How these schools are improving behaviour and attendance

Schools with a "proven record of turning behaviour and attendance around" will help those facing serious challenges under the government's new expert hubs plan.

The Department for Education (DfE) has named 12 hub schools across the south east and Dorset, including Worthing High School in Sussex.

Headteacher Adrian Cook said: "It's really important that schools don't feel like we are telling them what to do, it's about working with them to develop good practice."

The DfE said schools needing "intensive support" would receive "one-to-one sessions".

These would involve managers and staff from leading "Attendance and Behaviour Hub" schools visiting targeted schools and vice versa, so they can see effective methods "in action".

A previous "Behaviour Hub" programme found schools that offered more rewards for good behaviour were the most likely to see improvements.

So the carrot approach, rather than the stick.

There is evidence of this methodology in practice at Worthing High School, including photographs of students listing their latest achievements and blazer lapels full of badges.

Adrian Cook said: "The school is full of rewards, students love traditional merits, they really like certificates, they love to wear a badge, they wear them really proudly.

"We actually teach the students how we want them to behave when they come to us in Year 7, we teach them what our expectations are and about our behaviour, sanctions and rewards system."

When a student causes trouble there is a "three-strike" approach to sanctions with time set aside for "reflection".

Bryce, who confessed he used to be one of the school's more rebellious pupils, said when he finally realised the benefits of behaving there were "more opportunities" for him, and said he was now getting "a lot more praise".

Another student, Zante, said the rules were clear: "We all know what needs to be done.

"We know our uniform has to be, shirts tucked in, our skirts unrolled, not talking when you've been told it's silent work, things like that."

When asked how she knows, she said because "teachers tell us".

Which schools will be 'hubs'?

The following south east schools are included the list of 93 attendance and behaviour hubs across England.

Chilton Primary School in Didcot, Oxfordshire, The Langley Academy in Slough, Berkshire and St Edmunds's Catholic School in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and both Glenmoor Academy and the Avonbourne Academies in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Lord Grey Academy, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and in Kent there are three schools - The Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard in Ebbsfleet, The Leigh Academy Rainham and Maundene School in Chatham.

In Sussex, Seymour Primary School, Crawley and Ark Little Ridge Primary Academy, St Leonards-on-Sea join Worthing High School as hubs.

How to stop children 'bunking off'?

Data showed about 18% of pupils were persistently absent from school in the 2024-25 school year, which remains higher than the pre-Covid levels of about 11%.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "Time at home today can too easily mean children retreating to social media, gaming and the online world."

At Worthing High School, Adrian Cook believes in "adjusting the curriculum" for struggling students to help keep them in school.

He said: "It's about being creative, finding things like Forest School so students can have a different environment to flourish and see the best in themselves and it's those things that make them want to come to school."

Angela said she "loved" her outdoor class, because in traditional academic settings, while some of her friends are getting grade eights or nines, she will be "struggling getting threes".

"Forest school is really chill so I get to forget about the pressure of school and all the grades, and I just get to chill and learn stuff," she added.

Hub schools also recommend identifying absence early, focusing on "individual students" and communicating frequently with parents and carers.

Critics argue there are too few expert hubs and they are too focused on mainstream settings.

But DfE RISE advisor and chief executive of South Downs Education Trust, Pan Panayiotou, stressed the benefits for the 500 "challenged" schools who will receive "intensive, targeted help".

He said: "We will work with them for over the whole year, with numbers of visits to our school, to theirs, creating an action plan and supporting them through that development process."

He added that previous similar programmes had made a "real difference" and with school budgets "tight", the only cost to the targeted schools was the time commitment.