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DESCRIPTION
Evaluation of Getting it right in the morningTRANSCRIPT
Getting It Right in the Morning
Lambeth: December 2011 - April 2012
Share Think and Act cic. 161-163 Deptford High Street. London SE8 3NU
Table of Contents
Introduction! 2
Outreach! 4
Parents and Guardians! 8
Teachers and schools! 11
Intervention Volunteers ! 12
The Young People! 15
..............................................................................................................Conclusion! 19
................................................................................................Future developments! 20
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU. !1
Introduction
For many years concerns have been raised by, governments, schools and education
authorities about pupils who do not attend school regularly, who have difficulty getting to
school on time and who may have parents who at a minimum had some collusion with their
child’s truancy.
‘Getting It Right in the Morning’ Project, developed by ‘Share Think and Act’ in collaboration
with Goldsmiths College’s ‘Turning Point Education Training Consultancy. The project
based around a range partnerships, was designed to deliver a cost-effective and non-
confrontational way to improve poor school attendance, by supporting pupils and their
families and to work in conjunction with schools and LEA. Its aims were to develop a reliable
means of improving the attendance of students considered chronic truants, thereby directly
raising their attainment at school. The intervention project is: solution focus, pupil centered,
based on contractual agreement as pupils and parents agree action plan. A number of
different techniques were utilised to motivate, rekindle, and support an interest in regular
school attendance.
The Project method requires: that each pupil is allocated a dedicated worker; who is then in
daily contact and whose actions is based on contractual agreement. The intervention
Volunteers report daily & have weekly supervision.
The Project requires that Schools refer suitable pupils and in turn SHA seek agreement of
parents / pupils for their involvement. Pupils, parents & workers attend all day contracting
event at venue suitable for group bonding. Pupil, parent and volunteer sign a binding contract
on attendance action plan that specifies key steps to improve attendance within a supportive
structure.
Project evaluation involved data collected from schools on attendance, parent’s perception,
and assessment of intervention volunteers. School attendance data was the baseline for
judging project’s success and these were taken directly from school registers as provided by
the lead teacher from each school.
Students evaluated the project in response to questionnaires and telephone interviews
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The Project Manager wrote a report on each pupil that took part in the scheme, using
information from the initial meeting at home and information gathered throughout the
project’s active phase from all participants.
Parents, guardians and key school staff completed questionnaires and participated in
telephone interviews undertaken by an independent researcher engaged by Share Think and
Act.
Comments from intervention Volunteers were collected from a self-evaluation form
completed at the final supervision session of the project.
The intervention Volunteers completed a review of their relationship with each student and
their parent/ guardian at the final group supervision session.
Intervention Volunteers self-reported on the programme impact for them, personally and
professionally.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU 3
Outreach
There are two main elements of the outreach for the Getting it Right in the Morning
Programme. Home visits and the Away day.
Home Visits
There were 37 pupils refered to the programme across the four schools. The parents of pupils
were sent letters by the school briefly introducing the project and informed that a member of
the project team would contact them by telephone to make appoints for home visits.
25 pupils/parents were successfully contacted and visited by project staff. Of the 12 pupils
not successfully contacted the over riding reason was that the mobile telephone numbers
provided were no longer working or not answered.
Each Home visit lasted about one hour. The purpose of the visit was to:
1. explain the programme to the pupil / parent
2. seek agreement for them to attend the away day event
3. Identify the strengths, hopes and aspirations of the young person.
At the end of each visit the attendees were invited to sign a copy of the formal record of the
meeting. The record completed by the outreach worker during the meeting has four
elements. Who was in attendance. This included every one that took part in the discussion,
sometimes including other siblings, aunts and uncles etc. List of things discussed , decisions
made and the ideas that the young person has for their future and a signed agreement to
attend the away day that launched the intervention stage of the programme.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Interesting to note from these meetings is that with encouragement all except one of the
young people was able to identify what they wanted to do after the career at school had ended
but only two were able to identify a route to their ultimate goal. For example one year ten girl
who said that she wanted to be a vet. When asked how someone became a vet she looked
blankly at her mother until they both said they did not know. Another example was another
year ten student who believed that the educational step following his GCSE s would be
university.
The elicitation of the young peoples aspirations at this point in the project was critical as the
positive methodology of the programme is not built on past failure to attend school but on the
future outcome of 100 percent attendance.
