Good attendance can lead to good outcomes, even for a school’s very youngest pupils.
A recent Department for Education report found that pupils who attended school 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%.
But nationwide, England’s attendance rates leave a lot to be desired. 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 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.
We’ve taken a look at how schools across Tyne and Wear, including the North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Newcastle, Sunderland, and Gateshead council areas, did last year when it came to their pupils missing class for any reason. Using this data, we have created a league table for parents, featuring the county’s state-funded schools - including infant and junior schools - with the lowest absence rates.
Here were the schools that came out on top:
1. South Gosforth First School
At the top of the list is this local authority-maintained first school in Newcastle, which takes pupils from age 3 to 9. It has about 329 pupils, although performance data isn’t available as it is measured in Year 6. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a low overall absence rate of just 2.9%. | Google
2. Kells Lane Primary School
Kells Lane is a local authority-maintained primary school in Gateshead. It has a roll size of 451, and an above average proportion of its pupils meeting the Government’s expected standards in reading, writing and maths. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.1%. | Google
3. St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Low Fell
St Peter’s is a Catholic primary academy in Low Fell, Gateshead, with about 213 pupils. It too boasted a higher-than-average proportion of them meeting expected standards in key school skills. In the 2023/24 school year, it also had an overall absence rate of 3.1%. | Google
4. Archibald First School
Another local authority-maintained first school in Newcastle, Archibald is also for pupils aged 3 to 9. It has a roll size of about 334. In the 2023/24 school year, it had an overall absence rate of 3.2%. | Google