February 26th 2008
NEWB Takes First Step in Development of School Attendance Strategies at National Conference

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) took the first step in the development of guidelines on school attendance strategies at its national conference today.

Nuala Doherty, Director of Educational Welfare Services, said that attendance was a major concern for all teachers and that student absenteeism touches every community, whether geographical or demographic, thus underlining the need to deal with it strategically and creatively.

This first NEWB conference, she said, was an opportunity to take stock of international and Irish learning and practice so that work could now begin on the development of guidelines on school attendance strategies that are practical and which will work for Irish schools specifically. She stressed, however, that guidelines could only help if schools also put attendance at the centre of their focus, as many have already.

Doherty outlined that a school's board of management would have to prepare a statement of strategy that outlines how the school will promote and encourage attendance and participation, in the same way that it is common place that schools now have bullying or admission policies,. As part of its statutory remit, the NEWB must develop and issue guidelines to support schools in this work.

"The first step to ensuring that children actually come to school is to ensure that they have a sense of belonging to school - that they like school and that they see its relevance to their future," Doherty said. "School attendance strategies must promote this sense of belonging and participation in whatever way suits the particular school and the needs of the student body."

"There is no quick fix for improving school attendance, in the same way that there is no one reason for school non-attendance itself. This places a challenge on us to grapple with the complexity of the factors associated with absenteeism. Critically, it places a challenge on us to figure out where and what interventions can be most successful in children's lives throughout Ireland."

hool attendance strategies may include initiatives that ensure that the curriculum is better suited to the students, projects which may help to ensure more student input through student councils, programmes which concentrate on behaviour and classroom discipline, or plans which improve school and parent communication for example.

The NEWB is the statutory agency which encourages children to attend school on a regular basis.

For further information contact:

Edel Hackett

087-293 5207