Item 14 Appendix 3
West Dunbartonshire Council · 24 June 2026
Back to Educational Services Committee — 24 June 2026 and its agenda
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The Attendance Quality Improvement Programme in West Dunbartonshire This brief details the progress of WDC Educational Services quality improvement project around school attendance, supported by Education Scotland. In its infancy, it is still in the localised pilot stage with a longer term aim of developing the learning to a longer term approach designed to secure wider/long term improvements in attendance, engagement as well as those “unintended benefits.” Background School attendance has continued to be a critical priority, locally and nationally, as the Scottish education system continues to address the longitudinal impacts of the pandemic. ● Prior to 2019, national attendance rates in Scotland remained stable at approximately 93%. ● Following the pandemic, national averages saw a significant decline, reaching a low of 90.2% in 2022/23. While recent 2024/25 data indicates a marginal recovery to 91.0%, attendance has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. West Dunbartonshire also saw a decline in attendance rates1 following the pandemic and while there has been significant progress in addressing this, attendance rates1 remain below 2018-19 levels. 1 Not special schools Current Attendance overview School Pupil Attendance Report 2025-26 Jan.docx School Pupil Attendance Report 2025-26 Feb.docx School Pupil Attendance Report 2025-26 Mar.docx The National Programme Education Scotland developed a national programme, the National Attendance Quality Improvement Programme (QIP), to support schools and local authorities in their work to improve attendance. Participating schools learn how to use quality improvement methodology to develop, test and evaluate small scale, data-informed approaches. The programme is delivered through a mix of in-person and online sessions. It is built around the 6 stages of the quality improvement journey: 1. Creating the conditions - building will and conditions for change Appendix 3
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2. Understanding the system - deep analysis of data and engagement with stakeholders to understand the issues and identify opportunities for improvement 3. Developing aims - setting out expected levels improvement 4. Testing changes - identifying changes and trying these out while closely monitoring the impact and refining as required 5. Implementation - implement successful approaches 6. Spread - share learning To date, there have been three national cohorts of the programme. West Dunbartonshire has participated in all three. The programme in WDC Eight primary schools participated in cohorts 1 and 2 of the programme with 2 secondary schools currently participating in cohort 3. In each school, 2 leads were identified: the head teacher or a depute head teacher and other member of staff. In some schools this was another member of the leadership team, in others a teacher or pupil and family support worker. School leads attended the Education Scotland sessions and have been supported on an ongoing basis by a member of the local authority’s Children's Services team and the link Education Scotland attainment advisor. This has included support with data analysis, setting aims, engagement with young people and parents, using quality improvement tools and understanding impact. Effective data analysis, to really understand the picture of attendance and absence across the school, and high quality engagement with young people and their parents, to better understand the issues contributing to absence, have been crucial elements of the work. The schools’ commitment to engaging with their key stakeholders and the range of approaches used to ensure this is done effectively, have ensured the lived experiences of young people and their families have directly informed the change ideas (interventions) identified. Following identification of the, sometimes very bespoke, change ideas, schools tested these using run charts to track the impact on attendance, refining, changing or adding to change ideas according to the progress being made. Schools have seen a number of successes as a result of the QIP work and have shared this work and learning from it across learning communities. Impact so far Participation in the programme has impacted positively on the attendance of individual pupils. The accompanying case studies provide examples of this. In addition, participating schools: ● have a greater understanding of their attendance data and priority cohorts ● understand the importance engaging with young people and their parents to improve attendance
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● are able to use a range of quality improvement tools to support data analysis, engagement with young people and parents, and measurement of impact ● are aware of the need for both universal and targeted/bespoke approaches to improve attendance. Learning from cohorts 1 and 2 has been shared with local learning communities and there are plans for cohort 3 schools to share their learning at the Children’s Services Coordinators meeting in June. Next steps ● Evaluate the efficacy and long-term viability of the initial project to determine the potential for further cohorts/authority-wide implementation ● Develop a toolkit/briefing/programme of CLPL to disseminate evidence-based practices and empower schools to adopt and adapt successful attendance interventions ● Continued the well-embedded focus on attendance within school improvement plans (driven by national guidance and aims) Case studies WDC Attendance QIP - Edinbarnet PS.pptx WDC Attendance QIP - Lennox PS.pptx
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