" letters about their child’s poor school attendance can help reduce absenteeism, a new report has found. Overall, however, there is a lack of evidence about the best methods of ensuring pupils attend school.
The review of findings from 72 studies, carried out by the Education Endowment Fund (EEF), of how to improve pupil attendance explored eight different methods. It looked at mentoring, communication with parents, meal provision, extracurricular activities, punishments or rewards, behaviour interventions, targeted approaches and teaching social and emotional skills, as well as other interventions that did not fit into these categories.
One intervention, which sent parents "nudge" letters to improve attendance, focusing on the number of schooldays their children had missed the previous year, was found to have had a positive impact on boosting pupils’ attendance in school. The letter focused on the importance of attendance for pupils' learning and the wider school community. It was also translated into the most commonly spoken languages of families in the area.
