Teach Secondary 14.4

Anew study from the National Foundation for Educational Research has indicated that schools would be better off prioritising individualised approaches to tacking pupil absence over school-wide sanctions, such as detentions, fines and phonecalls home. As detailed in ‘Voices from the Classroom - Understanding how secondary schools support pupils returning fromabsence’ (see tinyurl.com/ts144-LL4 ), pupils value being able to talk to trustedmembers of staff when returning fromabsence. The team conducted semi- structured, in-person interviews and focus groups with staff and pupils across nine state-funded secondary schools fromNovember to December 2024, and found that staff recognise the importance of tailoring attendance support to pupils’ individual needs, while acknowledging the workload involved in doing so. Some participants described how their schools offer rewards, including prize draws and trips, as motivators for good attendance. Pupils attending schools that recognise good attendance alongside the provision of pastoral support felt more motivated to come to school. Conversely, pupils at schools that prioritise imposing sanctions for pupil absence are more likely to perceive attendance policies as unfair – especially when absences are down to reasons outside of their control. Illness, mental health challenges and term-time holidays were found to be the most common causes for pupil absence among the participating schools, with missed lessons during absence emerging as amajor source of anxiety for pupils. For their part, staff cited limited support from external agencies, such as CAMHS, as being responsible for putting extra pressure on already stretched school teams, and believed that more consistent support from said agencies would help thembetter manage pupil needs, address the root causes of absence and ultimately improve attendance. TRENDING Our pick of the recent resources and launches teachers might find useful... ANIMALWELFARE The RSPCAhas teamed upwith Speakers for Schools to offer a free ‘VirtualWork Experience’ event for 14- to 19-year-olds. Taking place from23-25June, the event will see speakers from across the RSPCAdeliver a series of interactiveworkshops on topics ranging from‘The RoleOf An RSPCA Inspector’ to‘Jobs In ScienceAt The RSPCA (Animal Sentience)’. Sign upvia tinyurl.com/ts144-LL5 STEMCAREERS KNOW-HOW EngineeringUKhas produced a free resource for careers leaders containing advice on howto present the engineering and technology sector as an engaging and accessible career option.The seven-page ‘Advancing STEMcareers provision in schools’highlights a wide range of career opportunities and potential talking points, alongside details ofvarious external organisations able to offer further suggestions and support.Download the guide via tinyurl.com/ts144-LL6 Attendance policies Under the radar Got a great learning idea? Email editor@teachsecondary.com or tweet us at @teachsecondary TEACHER WALKTHROUGH ZEPH BENNETT IS A PE TEACHER AND SCHOOLACHIEVEMENT LEADERWITH 25 YEARS’ TEACHING EXPERIENCE; YOU CAN FINDMORE OF HIS EDUCATIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY FOLLOWING@ZEPHBENNETT.BSKY.SOCIAL 5WAYS TO REVIEWPRIOR LEARNING ZEPH BENNETT HIGHLIGHTS SOME EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR REVISITING CRUCIAL LESSON CONTENT 1 SOLVE FAMILIAR PROBLEMS Questions aimed at reviewing prior learning don’t have to be completely different each time; use problemsets comprising questions similar to previous lesson questions, so that students can recall similar answers to the same problems 2 PAIR SHARE Ask students to review their previous learning with their shoulder partner, using the ‘Think, Pair, Share’ method to engage retrieval and summarise key points fromthe last lesson 3 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Use low stakesmultiple choice questioning to identifyanymisconceptions and encourage student participation; try usingmini whiteboards as part of an all-class questioning activity 4 WRITE A PARAGRAPH A ctivate prior learning in students by getting themto write a paragraph about what they can remember fromthe previous lesson; students can then share their paragraphs with each other, or display themvia the visualiser for some live teacher feedback 5 QUIZZING Interactive quizzing fromthe likes of Kahoot can provide a fun and engaging way of reviewing previous learning in a low stakes, yet effective manner – useful for teachers when checking for understanding and pinpointing knowledge gaps 79 teachwire.net/secondary L E A R N I N G L A B