This aspect of the methodology was also key to the engagement of parents who were relieved
that we were not there to in the words of one parent ‘give them a hard time’ . Many parents
were pleased with the aspirations of their children, though there were attempts by parents to
help their children be ‘realistic’ in their aspirations. This often meant reducing the aspirations
of the young person.
Away Day
The Away Day to Hindleap warren Activities Centre took place on january 21st. It was
attended by the project management team, all intervention workers and 15 of the twenty five
young people who had agreed to attend.
The young people who were not at the bus at the appointed time were contacted by telephone
on the morning. There were a variety of reasons given for not attending including “We just
woke up’, ‘We forgot’ and the child and /or parent was not feeling good that day. One parent
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Example of completed meeting record
who was ready to leave her house but was unable to get her child out of bed was assisted by the
project team, a member of which attended the home on the morning to motivate the child.
This child went on to achieve an 40 percent increase in their attendance during the life of the
programme.
The programme for the day included a mixture of physical challenges and contracting. The
physical challenges, designed to allow the parent and child team to experience achieving
success together included two high ropes exercises. The programme was reduced as a result
of leaving Lambeth late in the morning.
The contracting element of the Away Day
involved the young person identifying three
actions that needed to be taken by themselves,
their parent and the intervention worker to
assist them in achieving 100 percent
attendance. Intervention workers worked with
the young people to ensure that each contract
elements was SMART ( simple,measurable,
achievable, realistic and timed). Parents were invited to comment on contract elements before
they signed their agreement to carry out the tasks specified. Young people were then matched
with an intervention volunteer with whom they worked till the end of the programme.
Pupils Parents Intervention Volunteers
I will go to bed and not answer my
mobile after 11 pm
Wake the pupil up by 7.30am Meet pupil at their house at 8am and
walk with them to the train station
I will wake up and be ready for school
by 7.30 am
Have breakfast with the pupil at 8am Phone at 7am to wake the pupil up
I will prepare my uniform for the next
day before I go to bed
Prepare the pupils school clothes Call in the evening between 6pm and
6.30pm to discuss the school day
Buy school shoes for the pupil that are
in line with the school requirements
Those young people who had agreed to attend the Away Day but who did not turn-up were
visited. Their contracts were developed and agreed and they were paired with an intervention
worker.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
LessonsThat mobile numbers change often and are not a reliable way to maintain contact with parents
That many young people are not aware of the relationship between their school life and their
future goals
That parents demotivated their children when asking them to ‘be realistic’
That the time between the outreach visit and the Away Day should be kept to a minimum
Building on the young people’s aspirations was an effective model to engage parents
The parents responded well to the positive model of the work and were prepared to ‘start a
new’ in their relationship with the programme.
Parents and Guardians
Parents and guardians had a critical role in the programme. Whilst young people identified
what they needed to get back to school it was ultimately the responsibility of parents and
guardians to ensure that the contract was adhered to. The programme attempted to engage
parents at a number of levels depending on their contract adherence. for those parents who
adhered to the contract and who's children adhered to the contract the relationship was left
between the intervention volunteer and the parent, with the intervention providing motivation
by congratulating the parent on their success. Parents who were not adhering to the contract
but who had children who on the whole adhered to the contract had very little or no
interaction with the scheme so that energy could be anchored on providing the pupil with
additional prizing for their success at getting themselves into school and so that those
successful behaviours could be reinforced. parents who did not adhere and who’s children
were not adhering were the group who received the greatest amount of additional
intervention.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Case 1
Case 1 represents a year 9 student who lives with her mother older sister and older brother. During the
intervention there was uncertainty as to weather a step father lived in the family home or not. The initial
contract for this pupil was that the intervention worker would meet her at home at 8am and walk with her to
the train station. He would also call her three evenings per week to discuss how school was going. The mother
agreed to wake up the pupil at 7.15 and to ensure that there was breakfast in the house. The pupil agreed to go
to bed before 11pm and to wake up when called by her mum. After the first week of intervention the adherence
to contract was weak and it was decided that there should be a directors visit to the family home to re state the
contract and iron out difficulties. This was followed by six visits over the life of the programme. At each visit
the contract was refined and the focus moved away from the young person to the ability of the parent to carry
out their agreed elements. The final contract for this child involved the parent receiving a wake up call at 7am
and the project manager staying with her on the phone whilst she woke her daughter. Then calling her back
at each stage to congratulate her on the last whilst preparing her for the next stage. The parent in this case
was rewarded with a paid visit to her local gym for the efforts she had made in getting her daughter to school.
