Cork schools to take part in pilot scheme to tackle absenteeism

Six Cork schools are taking part in a pilot programme to tackle issues of absenteeism, as secondary school attendance is decreasing every year and primary school attendance has still not returned to post-covid figures.

Education minister Helen McEntee explained that a range of measures to tackle school absenteeism were introduced in May of this year.

“Regular attendance in school is essential, not just for academic achievement, but for wellbeing, social development, and long-term life outcomes,” Ms McEntee said.

It comes as The Echo recently revealed that more than a fifth of all Cork secondary school students missed at least 20 days of school in 2023-24, which is double pre-covid rates, according to Tusla data.

While primary school absence rates have decreased from the highs seen during the pandemic, absences in the county’s secondary schools have increased every year since 2019.

Ms McEntee highlighted that the Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) has developed a five-year plan (2023-2028) to improve school attendance nationally.

Initiatives in the programme include improved data collection and analysis, expansion of the Anseo framework to all schools over the next three years, research and policy development, attendance initiatives, and the continued development of the service delivery of the three TESS strands.

Anseo is a school-level support, providing an actionable attendance tool for schools, using a three-tiered model.

Schools can identify patterns of absenteeism at the student, class, and whole-school level and develop nuanced and timely responses to drivers of school absenteeism.

The Anseo model was trialed in four schools during the 2023/24 school year and it is now being extended to 60 additional schools from the start of the current school year.

The Anseo team will support schools in recognising the value of using attendance data to implement effective, whole-school strategies to help improve student attendance.

There are six schools in Co Cork participating in this phase, and the aim is to roll the framework out to all schools by 2028.

Additionally, a multimedia campaign was launched nationally towards the end of September, highlighting the benefits for children of daily attendance at school and signposting supports for families who may be experiencing school attendance problems.