Education Scotland have highlighted improvements at Greenwood Academy after a shock drop in attendance at the school post-covid.

Together with North Ayrshire Council they introduced a variety of interventions to successfully improve engagement, attendance and qualifications gained by targeted groups of pupils from S1-S5.

A new report shows the school noticed an increase in the number of pupils with low attendance rates following lockdown.

The Education Scotland report said some pupils at the Dreghorn school had disengaged completely, and some were attending for part of the week. 

There was also an increase in the number of pupils with school anxiety and a fear of being in the busy school building.

Support from North Ayrshire Council was provided through the ‘outreach and home tuition service’.

Attendance rates were tracked every two weeks. In 2021-22  they had fallen below 90 per cent or the first time, some years reaching just 82.75 per cent.

The school then secured Attainment Scotland funding of more than £50,000 and launched an awareness campaign. highlighting the impact of low attendance on learning and positive destinations. 

Back in 2019, a member of staff was employed through Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) to support pupils. They identified pupils at risk of not achieving their full potential due to low school engagement and low attendance. The pupils were all in S2 and received in-school and after-school support for literacy and numeracy. 

The pupils came into school on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon after the school day had finished. and worked in small groups. 

In 2021, the school identified pupils starting the senior phase who were offered after-school curriculum support. In August that year, an in-school ‘secondary transition resource’ was introduced to support young people at risk of disengagement. 

Two teachers, a youth worker and a classroom assistant provide small group work to support and encourage pupils into classes.

Features of the support are an appropriate curriculum and outdoor learning. This approach continued from 2022-23, with core staff being off timetable to provide support in the family home..

This, along with the after-school sessions, saw a further 11 pupils affected achieve qualifications.

The success of this work led to a change of leadership around targeted support and in August 2023, two principal teachers (PTs) of Inclusion were appointed through Pupil Equity Funding.

Pupils have taken part in a branding exercise and now working in a community café which provides an opportunity for young people to gain further qualifications in barista, customer services, and personal development awards, while developing their social skills.

Since the interventions, attendance and engagement has improved.

Attendance statistics from August 2023 to February 2024 show 86.31 per cent in comparison to 85.12 per cent the previous year.

Eleven S3 pupils were supported by the provision from 2021-22. Six of these pupils had a total of 12 exclusions from school. From 2022-23, the same six pupils had a total of nine exclusions.

From 2023-24, the number of exclusions for the same group of 11 pupils has reduced to two. Fourteen S2 pupils were supported by the Student-teacher ratio (STR)  provision from 2022-23. 

Eight of the 14 pupils had a total of 11 exclusions during the first year of being supported. This has been reduced to three pupils with one exclusion each. 

In 2023, the school introduced two S1 pupils to the provision. They have zero exclusions to date.

The report concluded: "The attendance of the pupils at school and engagement in learning is improving.

"There has been an improvement for 71 per cent of the pupils during 2023-24, compared with the same period in 2022-23."