This pupil increased their attendance by over 30 percent in the life of the programme. Whilst both mum and
the child found adherence very difficult there was a real commitment from them both to learn the new skills
necessary for success.
The data collected from the parents’ questionnaire strongly suggests that they found the
programme supportive. The responses also suggests that from a parent’s perspective the
young people made some very real changes as a result of their contact with the project.
Case 2
Case 2 represents a year 9 student who lives with her mother, step father, and three younger siblings. The
pupil attended the away day with her step father . She was very confident and clearly enjoyed the experience.
The contract agreement included these elements child would wake up by seven each day and be ready fro
school by 7.45. The child would go to school unless she was very ill. The parent would wake the child at
7am . The parent would share breakfast with the child. The parent would encourage the child to attend
school. The intervention worker would call the child at 7.30am each morning and would call the child three
evenings per week to talk about school and how it is going.
In the initial weeks 2 of the programme it appeared that the contract was being adhered to by the child and
the parent. after the second week it became more and more difficult for the intervention volunteer to speak
with the child . The step father would answer the phone and give reasons for the child not being available. It
then escalated to the step father displaying anger towards the intervention worker when she called. There
followed two meetings between the family and the project management team. On one occasion the step father
deliberately seated each person to ensure that he was the only person in the meeting within eye shot of the
project managers. When this was pointed out it was made clear that this was the seating arrangement that
was acceptable. During these meetings it was made clear to workers that the step father was in charge of the
family and would not accept anyone telling him if and when the children should or should not go to school.
On two occasions during the meeting the pupil said that she thought that she would be able to go to school .
she too was reminded that the decision was in the hands of her step father. The attendance of this child
marginally reduced during the intervention.
Case 3
Case 2 represents a year 10 student who lives with her mother, two younger siblings. The pupil attended the
away day with her mother . It was decided in supervision that a managers visit would be useful for the
family after a four day absence from school . The focus of the visit was to strengthen the mothers ability to
enforce rules in her home. This was the second managers visit to the home. In the first week the pupil
requested a manager to attend a meeting with her mum where she would explain some difficulties that she
was having at school. She had concerns about her mothers reaction to hearing what she (the pupil) needed to
say. After the second meeting the pupil only missed one day in the next five weeks. the parent later remarked
that the real learning of the scheme was hers.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Some 92 percent of parents polled agreed that the scheme was beneficial to their child. They
identified a range of behaviour that had changed during the course of the scheme such as
going to bed earlier and waking up on time. Some parents also indicated that issues between
them and their child had improved, such as one parent who said that ‘trust’ between her and
her child were more resolved. This is supported by parents’ responses to the question “ Did
you notice behavioral changes during the scheme?” A parent answered that his/her child was
“less rude”. A key aspect of the work was to ensure that young people were not just changing
behaviour but were developing positive relationships with learning /education so that the
changes could be long lasting. Parents identified attitudinal changes in their children such as
willingness to go to school, children looking forward to school and with them thinking about
actions/consequences and the future more realistically.
The overall satisfaction with the scheme from parents was 42 percent very satisfied, 42
percent satisfied, 8 percent neither satisfied or unsatisfied, 8 percent unsatisfied and 0
percent very unsatisfied
LessonsAdditional intervention with parents who were open to learning made a huge difference to their child's
attendance
That additional intervention with parents who were not open to learning resulted in no improvement in
child's attendance
That motivated pupils were able to improve their attendance as long as parents did not undermine their
attempts.
The intervention had be impact on the parent child relationship , encouraging them to deal with other latent
issues.
Parents overall worked well in the scheme environment which they identified as supportive
8%8% 42%
42%
Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Teachers and schools
The initial design of the scheme purposefully created a demarcation space between the
scheme and each school. It was felt that this distinctiveness would engender a new
relationship to be created between the scheme and the family that was not part of the past
relationship between the school and the family.
Teachers identified the lack of interaction between the school and the scheme as one of the
scheme’s weaknesses. They would have liked to have had regular updates on the scheme
interactions with students and families. Two teachers noted that they had each had a parent
that found the scheme intrusive or prickly at first.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Intervention Volunteers
Intervention volunteers were recruited and trained before the start of the scheme. They were
all CRB checked at an enhanced level, and references were taken up.
