Head’s Blog: Attendance and Behaviour
Welcome to the last Head’s Blog before the Easter break. We want to make school unmissable for students and there has been lots taking place this term to help students enjoy school.
Attendance affects quality of life
There is a really clear link between attendance and exam grades. It’s simple: the lower your attendance the worse your exam grades will be. New research shows that every extra day off school has an average impact of £750 on a person’s lifetime earnings in the UK. A child who has 90% attendance throughout their school career will earn about £200,000 less on average than a child with 100% attendance.
Better attendance
I am pleased to see that attendance has improved significantly in the last half term. It is still the case that too many Fearnhill students miss too much school but it is a step in the right direction.
New Behaviour Policy
In January we introduced a new behaviour policy because we wanted to reduce disruption and focus more on rewarding students. The new policy has resulted in a big decrease in disruption in lessons:
- 22% reduction in suspensions
- 71% reduction in students being removed from lessons
- 51% reduction in the number of negative incidents reported by teachers
- 74% reduction in after-school detentions
Teachers have also given out over 10,000 merits and there have been 12 students who have won Proud Table prizes, with the big end of term iPad draw taking place on Friday.
Better behaviour
Overall, there has been a clear improvement in student conduct in lessons. Things are not perfect – they never are – but I am pleased to see how well students have responded to raised expectations. We will continue to work together to ensure that every student is able to enjoy school and achieve.
As we approach the end of term, let me wish you a relaxing and restful Easter break.