Lived experience
At the heart of the Making Attendance Everyone’s Business Project have been the stories of change that we have collected from children, young people and families that have previously been, or are, struggling with attendance at school or college. We sought to understand these lived experiences in several ways, with a kick-off event at Tuned In in May 2023. Here are some insights from that learning event:
Tuned in
Lived experience - How do we make attendance everyone’s business 230523
Personal stories of change
And then there were the (18) individual case studies we collected from young people and families in the Borough who had experienced persistent or severe absence in the past but had managed to positively turn that around. We wanted to understand how that had been possible and what could be learned from those experiences.
The key finding has been that those young people that become persistently or severely absent feel they don’t have anyone that listens to or understands them and their needs. Time is not there in the system and trust is something that for many young people, they lack in adults or institutions around them and in the settings that they live, grow up and learn in.
Many of the case studies revealed the importance of having a relational approach to enabling a child or young person to return to more stable and healthy attendance routines and whilst there was invariably a need for a trusted adult in the relationship approach, there was notably a team of people working together rather than against one another towards supporting and enabling that child / young person to choose to and want to be at school or college. There was never just one reason why a child becomes persistently or severely absent, if only it were that easy or linear, which is why academic literature also confirms that no single type of intervention will on its own guarantee or predictably result in improved, stable attendance behaviours, therefore Making Attendance truly has to be Everyone’s Business for this to work.
The stories of positive change had common denominators including child-centred solutions alongside whole family working. Here are just a few of the stories that have been consented to share with you.
Case studies
Case study 1: B’s story of change: from severely absent to vocal and making positive choices
Case study 2: J’s story of change: from permanent exclusion to more settled and improved attendance
Case study 3: L’s story of change: from anger to understanding
Case study 4: South Tees Youth Justice Lived Experience Case Study Findings
Case study 6: R’s story of change from isolated and anxious to settled, supported, and thriving
Do you want to collect your own case studies using our trauma informed conversation scripts?
If you work with children, young people or families that you know were persistently or severely absent but who have been able to make positive change, and would be willing to share their story, please get in touch and we can gladly send you the materials, guidance and trauma informed questions we have created for the Project to support this kind of activity. If yes, please don’t hesitate to contact:
Amanda Olvanhill, Head of Post-16 Progression and Caree , Education Service, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. T: 07870 158812 or Email: amanda.olvanhill@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk
This Project is funded by Anglo American and managed by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council
