A yellow sand timer on a green classroom table.

Episode 23 - Inside the attendance crisis: A school leader's perspective

This episode of Tutorcast launches our series on persistent absence, and explores how school leaders are responding to the attendance crisis

Published:

  • Time to read: 2 minutes

We sat down with Antonio Passarello, a secondary school Deputy Headteacher, to explore how his school supports pupils with attendance

In this episode of Tutorcast, our co-hosts Chrissie Thwaites and Sammy Meynell were joined by Antonio (Tonino) Passarello, Deputy Head at St Matthew's Roman Catholic High School, one of our partner schools in Moston, North Manchester.

Growing rates of persistent absenteeism are becoming an increasing challenge for schools. In this podcast episode, Tonino shared how St Matthew's has been tackling pupil absence, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Growing rates of persistent absence

Persistent absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school time within an academic year, while severe absenteeism means missing 50% or more. According to the Department for Education, in autumn and spring 2024/25, 17.63% of pupils were persistently absent, and 2.26% were severely absent, an increase from the previous year's 2.14%.

Recent research shows the scale of the problem. Impetus and Public First's 2025 report on listening to young people in the attendance crisis demonstrated that persistent absence from school now affects 1 in 5 pupils in England.

High levels of absence have been shown to negatively impact a young person's educational outcomes and life chances after they leave education. The Centre for Social Justice's 2025 report Absent Ambition demonstrated that current high rates of school absence in Britain can have a detrimental impact on pupils' attainment and educational outcomes, and raise the possibility of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training).

School strategies to improve attendance

In our conversation with Tonino, we explored what schools can do when faced with absenteeism. He shared the importance of school culture, and of creating an environment that students actively want to come to in the morning.

By missing school, pupils miss out on interaction with their peers and extracurricular activities, all of which, Tonino shared, can make you “feel that you’re not part of something”. So instead of asked students “where have you been?” when they come back to school, staff at St Matthew’s emphasise “it’s great to see you back! Are you okay? We missed you”. This relational approach can help students “feel more confident and feel like they’re part of something bigger”, which in turn can improve their school attendance.

Following their attendance work, St Matt'hews grew their post-pandemic attendance rate from 87% to 92.7% in one year, then up to 93.3% in the previous academic year, with rates now remaining well above the national average.

Antonio also noted the relationship between attendance and SEND:

Of our students who are probably more than PA [persistently absent] and heading towards SA [severely absent], quite a lot of them are students who are on our SEND care register and need a lot of SEMH support.”
Tonino Passarello, Deputy Head at St Matthew's Roman Catholic High School

Another group of students identified by St. Matthew’s attendance work is young carers:

One of the big cohorts of students who were being missed before we started our really intensive attendance work were students who had caring responsibilities … As well as giving them the recognition and acceptance that sometimes they might be slightly late in the morning or they might need some additional support, people know who they are. They’re part of our register now. And I think knowing the profile of the school is really important.”
Tonino Passarello

St Matthew's found that for every 5% of attendance a child lost, it was equivalent to a grade, indicating the close relationship between absence and educational attainment - and the need for intervention and support, to avoid negative impacts for pupils who are more at risk of absence.

Listen now to hear more about: 

  • The importance of school leaders understanding the profile of their school, its pupils and families
  • Strategies to ensure a warm welcome into school in the morning - including the role of the pastoral team, breakfasts, and EBSA (Emotionally Based School Avoidance) support team with SEMH-trained teachers for 'soft landings' at St Matthew's (SEMH stands for social, emotional and mental health)
  • Responding to secondary-age students who already have severe patterns of absence embedded from primary school
  • Working with parents to encourage pupils into school
  • The impact of St Matthew's attendance team school car, going out into the community, asking about barriers to attendance, providing support, and Early Help referrals if necessary

You can find Tutorcast on Spotify (below) or on Podbean.

