Information for Schools

Collaborating with our specialist partners (ImpactEd, Thrive, Oasis, TKAT), Etio will be training mentors and allocating them to specified schools. The project is being externally evaluated as a randomised control trial. This means that we will randomly select schools to receive mentoring support. The evaluation will then compare attendance outcomes for schools who receive mentoring against those that do not to understand the impact.  

We will work with involved schools – utilising data – to identify and refer eligible pupils who are considered most at risk of consistent low attendance, to help each pupil maximise their potential and return to regular education with confidence.

Etio (formerly Tribal Education Services) has been a proud delivery partner to the UK Department for Education (DfE) since 2006, and our work has been critical to projects including the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM), the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP), Multiply RCTs Adult Numeracy Programme, and National Professional Qualifications (NPQs). Our vision – to elevate education, everywhere - through evidence-based insight and action.

ImpactEd are our data partner – working with us to ensure that we can access the data both to identify the eligible pupils we can work with but also to provide the data to DfE and the Evaluator to support the measuring of impact.

Thrive will be delivering the majority of the Attendance Mentoring training and we will also be using their platform for caseload management, tracking and recording of mentoring activity and progress.

Oasis will be providing bespoke support, focusing on families and how we can support them in addition to the mentoring.

Schools will be required to provide information to identify their pupils most in need of a mentor, but will not be required to undertake the mentorship work, which is supplied by Etio’s mentors. Etio will also provide assessments and quality assurance throughout and after the mentorship programme.

In order to aim to achieve the best results, schools will be required to:

• Share pupil characteristic, attendance, exclusion and suspension data with Etio through the ImpactEd system
• Share trial consent materials with families and eligible pupils.
• Sign a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA).
• Administer the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to all pupils within Year 8.
• Ensure that one member of staff completes the school survey.
• Be prepared to work closely with CEI and to support the evaluation as required.

• Work with Etio to identify eligible pupils
• Prompt parents/caregivers to provide consent
• Support the delivery of the attendance mentors programme
• Agree to facilitate pupil surveys
• Provide feedback
• Ensure that a designated member of staff takes part in a qualitative interview

After schools selection in January, we will collaborate with these schools, utilising the ImpactEd platform, to identify eligible pupils who would benefit from mentoring and commence the first wave of mentoring in March 2025.

Once identified, pupils will be matched with their mentor to begin their weekly 1 to 1 mentoring, over an estimated period of 12 weeks in alignment with the school’s term times. Timing of mentoring meetings will be arranged to best suit both pupils and the school to minimise impact on other areas of their education.

We understand that you may have questions about your pupils' data, how it is used and who has access to it.

We have a comprehensive data sharing agreement in place with all relevant parties involved with the Attendance Mentoring Pilot Expansion to ensure we are collecting, storing, processing and sharing data appropriately. These parties include your school and the Department for Education and is specific to the data we collect on this programme.

When we request the pupil's parent/guardian's permission to participate in mentoring, we ask for some information including contact details, this is so we can work with them in supporting their child’s participation in the programme. When providing consent to the programme, this includes Etio securely storing, processing, and sharing necessary personal data for the successful running of the programme in line with our privacy policy, including the parent/guardian's contact details and their child’s information with authorised Etio employees and partners. A full list of these partners is available upon request.

If you have any questions about data or would like more information, you can contact us attendance.mentoring@etioglobal.org and we will be happy to help.

Read our full privacy policy here.

We are not currently looking for more schools to add to the programme. However, if you are interested in finding out more about potential expansions, please get in touch.