Ministers are being urged to introduce a new “enrichment guarantee” of a minimum of at least 80 hours of extracurricular activities a year for pupils, to help boost attendance.
A report published today by the Centre for Young Lives think tank highlights how activities such as sports, arts clubs, volunteering, social action and adventures away from home can encourage pupils at risk of missing school to attend.
It says creating a guarantee would “send an important policy signal that enrichment is considered a core entitlement for all young people and should be an integral part of their education”.
Some ‘already using enrichment to promote attendance’
The report also calls on schools to establish strong links with local enrichment providers to enhance and open up school grounds and facilities outside school hours. It also says that all teachers should be encouraged to participate in or lead at least one enrichment activity per term.
And it suggests the government should introduce an enrichment premium to create a long-term funding stream for enrichment activities.
The report Beyond the classroom: the role of enrichment in tackling the school absence crisis was commissioned by The Duke of Edinburgh Award and the National Citizen Service (NCS) Trust.
It says some schools are already using enrichment activities to promote attendance, either through setting the expectation that good attendance will be rewarded with enrichment activities, providing points for enrichment, or holding enrichment activities on days when attendance is expected to be lower.
Case studies: ‘bold new approaches to enrichment’
Bradford Forster Academy, which was visited by the report’s authors in November last year, reported a 7.4 per cent rise in attendance on the previous 18 months which it attributes to a whole-school approach which included enrichment activity.
In the autumn half term, it ran 28 clubs including rugby, dance, drama, football, dungeons and dragons, crochet and knitting, maths, badminton, music and chess.
The report also highlights Oasis Academy in Enfield, north London, which it says has taken a “bold new approach to enrichment”, making after-school enrichment activities compulsory for Year 7 and 8 students.
It also mentions Carr Manor Community School, in Leeds, which provides 111 different activities for secondary school students through its ‘flexible learning’ programme, including football, athletics, cricket, mindfulness, art, dance and debate clubs.
The report said the school makes innovative use of data to capture engagement in enrichment activity through an app where each student can see their enrichment score alongside their academic achievements.
‘Powerful case for renewed focus on enrichment offers’
But the report says not all schools are making an explicit link between enrichment and attendance. It adds: “There is an opportunity for better guidance for school leaders to help improve attendance by providing wider enrichment activities. This guidance should include direction on the adverse consequences of punishing low attendance with a lack of access to enrichment.”
A literature review for the report found a lack of published research examining the link between enrichment and attendance - aside from the 2010 evaluation of the Labour government’s Extended Schools policy which reported that 97 per cent of participating schools provided enrichment activities and almost half of them reported improvements in attendance.
Baroness Anne Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives and the former children’s commissioner for England, said: “Some children who may otherwise not go to school, can be encouraged to attend by the offer of enrichment activities.
“This report makes a powerful case for a renewed focus on enrichment offers, including through an enrichment premium, not only as a policy tool for boosting attendance but for developing a more inclusive education system that benefits every child.”
The Department for Education has been approached for comment.
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