Six Quick Things on Attendance

Healing Academy is a secondary school that is emerging from a period of what can best be described as 'coercive command and control' from a distant MAT.

Under a different Trust now and with Stephen Logan at the helm, the school is refinding its place in the community as a place both staff and students want to go to.

With attendance much improved and the best in the area, we asked Stephen for his Six Quick Things on an issue that is vexing brains in schools and government alike.

Here is what he suggests:

1. Connection creates momentum and direction - when relationships are strong, attendance follows.

2. Students follow what adults model - how adults show up shapes the lived values and culture students step into. 

3. Getting students in is only half the work - attendance improves when students have a reason to stay and that starts with their curriculum, connection and care.

4. Belonging isn’t a buzzword, it’s a basic human need - good schools did this well long before it had a label from the DFE or OFSTED.

5. Begin with genuine care, kindness and empathy - a sincere 'It’s great to see you' often matters more than any strategy.

6. Absence is information, not defiance - find the reason, offer real support, and remember: fines don’t build attendance fundamentals do.

Stephen Logan is the head of the appropriately named Healing Academy near Grimsby. You can find out more about his work and the school that he is helping to re-find its path by following his LinkedIn account here.

Stephen Logan, left, with students during a recent visit by Ian Gilbert to Healing Academy