Ipswich chosen to receive support for school attendance

Bridget Phillipson joined Ipswich MP Jack Abbott at Chantry Academy on Friday and to speak to staff and students at the school following their improved attendance rating. 

Ms Phillipson announced the expansion of the scheme which will look to support 10,000 students and support 10 areas that have recorded some of the worst attendance in the country.

Ipswich, alongside Nottingham and Blackpool are among the new areas that will benefit from the expansion.

The scheme will allow further support and mentor students who have been persistently absent as well as children with SEND, poor mental health or other complex learning needs, in a bid to get them back into school.

Since 2022, the government has run the programme in five pilot areas which sees attendance mentors provide one to one support to persistently absent pupils.

The government says persistent absence across the country has increased since the pandemic, with around one in five pupils across the country currently missing 10% or more of school.

Chantry Academy's executive headteacher Craig D'Cunha said that the school had over the last 12 months seen attendance levels go from below to above the national average. 

The headteacher is in support of the scheme.  (Image: Archant) "She (Ms Phillipson) was very approachable, very understanding and interested in some of the activities we did and how we improved our attendance rate in our school," Mr D'Cunha said.

"We mentioned the things we did, like we have an excellent offer in terms of extracurricular activities and high-quality teaching."

The headteacher added that he was in favour of schemes like these for schools, however, is unsure if the academy will be one of the institutions to benefit from it. 

Bridget Phillipson met with Chantry students. (Image: PA)Ms Phillipson said: "If we are going to break down the barriers to opportunity for children in Ipswich and across the country, we must first break down the barriers to school attendance.

"It was fantastic to visit Chantry Academy to see first hand the steps they are taking to support families and young people to attend school day in, day out."

Jack Abbott MP said he wanted to show the Education Secretary the issues that students and staff face currently. (Image: Paul Geater)  Mr Abbott said that he brought the education minister to the Chantry school so that she would have the chance to directly hear from staff and students about the challenges they are facing.

“The investment announced by the Education Secretary here in Ipswich is an important step in getting to grips with school attendance," he added. 

“I look forward to continuing to work with the Education Secretary and great local schools like Chantry Academy to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child in Ipswich.”