The intervention volunteers training workshops included the following topics:
•Solution Focus Therapy training
•Professional ethics and its application to practice
•Understanding diversity – working with pupils from different cultures
•School policies and procedures including legal matters
•Understanding and agreeing personal contracts
•How to devise and set SMART objectives
•Using learning supervision
All intervention workers attended weekly group supervision sessions . Volunteers completed
weekly report sheets for each young person. The weekly report was aimed at keeping a record
of the development of each child and parent, Using scaled and miracle questions it also
reinforced the methodology the workers were expected to use in their interventions with
young people. Intervention Volunteers were also to access the project manager for one to one
supervision as and when needed.
Intervention volunteers found that the initial training was useful for their work throughout the
scheme and that it provided them with enough understandings how to function effectively. In
the final evaluation session, intervention volunteers called for some additional sessions on the
Brief Therapy Model. They felt that this should take place in the fifth week of the intervention.
During the scheme’s operation, great importance was placed on the weekly group supervision
for intervention volunteers. They felt that this was a well-used learning space to which they
could bring issues or problems. Two volunteers also identified the sessions as space for
improving their intervention skills and where they were able to cross-fertilise ideas.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
The number of student allotted to each volunteer was determined by the availability of the
volunteer and the needs of the young person. There was a range of demands from the young
people on volunteers ranging from young people who needed to be woken in the morning by
telephone to young people who were met at home in the morning and walked to school.Other
demands were evening telephone contact. Most of the young people also met with their
intervention volunteer on a social occasion to celebrate the young person moving forward on
their goal to achieve 100 percent of school.
One of the aim of the project was that the intervention workers got some real benefit from in
addition to their certificates in Brief Therapy and the gift of giving. The intervention workers
suggested that the programme and its contents helped in their external lives in the following
ways.
•Two Intervention Volunteers got part time work as a direct result of their work on the
scheme.
•One Intervention Worker was offered and took up the offer of a certificated course in
Brief / Solution focused practice.
•One Intervention worker used the scheme as his placement for a college course in social
work
•One Intervention Volunteer is now volunteering in an after school club on her estate.
As well as these hard outcomes Intervention Volunteers talked about using the methodology
with their own families and the pride and confidence they gained from being involved in the
project.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
• The supervision for me was like our weekly training and it was helpful because it was a time to discuss with the group and share any difficulty that one was having with one young people with everyone chipping in with their own ideas. We were able to help each other on how to resolve whatever problems that one was facing. The supervision wasn't always serious but also fun at times and it was for me also quality time which enable me to get to know better fellow volunteers
• I found supervision very useful, As issues arose regarding individual young people and there families it was informative to learn how to deal with the situation, sharing information and reflecting on wether i was correctly using brief therapy methodology.
Intervention Volunteer profile
Volunteer 1 is a 21 year old male , he was recruited through his contact with another Share Think and Act
programme. He is currently doing a part time college course with the hope of going to university in 2013. He
got involved in the project because ‘he was bored at home all day’ . He had followed up his interest in the
methodology by taking up a place on a part time certificated course in Brief/Solution focused practice.
Intervention Volunteer profile
Volunteer 2 is 48 years old. She has three children and is now a ‘stay at home parent’ having worked in
banking in the City of London. She volunteered in the scheme because her children are young adults and
need her less. She wanted to contribute to her community. She says the she has used the experience of the
programme to develop a better understanding of her own children. She also now uses the positive model to
deal with conflict with her own family .
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
The Young People
As with many schemes this programme had aspects of success with all of the young people. On
the key success measurement, did the young people increase their overall school attendance?
We report here on 19 pupils of which 16 stayed with the programme consistently for more
than seven weeks. Two pupils were withdrawn from the programme by their schools after five
weeks because they were taken into local authority care. One pupil moved from living with her
mother to moving in with her father and the language problems with two siblings proved to be
insurmountable with the children interpreting for parents who spoke no English
Pupil M/F Year Ethnicity
percentage attendance
@ beginning
percentage attendance Duri
ng
Issues and comments
1 F 10 White and Black Caribbean
67 69 Child 1 was enrolled onto the scheme after not attending the Away Day. Intervention Volunteer had difficulty contacting Child 1’s on her home or mobile numbers for prolonged periods of time, father often excused her from school when mildly ‘ill’ . father was surprised at an attendance meeting by his daughters attendance levels. Child 1 stating that she has been going to school and college when she was not attending. Child 1 father did not work well with the scheme seemingly believing that any challenge to his daughter would have a negative impact on their relationship.
