Working Together to Improve School Attendance - Winter 2026

This SSCP Practitioner Forum held on 21 January 2026, brought together over 40 multi-agency professionals to explore how Sunderland can work together to improve school attendance.

Why Attendance, Why Now — What We Know

Ronnie Lynn, Strategic Lead for Education at Together for Children, introduced the topic, detailing the wide‑ranging impact of sustained absence: links to serious violence, exploitation, and being Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) later on; plus the clear evidence that early intervention works best. Improving attendance is therefore inseparable from safeguarding and long‑term outcomes.