Back Through the Door: Improving School Attendance Staff Toolkit

Persistent or repeated absence is rarely resolved by asking the same questions more firmly. Back Through the Door helps secondary school staff explore what is making attendance difficult, identify the conditions that could make school more manageable and translate those insights into realistic adult action.

Designed around professional curiosity and pupil voice, this practical toolkit supports sensitive, purposeful conversations without turning them into an interrogation. Staff can select the prompts most appropriate to the pupil rather than following a fixed script.

The toolkit includes:

• A detailed two-part question bank for exploring patterns, barriers, safety, belonging and protective factors
• Prompts for identifying the smallest realistic next step
• Questions to clarify what adults need to change, provide, investigate or stop doing
• Guidance for preparing for setbacks and reviewing whether agreed support has actually happened
• A school-controlled response menu covering arrival, learning, relationships, sensory needs, unstructured times, communication, safety and sanctions
• A wider and joined-up support menu covering health, emotional wellbeing, SEND, transport, family circumstances and prolonged medical absence
• Important reminders about false agreement, staff capacity and avoiding promises that cannot be delivered

Ideal for:

• Attendance and pastoral teams
• Heads of year and form tutors
• Designated safeguarding leads
• SENCOs and inclusion staff
• Family-support and early-help practitioners
• Reintegration and return-to-school meetings
• One-to-one conversations following emerging, persistent or prolonged absence

Suitable for printing or keeping available as a staff reference, the toolkit can be used during an initial conversation, when reviewing an existing plan or when current support is not producing meaningful change.