2 F 11 European
88 90 Child 2 received very little help from parents who did no adhere to their contracts. Child 2 maintained good contact with her intervention worker and on three occasions she called her intervention volunteer outside of agreed contact to discuss school issues.
3 M 8 White and Black Caribbean
80 91.5 Child 3‘s own commitment to honor his part of the contract to go to school even when he was not feeling too well. His attendance and punctuality have improved, with him missing only one day of school during the last five weeks of the programme; he shared that he looked forward to attending school, pleased about avoiding detention and his achievement of getting a good school report. All of this has appeared to have increased his attitude to learning and comment from his teacher who told him that his attitude to learning has changed in positive way.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Pupil M/F Year Ethnicity
percentage attendance
@ beginning
percentage attendance Duri
ng
Issues and comments
4 F 11 WHITE
85 92 Child 4 mother ensured that he was up and was ready for school each school day morning. Child 4’s also showed commitment to honor his part of the contract to go to school on time each day. Intervention Volunteer supported Child 4 to attend exam clinics and to take exams. Child 4 described himself at the start of being “lazy” and that he never did any homework and his school record showed he’d missed exams. Since then Child 4 has shown his motivation to take his GCSE’s by attending a maths clinic, showing up for exams and re-sits.
5 F BlackBritish
42 71.5 Both Child 5 and her mother found it very hard being on the programme as well as very difficult to comply with the contract agreed. The contract with this child was fluid. At times there were multiple contracts in place with mum having her own contract including a series of wake up calls and daily encouragement for mum in managing the mornings. There were seven home visits to this family over the life of the project with mother being coached through the mornings over the phone for ten days. this involved several phone calls to mum each morning between 7am and 8.30 am helping her to identify the next step needed whilst congratulating her on achieving the last. The family were very open to learning on the project but had a very difficult starting point.
child 6 M 11 BlackBritish
93 93 Child 6 spent much of his time working with his intervention volunteer around the theme of ‘enabling and disabling circles’ . This young man was seeking ways of maintaining his relations with a group of friends who were not assisting him to move forward in his goals. The family was very supportive of this pupil . they were keen to challenge him on his choice of friendships.
child 7 F 8 European
89 100 Child 7’s showed commitment to honor her part of the contract to attend school and arrive on time each day. Her attendance and punctuality has improved with her becoming more independent and taking more responsibility for her attendance; at the beginning she was not always ready for school when Intervention Volunteer called. This changed to Child 7 not only being ready for school but on occasion leaving before the call.
child 8 F 9 92 93 Child 8 has received effective support from her mother who ensured that she was up and was ready for school each school day morning. Intervention Volunteers worked initially with this family to assist in the design of a morning schedule which allowed this child to be more independent whilst enabling mum to focus on the much younger siblings. This break has meant that Child 8 has greatly improved her lateness .
child 9 F 7 white 64 60 Child 9’s mother and stepfather found it very hard to comply with the contract. The stepfather appeared to resist and find Intervention being offered as intrusive with nothing being wrong or no support needed to address attendance There was no improvements in her attendance during the programme, with illness often given for Child 9’s non attendance to school. There were six home visits to this home over the course of the intervention
child 10
F 8 white 85 86.6 Child 10,began the programme shy, fragile and lacking in confidence, she now appears as a happy, bubbly, confident in her own ability at school - she was awarded 6A for her end of term assessments; is more determined to go to school every day; keen to fulfill her academic potential and get to college and uni when she leaves school and sees that getting to school every day is key to achieving. the intervention worker spent much of her time focused on mum exploring different ways in which mum could manage her daughters regular mild illnesses.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Pupil M/F Year Ethnicity
percentage attendance
@ beginning
percentage attendance Duri
ng
Issues and comments
child 11
M 8 white 82 80 From the outset Child 11’s mother exhibited a need to discuss a range of family issues some of which were not directly linked to Child 11. Mother had great concerns for Child 11’s older sibling who attends an out of borough school as has been self-harming. It was often difficult to have a focused conversation with an identifiable thread with mother.It was decided in the final two weeks of the programme that the Intervention contract should include meeting Child 11 at 8am and walking with him to school. This enabled him to attain 100% attendance during week beginning 19 and 23 March 2092. During this period the Intervention Volunteer identified that he was able to talk freely with Child 11 about Child 11 own aspirations to work on computer graphics. Our overall impression was that Child 11 is a quiet and able child some focus work with his mother could help to separate the strands and enable her to deal with issues more effectively. Mum was very open to her involvement in the scheme.
