Strengthening Attendance Through Structure, Visibility and Partnership
How Attend is helping Macmillan Academy build a more proactive, consistent approach to attendance
Macmillan Academy is a large 11 to 19 academy in Middlesbrough, serving a diverse community and driven by a clear belief in the transformative power of education. Like many schools, attendance has been a sustained priority following the pandemic, particularly within a context where over 60% of students come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For Macmillan, attendance is not treated as a standalone issue. It sits at the heart of safeguarding, inclusion and student success. The school’s approach is led by Andy Clark, Education Welfare Officer, and Chris Ball, Senior Leader for Attendance, who are focused on ensuring that every student is seen, supported and given the best possible opportunity to attend.
"It's powerful, but really straightforward to use."
A clear and consistent approach to attendance
Macmillan Academy has built its attendance work around structure, clarity and care.
Daily monitoring, early identification and consistent follow-up are central to the school’s strategy. Home visits, often carried out on the second and third day of absence, play an important role both as a safeguarding measure and as a way to maintain strong relationships with families.
Parental communication and staged intervention are also embedded into the school’s practice, helping staff respond early, act consistently and make sure support is put in place before concerns grow.
Supporting the approach with Attend
Attend is now a key part of how Macmillan delivers its attendance strategy.
The system gives the team the structure and visibility they need to act consistently and at pace. Processes that were previously manual and time-consuming are now streamlined, helping staff identify students who need follow-up, prepare communications and organise home visits more quickly.
"Some processes which took hours are now completed in minutes. It just releases so much time."
For Andy, that time matters. By reducing administrative burden, Attend allows the team to focus more attention on students, families and the interventions that make the biggest difference.
Despite being feature-rich, Attend has been straightforward for staff to use and flexible enough to support Macmillan’s own approach, rather than forcing the school into a fixed way of working.
Early impact and emerging trends
Although Macmillan is still early in its Attend journey, the school is already seeing clear signs of positive impact.
Greater visibility of attendance data, earlier intervention and stronger communication with families are helping the school build momentum. Macmillan has also been able to apply behavioural strategies more effectively, particularly with the “movable middle”, students whose small or repeated absences can have a significant effect on whole-school attendance over time.
Strengthening engagement with families
One of the most noticeable changes has been the improvement in communication with parents.
With clearer, more timely information, families are becoming more aware of attendance and its impact. This has led to more informed conversations and stronger engagement between home and school.
"There's been a noticeable increase in parental engagement and awareness around attendance."
Attend’s student view has also helped make attendance patterns clearer and more tangible, supporting more meaningful conversations with families.
What has made the biggest difference?
For Macmillan, one of the most valuable parts of Attend has been Absence Watch.
Absence Watch automatically identifies changes in attendance and surfaces students who may need attention. This means potential concerns are picked up earlier, actions are clearer and nothing is missed.
Stage 1 communication, which previously took much longer to prepare, can now be generated in minutes. The automatic identification of students requiring home visits has also removed a layer of manual work, allowing the team to respond faster and more proactively.
Structured stages and task-based workflows have brought greater clarity across the school. Tutors, Heads of Year and senior leaders can see what is required and when, helping reinforce attendance as a shared responsibility.
Andy also highlights the ability to de-escalate students when attendance improves. This helps the school recognise progress, not just concern, and respond dynamically as students move in the right direction.
A partnership that supports the work
Alongside the system itself, Macmillan values the relationship with the Attend team.
From the beginning, onboarding focused on more than simply learning how to use the platform. Time was spent understanding Macmillan’s attendance approach, shaping workflows and making sure Attend supported the school’s wider strategy.
That relationship has continued beyond implementation, with the Attend team supporting process refinement, responding to questions and helping the school develop new ideas.
"With Attend, any query is usually picked up within 30 minutes!"
Looking ahead
Macmillan Academy is building strong foundations for sustained attendance improvement.
The focus now is on maintaining momentum, continuing to strengthen processes, deepening engagement with families and embedding a consistent, whole-school approach to attendance.X
For Andy and Chris, Attend is not just supporting their attendance work, it is enabling it, giving the team the time, clarity and structure needed to make a lasting difference.
Click here to read the full case study.
Want to strengthen your school's approach to attendance?
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