School Attendance
Most pupils go to school every day and enjoy it, however some children do experience difficulties in attending school for a variety of reasons. It is vital that parents and carers ensure their child's regular attendance at school and it is also their legal duty to ensure their child's regular and puntual attendance at school and it is their legal duty to do so.
Every school has a link Education and Welfare Officer (EWO) employed by the relevant Education and Library Board whose aim is to reduce unnecessary absences from school by offering support and help to pupils, parents and schools. A school will make a referral to Education Welfare Service when pupils' attendance is a cause for concern or when attendance drops below 85%.
The EWO can suggest things that parents can do to help improve matters, can offer to go to the school with parents to talk to the staff about any problems and what needs done or can attend the school on their behalf to try and find answers to their child's problems. The EWO can put parents in touch with other agencies that may be able to offer further advice and help. If the problem is of a practical nature, the EWO can also offer advice about free school meals, uniform grants and transport to school.
You can obtain more information about non-attendance at the Education Support website.
Since September 2006, a new standarised system of recording absences has been used in schools, following an update of the attendance module of the Classroom 2000 (C2K) system. This enables schools to record pupils' absences, the reasons for the absence and whether the absence is authorised or unauthorised. This new data was collected in the last School Census exercise which began in October 2008 and will be used to inform the setting of targets on pupil attendance. Once targets have been developed, the Department will issue guidance to schools on how best to promote regular attendance and on approaches to early effective intervention.
Circular 2006/14 School attendance Absence Recording by Schools PDF 192KB
This Circular advises schools of changes to the C2K Attendance Module pupils' absence codes which are being introduced from 1 September 2006.
The Department of Education collects statistics on pupils referred by schools to the Education and Library Boards' Education Welfare Service because of concerns about attendance. The statistics are provided by the Education and Library Boards on an annual basis.
Non-Attendance Statistics 2002/03 PDF 14.3 KB
The statistics provide information about pupil attendance for the 2002/03 school year. The information is provided by the Education and Library Boards.
Non-Attendance Statistics 2003/04 PDF 14.6 KB
The statistics provide information about pupil attendance for the 2003/04 school year. The information is provided by the Education and Library Boards
Non-Attendance Statistics 2004/05 PDF 12.6 KB.
The statistics provide information about pupil attendance for the 2004/05 school year. The information is provided by the Education and Library Boards
Non-Attendance Statistics 2005/06 PDF 25 KB
The statistics provide information about pupil attendance for the 2005/06 school year. The information is provided by the Education and Library Baords
Non-Attendance Statistics 2006/07 PDF 122KB
The statistics provide information about pupil attendance for the 2006/07 school year..The information is provided by the Education and Library Boards
Non-Attendance Statistics 2007/08 PDF 21.1KB
The statistics provide information about pupil attendance for the 2007/08 school year. The information is provided by the Education and Library Boards.
Non-Attendance Statistics 2008/09 PDF 12.7KB
The statistics provide information about pupil attendance for the 2008/09 school year. The information is provided by the Education and Library Boards.
Detailed statistics on all pupil absences, including the reason for the absence and whether it was authorised or unauthorised by the school, will be available in the spring of 2009. An outline of the initial findings is available at: Attendance at Grant-Aided Primary, Post-Primary and Special Schools 2007/08: Summary Statistics
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