child 12
F 9 Black British
85 84.5 The scheme opened with this pupil requesting a a mediation session with her mother. The young person wanted to inform her mum about some school issues but didn't feel confident in her mums response. There was then a series of four family visits during which the family explored and came to terms with their requirements from each other. After a four day medical absence from school there was another family meeting. This young person achieved 100 percent of school for the last five weeks of the programme. During a pre arranged attendance meeting at the school ,teachers acknowledged this child's re engagement with her education and congratulated her on the improvement in her attendance, her behaviour and her attitude to education.
Child 13
F 7 European
84 100 This pupil and her mother worked hard on the programme. Their intervention volunteer maintained a high level of contact with the mother, re enforcing her success with acknowledgment and praise.
child 14
F 11 79 81
child 15
F 11 European
60 46 There were a series of four home visits to this family home before contracting. This child lives with her mother who disclosed difficulty in maintaining contact with the child who was absent from home for days. In order to carry out the initial interview an arrangement was made that the project manager could be called by the mother at any time when the young person came home. After the contracting interview took place a intervention volunteer was allocated. Whilst good contact was maintained with the mother and grandmother there was no effective contact made with the child who continued to stay away from home with her boyfriend. In the closing phase of the scheme mother decided to withdraw this child from school and return her to her country of origin.
child 16
F 11 European
81 83 Child 16 came to the scheme in the midst of a very unstable existence. She had been staying away from home and had been excluded from school . The project had difficulty in setting an appointment time that both the child and mother were able to attend. It was decided that the contracting meeting should take place with the child and her aunt. Child 16 maintained good contact with her intervention volunteer . She shared extensively about the difficulties she was experiencing . We were not able to meet with mother for the duration of the programme who was busy working. Unfortunately after great effort to get child 16 back to school regularly , school excluded her for behaviour issues.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
The attendance data indicates that 69% of pupils on the scheme increased their attendance
during the scheme.
The pupils can be viewed via three groups.
Group A. 42 percent increased their attendance by more than 5 percent including one young
person who improved more than 30 percent.
Group B. 22 percent of students increased their attendance up to five percent
Group C. (need percentage for these four) four students did not increase their attendance
during the scheme this includes one student who attended 96.5 percent other than a block of
four days medical absence confirmed by a doctors fax to the school and one child who was
withdrawn from the school and returned to her country of origin.
Lessons
0
17.5
35
52.5
70
Increased Attendance No increase
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Conclusion
Whilst the young people were the focus of the intervention , setting the pace of change with
their decisions about the elements of the contract. The experience of the work underscores
the importance of the family approach. In three cases the programme had to coach parents in
order that they developed the skills necessary to manage their children’s school attendance.
Through this systemic family approach to the work it is clear from the results of the parents
questionnaire that the impact of the work went beyond attendance to a shift in relationship
between the parent and the child. This is evidenced by parents claiming that their children
were less rude, or that trust issues had been resolved. This point is further underpinned by the
child who asked for a family meeting at the beginning of the scheme to resolve a family issue
that was having an impact on her schooling. By the same stance the programme failed to have
an impact on the attendance of those children where parents resisted any change in the family
systems. Whilst the programme did manage to enroll and get into a useful relationship with
two parents in this group the short length of the intervention meant that there was not the
time to nurture these relationships to a point where defensive barriers were released.
Lead teachers shared their wish to have more interaction and information from the scheme.
The intervention volunteers felt that the scheme was a good experience with members of the
group finding work as a direct result of the scheme, with others and going on to further
training in Brief / Solution focused therapy.
Pupils increased their attendance and fealt supported in the process of change.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU
Future developments
Following on from the lessons of this programme Share Think and Act cic intend that future
programmes should
Be based in a single school at a time
This will enable the development of a stronger relationship between the programme and the
school and facilitate better sharing of information.
Recruit volunteers for a school.
Volunteers recruited for a particular school can continue to work with the school after the
programme ends. This would leave the school with a trained and experienced team. Share
Think and Act cic can offer assistance with the ongoing supervision and management of the
team as and if required.
Share Think and Act community interest company. 161-163 Deptford High Street SE8 3NU