A school in Teignbridge has seen absence-rates plummet after students were challenged to complete a 20-day attendance streak.

Students at Dawlish College were promised an afternoon of inflatables fun and ice-cream if they managed to attend school for a month without taking a day off.

A total of 436 students completed the 20-day attendance streak between April 24 and May 22 more than double the 207 students who did not miss a day in the previous 20 days.

To ensure that students with medical appointments or genuine exceptional circumstances were not unfairly excluded, students qualified for the award as long as they logged any period of attendance for each morning or afternoon of the 20 consecutive days.

‘This is a huge increase in students accessing regular school and engaging with their education,’ said Dawlish College assistant headteacher Kate Bukowski, who hopes to run similar events throughout the year.

‘Attendance is something that all schools are talking about,’ Kate explained. ‘Students are not engaging with school as frequently as pre-Covid. This is a nationwide picture and one that Dawlish College continues to unpick and is working hard to improve.’

Nationally, schools have been struggling with attendance rates since the Covid pandemic. The average absence rate in secondary schools across the UK from September 2024 until the end of May this year was 8.4% compared with 5.5% in the 2018/19 academic year.

With school budgets becoming increasingly squeezed, the school turned to parents and local businesses to fund the rewards afternoon. ‘School budgets are tight nationwide and, sadly, the more enjoyable elements of school life are often the first to be cut,’ Kate said. ‘Dawlish was not prepared to sit back and just accept that treats can’t be made possible for our students and so engaged our local community to see if, together, we could create something special,’ she added.

The college was ‘overwhelmed with parents’ generosity and enthusiasm for this project’, added Dawlish headteacher Sam Banks. ‘It’s been great to get the community involved.’

Staff really pushed the challenge to create a ‘buzz’ and to engage students.

‘One aspect of my role is supporting students to engage positively with attending school regularly to reach their full potential,’ Kate explained. ‘This is particularly difficult in today’s climate, given the nationwide picture in schools of decreasing attendance and engagement with education. I am working to create a sense of belonging at Dawlish College to ensure our students actively want to be in school. This is a long journey, but it is beginning to show impact. My work with some of our most disengaged students over the years has taught me that regular rewards and positive praise is proven to encourage positive feelings about attending school and encourages positive behaviour and aspirations for future life,’ she added.

Speaking after the rewards afternoon, which took place on last Wednesday (June 11), students said it was the best day ever and were keen for a repeat.

Parent feedback has also been positive. One parent said: ‘My son had really lost his get-up-and-go and was down about coming to school for a while, with no real reason. Hopefully, this event will spur them all on as they will see how much you value them as part of the community.’