A primary school in Southport has won a national award for improving pupil attendance, with the Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for attendance saying they have worked hard to make school a place where pupils actively want to be.

Linaker Primary School, part of the Endeavour Learning Trust, has won a FFT Attendance Award, for having the most  improved attendance in the top 10% of schools nationally.

Since last academic year, attendance at Linaker has improved and now stands at over 95%. Persistent absence among disadvantaged pupils has dropped by almost 10%, while absence among pupils with special educational needs has dropped by 15%. 

Assistant Headteacher Leanne Sambrook said that they had driven the increase by working hard to make the school a place where children want to be, rather than penalising absence. 

She commented:- “1 of the biggest changes for us has been looking at attendance as much more than just numbers and percentages. A huge part of our approach has been about building really positive relationships with our children and families, and creating a school that children genuinely want to come to every day. We’ve worked hard on the culture across school and try to make coming to school feel positive, exciting and rewarding. We use lots of fun incentives, celebrations, rewards and little surprises alongside our wider behaviour approach. It’s not simply about rewarding children for turning up but about creating positive experiences and relationships that help children want to be in school, feel part of the school community and take pride in being here.”

The accolade comes with the school on a roll of award victories, having recently been crowned Sefton School of the Year.