Listen now:

Credits

This episode was hosted by Chrissie Thwaites and Sammy Meynell, and was edited by Vicky Sadler

Sammy Meynell

Project and Programme Manager - Greater Manchester

Sammy Meynell

Project and Programme Manager - Greater Manchester

Sammy joined Tutor Trust in the summer of 2021 as a Secondary English tutor whilst studying for her Master’s degree in Philosophy at the University of Manchester. A couple of weeks after she completed her degree, Sammy began working on a full-time tuition assignment at St Damian’s RC Science College, which was an incredibly fun and rewarding experience. She became a Primary Schools Coordinator in the Greater Manchester team. In February 2024, Sammy moved into the role of Project Lead within the Manchester Schools team, overseeing projects including Transition and Post-16. She is looking forward to playing an active role in diversifying our offer to reach even more children and young people in need of extra support. 

Sammy says: "I have always been passionate about playing a role in minimising educational inequalities. One of my favourite things about my role is the fact I am making a difference to the lives of many young people in my local community who otherwise wouldn’t have access to the extra support Tutor Trust provides. This makes the job extremely fulfilling, and I am proud to be a part of this amazing organisation. I also enjoy working alongside our tutors to help them settle into their roles and boost their engagement, through organising social events and facilitating drop-ins.

"When I’m not coordinating tuition, I enjoy watching football and I co-host my own FC Halifax Town podcast! I also love to read, and I’m currently on the Tutor Trust Book Club committee, where we organise monthly meetings with our fellow office bookworms."

Vicky has shoulder-length, straight blonde hair and is wearing a black and white chequered t-shirt

Vicky Sadler

Director of Tutor Recruitment and Development
Vicky has shoulder-length, straight blonde hair and is wearing a black and white chequered t-shirt

Vicky Sadler

Director of Tutor Recruitment and Development

Vicky became Director of Tutor Recruitment and Development in May 2024. In this role, Vicky oversees recruitment, onboarding, and initial training of our tutors, as well as managing our calendar of ongoing learning opportunities for tutors throughout the year. She helps to manage our online learning platform and ensure it is stocked full of top-notch tutoring materials and resources to ensure that tutors are thoroughly prepared for their tuition sessions. Vicky also participates in the quality assurance procedures within our organisation, in partnership with the Quality and Impact Team. 

Vicky says: "With more than 18 years of education experience, primarily within Greater Manchester, my journey has been inspired by a deep passion for transforming lives through learning. Starting in Key Stage 2, I honed my skills teaching Y6 in an inner-city Primary School, later taking on leadership roles in Diversity and Inclusion as well as SENCO training, where I championed support systems for vulnerable, SEND, and EAL learners. My diverse experience also includes leadership in Literacy, Art and Design, PE, Assessment, and mentoring students and Newly Qualified Teachers. During my own children's early years, I established an 'Outstanding' rated childcare business with a Forest School ethos, served as a Network Childminder, and organised sensory playgroups at a Stockport Surestart Centre. I further fuelled my passion for Early Years as an Early Years Leader in a Stockport Primary School until 2018 when my family and I embarked upon a two-year international adventure, during which I ventured into online tutoring.

"My enthusiasm for community-driven education equity led me to the Tutor Trust team as a Primary Quality Manager in January 2021. What I truly cherish about my role is the opportunity to empower tutors, leveraging my experience and knowledge to elevate their practice. It's a privilege to facilitate high-quality tuition that genuinely transforms lives and tackles educational inequalities head-on."

Related content

tutoring photo

Schools white paper

Tutor Trust reflects on the Government's long-awaited Schools White Paper has been released, detailing their strategy to create a more equitable school system. With a focus on tackling the SEND crisis and raising the attainment of disadvantaged young…

Man appears on a screen giving a speech.

Episode 22: Literacy Matters

In this Tutorcast episode, from the Tutor Trust, we met with David Savill from the University of Salford to discuss literacy in Salford