Even a small reduction in absence has been shown to improve pupil’s educational achievements and, in turn, their lives and prospects. The good news is that last year our performance for attendance and exclusion rates was better than the national average.
Maria Plant, Inclusion Coordinator in Schools & Community Services, tells us more about the recent findings on performance in our schools.
Attendance in our schools continues to improve, in particular in the secondary sector.
The number of exclusion incidents across the city also showed an improvement and has decreased from 1546 in 2010/11 to 1151 in 2012/13.
A recent document from the Scottish Government indicates that during the period 2010/11 to 2012/13 the overall attendance in Edinburgh increased:
- in primary schools from 94.5 to 94.9%
- in secondary schools from 91.0 to 92.5%
- in special schools from 90.1 to 91.7%.
For the same period the incident rate of exclusion per 1000 pupils decreased:
- in primary schools from 13 to 9
- in secondary schools from 55 to 43
This continuing progress has been made through:
- schools clearly communicating their policy on ‘better relationships, better behaviour, better learning’
- the collection and regular analysis of reliable attendance and exclusion data
- resourcing and managing an alternative curriculum when appropriate.
The support of the Education Welfare Service – in partnership with parents/guardians and other agencies – is also essential to our continuing improvement.
Thank you everyone for the hard work and commitment.
