Jack* was struggling to attend school throughout yr 10 and his attendance had fallen below 50%. He has Special Education Needs and often disengaged with school. Working with his mentor, they identified that Jack was as a young caregiver for his younger sibling and were able to utilise the support of a local young carers group. Jack engaged in his mentoring sessions, even on his bad days, and at the end of the programme reflected, ““I feel heard and listened to. The sessions have helped me reflect on my behaviour and on myself.” Jack moved above 50% attendance during the programme and there is great base to begin yr11.

Emily* struggled to attend school in yr 9 while navigating joint custody arrangements with her parents and facing difficulties managing social interactions. Her attendance was usually only three days per week and she actively avoided PE lessons. The mentor worked with Emily to consider areas that could improve her attendance including preparing a morning routine so that Emily accepted her routine included getting to school and her mentor advocated on her behalf to resolve Emily’s anxiety about PE. After some adjustments, which the school were happy to make on Emily’s behalf, she now attends and actively participates in PE and her attendance improved to 91% during the programme, which Emily is determined to maintain.

When Matthew* was bullied in yr 8, his attendance plummeted to 66% as he expressed feelings of being unsafe. He worked with the mentor to convey his concerns and plan approaches that would allow him to redefine the school environment as a safe space. They worked together to build school relationships and introduced discreet mindfulness techniques for Matthew to use when needed. His parents were fully included in the plans and supported at home with consistent routines to build Matthew’s confidence. A trusted member of the school team were identified as someone Matthew could seek out if needed, he said, “I have… felt safe in school as I know I have someone I can talk to if I need to”. Matthew’s attendance increased during the programme to over 80% and he now regularly achieves 100% weekly attendance.

When Samantha’s* declining attendance dropped below 90%, she was recommended for inclusion in the Attendance Mentoring Programme. When her mentor began to work with Samantha, they discussed her caring responsibilities for her mum and how they affected her ability to engage fully in school. Through a range of techniques, such as journaling, Samantha was able to prioritise her learning and successfully undertook her mock exams, advising her mentor that she intended to continue to use the coping strategies. Samantha’s mum said, ““I want to express my gratitude for your support with the Sam! We can see the results…”. Samantha now attends school regularly and often achieves 100% weekly attendance.

Daniel’s* low attendance (82%) was a mix of authorised and unauthorised absences and many late marks per term. He had no motivation to attend school. When working with his mentor they identified health issues and sleep dysregulation as major factors to missing school. Through targeted resources, Daniel was able to improve his sleeping habits and became focused on his education goals to fulfil his dream of becoming a paramedic, knowing that years 10 & 11 would be critical to his ambitions. Daniel’s mum said, “Daniel wasn’t feeling well so I gave him the option of staying at home but they wanted to come into school, which never would have happened a few months ago.” His attendance is now 91% and improving.

When historic bullying left Molly* feeling anxious at school and of using public transport, her attendance at school dropped to 52%. Her mentor worked with her to foster a sense of belonging at school and explored coping strategies when her anxiety was triggered. Molly loved using the mindfulness approach and said she found the sessions “helpful and really fun”. Molly’s mum told the mentor that she, “appreciated everything they’d done” and that she felt the mentoring programme had, “ helped with Molly’s attendance” which climbed by 10%.

Transferring schools can be difficult, as was the case for Jacob* at the start of yr9. After a bout of illness, his attendance dropped to 65% at which point he began working with an attendance mentor. Using motivational exercises gave Jacob the room to discuss his worries and once he began to identify his attendance barriers, they were able to create a plan to improve school attendance. By including discussions on post-secondary education that would be required to fulfil Jacobs aspirations he became better engaged in lessons and improved his attendance by more than 5% in just 10 weeks.

When her absences had caused Abbe* to miss a significant amount of work, the idea of returning to school became overwhelming. When her mentor began working with Abbe, her attendance had dropped to below 40%. Abbe had a buddy in the school and the mentor used some joint sessions to work through some strategies for dealing with feelings of anxiousness and how to ask for help when trying to catch up with the work. Through the programme Abbe began increasing her attendance and moved up 5% in the first 7 weeks.  

Nathan* had good attendance through years 7 & 8 but it declined sharply in yr 9 degenerating to full week absences. The mentor began working with Nathan in the spring term and spent time tailoring their sessions so that Nathan felt able to share his barriers and engage in the discussion to find ways to improve. By focusing on developing Nathan’s ability to articulate his feelings and fostering a positive school environment, his attendance began to improve. Nathan’s parents said, "Nathan is definitely a lot happier in school, and the only times he’s been absent is because he was unwell."