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:
9. Woolton Primary School
This is a local authority- maintained primary in the Woolton area, an academic high achiever with a roll size of about 660. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.8%. | Google
10. Faith Primary Academy
Faith is an ecumenical primary academy in the Everton area, with about 200 pupils. It also boasts an above average proportion of pupils meeting Government targets. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.9%. | Google
11. Sudley Primary School
Sudley is a local authority-maintained primary in the Aigburth area. It has about 824 pupils, and a considerably higher-than-average academic performance. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had an overall absence rate of 3.9%. | Google
12. Rudston Primary School
This is a local authority-maintained primary school, in the Childwall area. It has a roll size of about 463 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 4%. | Google