Regular school attendance is vital, when it comes to empowering primary schools to do what they do best.
But whether it be due to unauthorised term-time holidays, children going missing from education, or unavoidable issues like illnesses, our nationwide attendance rates could be better. The Government’s latest absence and attendance figures, covering the full 2023/24 school year, show that the overall absence rate - the percentage of half-days missed for all pupils - sits at a lofty 7.1%, well above pre-pandemic figures. One in five pupils were also ‘persistently absent’, meaning they missed at least 10% of these half-day sessions.
A recent Department for Education report has highlighted just how disruptive these absences can be to a young person’s education, even during their early schooling. It found that pupils who attended class nearly every day in Year 6 were 1.3 times more likely to meet the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths compared to pupils who only attended 90-95% of the time. This means missing just 10 days of school cuts their chances by around 25%.
With more than 140 primary schools in the Liverpool City Council area alone, we’ve taken a look at how they fared when it came to pupils missing class for any reason over the last school year. We’ve used this data to create a league table celebrating the local schools that kept their absence rates at 4% or lower - a fantastic achievement for any school community.
Here are the 13 that made the cut:
5. The Beacon Church of England Primary School
The Beacon is an Anglican primary academy in the Everton area. Another above average academic performer, it has about 497 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.8%. | Google
6. Booker Avenue Infant School
This is a local authority-maintained infant school in the Allerton area, which takes pupils from the ages of 4 to 7. It has a roll size of about 271. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had an overall absence rate of 3.8%. | Google
7. Booker Avenue Junior School
Like its counterpart, this is a local authority-maintained school in the Allerton area. As a junior school, it takes pupils from the ages of 7 to 11, and has a roll size of about 411. Its Year 6 pupils boast an above average academic performance. In the 2023/24 school year, it again had an overall absence rate of 3.8%. | Google
8. Childwall Church of England Primary School
As its name might suggest, this is a local authority-maintained Anglican primary school in the Childwall area. It has about 423 pupils, with an above average amount of them meeting Government reading, writing, and maths standards. In the 2023/24 school year, it also had an overall absence rate of 3.8%. | Google