Why FOMO could be key to boosting attendance

My mum was a meticulous planner, but I’m not sure whether it was by design or good fortune that all her children were born during the school holidays.

I do know that my brother, sister and I were most appreciative, and I have always empathised with those whose birthdays fall during term time, whether staff or students.

Nevertheless, I was surprised to read that children are up to 55 per cent more likely to miss school on their birthday than on any other school day.

This speaks to a growing view among both young people and their families that school is eminently “missable”, and that attending every day is no longer important.

Improving school attendance

The requirement for home education for the majority during the Covid years strengthened this attitude, but we faced issues with pupil attendance and parental investment in school well before the pandemic.

My colleague Paul Jenkins and I believe that for school to feel “unmissable” - to learners and their families - they need to feel five senses:

• A sense of purpose
• A sense of belonging
• A sense of success
• A sense of empowerment
• A sense of adventure.

During the research for our book Making School Unmissable, we collected examples of primary, secondary and special schools across the country where leaders and staff are intentionally developing these senses.

Avoiding boring curriculum delivery

Let’s look at “adventure”. It’s easy to see how the fun and excitement of school can get lost along the way. Confronted by a curriculum laden with an unmanageable volume of content, teachers feel an overwhelming pressure to crack on and “get through” the course/syllabus.

Delivered badly, a knowledge-heavy pedagogical approach can be didactic, formulaic and boring, focusing on imparting information at pace without the time to truly engage with the content. While recall and memorisation are undoubtedly important, they rarely inspire passion.

But in the bravest schools, staff don’t pass over chances to fill lessons with the unusual, the memorable, the exciting, the unexpected. They ensure that the school week is peppered with learning activities that pupils look forward to, and show families that school is not to be missed.

Leaders in these schools make sure that teachers plan rich learning schemes that will bring pupils’ studies alive, making them relevant and interesting.

They provide learning that cannot be experienced without being in - and part of - the school. They may well design new and horizon-expanding experiences that all learners will have participated in by a certain age.

The fear of missing out

At Waulud Primary School in Luton, for example, this includes stargazing, den building, digging for fossils, meeting an owl, watching an egg hatch and going on treasure hunts.

At Isaac Newton Academy in Ilford, when I was head, it included carrying out fieldwork in the local area, performing in front of a public audience, visiting museums, heritage sites and galleries, and leading a lesson starter or plenary.

Inclusive leaders also aim to make school fun for all learners (and staff). They appreciate that for those on the margins, who face vulnerability of one form or another, it is especially essential that school is more engaging than truanting, joining a gang or other dangerous distractions.

This means creating activities that the students will talk about for months or years after, and that will instil a fear of missing out if you’re not there to take part in them.

In researching the book, we found plenty of other examples of this: impromptu band performances, flash mobs, staff versus pupils snowball fights, and a school version of The Traitors.

At Great Bookham School in Surrey, one day each December, the staff surprise the pupils by coming into school in themed Christmas costumes. One year they were all dressed as elves; the next, reindeer; and another year, snowmen.

We also found schools that ensure that opportunities for learning and connection are found not only during traditional unstructured playtimes, but also through structured activities such as board games, LEGO play or computer games.

Adventure calls

What would it take for a child to prefer to attend school for the first part of their birthday rather than stay off (presumably without the company of their friends and key family members)?

Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch to envision children relishing their birthday falling on a school day, but it’s eminently realistic to strive to create the conditions whereby every school day contains some element of fun, adventure, play, creativity, excitement or spontaneity.

Rachel Macfarlane was director of education services at Herts for Learning (now HFL Education) from 2018 to 2023 and, before that, a headteacher for 16 years. She now works as a consultant, speaker and author. Her book, Making School Unmissable, co-authored with Paul Jenkins, is available now