School leaders across England are grappling with the challenge of pupil attendance. The debate on the issue tends to circle around systems, rewards, sanctions, codes, penalty notices, statutory guidance and more.
Yet while compliance frameworks are necessary, they are rarely sufficient. Beyond being an administrative target, attendance is itself an outcome - the visible sign of an invisible culture of belonging.
Belonging can sound like an intangible concept, but we at Central Region Schools Trust (CRST) believe it can be designed through an intentional culture that shapes not just what we do but how we do it - and when belonging thrives, attendance follows.
Building a culture of belonging
Before the change in government, I worked with the Department for Education’s West Midlands Regions Group to establish a CEO Learning Set focused on developing a culture of belonging at scale.
This work culminated in a framework shared with the West Midlands Regions Group officers, which was based on a key starting point: belonging is not accidental. It is based on coherent alignment across people, places and processes, underpinned by lived values and codified through behaviours that model optimism, warmth and fairness and build trust between adults and pupils.
People: behaviours that build trust
To achieve this, any school or trust culture framework must start with people.
Every member of staff plays a role in making the school a place where pupils want to be - setting clear behaviour expectations, prioritising children’s success, communicating honestly and creating consistency.
It is then up to leaders to model these expectations daily, recognising that culture erodes when left to chance. So whether it’s a warm greeting at the gate each morning or teachers being honest about mistakes, all moments need to be treated as part of learning, not peripheral to it.
These moments teach young people that school is a safe space to take risks and grow. Attendance, in this light, is a measure of trust.
Places: designing environments that inspire
Our buildings need to be designed to say, “You belong here.”
into classroom design suggests that ownership, layout and visual environment can influence pupil engagement; simple actions such as refreshing displays or showcasing pupil work demonstrate care and belonging by signalling that pupils are valued
Unstructured times (whether lunchtime or lesson transitions) are not left to chance either. Staff must be visible and proactive, using positive body language and informal conversation to build relationships while monitoring and supporting pupils.
Spaces for quiet reflection sit alongside zones for active play, supporting different needs. When children have agency in shaping their environment, they feel ownership of it and return to it willingly each day.
Curriculum: making learning feel relevant
Linked to this is the importance of ensuring that lessons feel relevant to life - helping pupils to understand why it all matters. This might include using local population data in maths or exploring local history through community visits, helping pupils to see learning as relevant to their own lives and place.
Alongside adult behaviours, we focus on the pupil experience: the elements of school life that, when deliberately designed, foster connection. To help with this the Learning Set also developed reflective questions for leaders, ensuring that design decisions are evidence-based and focused on belonging.
For example, does the curriculum allow time for meaningful pupil-teacher relationships and student choice in learning? Does the physical environment intentionally encourage positive interaction, creativity and calm? Are pupils’ ideas used to improve unstructured times?
Enrichment and friendships
Enrichment, friendship development and reading are built into the fabric of our day.
When enrichment is deliberately shaped for and with vulnerable pupils, connection grows. Experiences involving service or agency deepen belonging further.
Relationships matter, too. The size and quality of pupils’ friendship groups correlate with attendance.
Leaders who invest in strategies for friendship development, conflict resolution and social confidence create schools where children feel secure in their peer relationships - and therefore more motivated to attend.
Staff must be able to recognise social difficulties early and provide structured opportunities, such as peer mentoring, to support pupils in forming and sustaining friendships.
Deliberately designed enrichment opportunities that bring like-minded pupils together across year groups, such as clubs focused on sport or shared interests, help friendships to form naturally.
Reframing attendance as connection
If we want pupils to attend, we must make schools worth attending. Focusing on belonging reframes attendance as connection. It challenges leaders to ask: what makes a pupil want to be here?
The attendance crisis demands system-level responses, but its solution begins with culture. We cannot code belonging into a register, but we can design it through our values, our environments and intentional provision and delivery.
Guy Shears is CEO of Central Region Schools Trust, comprised of eight primary schools and six secondary schools
You can now get the UK’s most-trusted source of education news in a mobile app. Get Vlog magazine on and on
