Targeting Support Meetings (TSM’s)
In line with the DfE guidance, local authorities are expected to organise termly Targeting Support Meetings with each school in their area. The attendance team will RAG rate each school in Lincolnshire to determine how many TSMs they will need each academic year:
- mainstream schools with attendance above 94.5% are rag rated green and have a minimum of 1 TSM each year
- mainstream schools with attendance between 90.5% and 94.5% are rated amber and have a minimum of 2 TSMs each year
- mainstream schools with attendance below 90.4% are rated red and have 3 TSMs each year.
TSMs are delivered by the Local Authority Attendance Team using a standard template to ensure consistent data collection and analysis. Every maintained school and academy in Lincolnshire are allocated a dedicated Attendance Team Officer, as their ‘single point of contact’. This has proven to be a successful resource which is valued by schools.
For specialist schools, these meetings will also involve the Local Authority SEND Team Manager. For those pupils in alternative provision and for the Pilgrim Hospital School, meetings will also include a Pupil Reintegration Team Officer. TSM’s may be held face-to-face or via MS Teams and will focus on the following key areas:
- school attendance priorities
- local authority attendance priorities
- attendance across absence banding categories (see Appendix 4)
- attendance of identified vulnerable cohorts
- successes, strengths and areas for improvement
- use of part-time timetables
- pupil movement, including leavers and joiners
- legal intervention
These meetings provide an opportunity to build strong relationships and work collaboratively with schools to support a consistent and effective approach to attendance. They also support schools to identify key priorities for development within their policies and practice. This may include reviewing and analysing school-level data and facilitating opportunities to learn from and work alongside other schools facing similar patterns or trends.
Where barriers to attendance are complex, particularly for pupils within the severe absence category, meetings will support schools - alongside the local authority - to identify clear next steps and coordinate appropriate support. In addition, the Attendance Team offers interim communication meetings between Targeted Support Meetings to provide further support for more complex and challenging cases.