The City of Rauma is taking part in an engaging school community work program which aims to reduce and prevent school attendance problems by supporting the students’ attachment and enjoyment of their time in school. Rauma participates in the project as a part of a local pilot for the whole Satakunta region (SATAsky). The purpose of the program is to tackle attendance problems and to build a positive operational culture in schools.
Lat autumn Rauma secondary schools implemented a model which reinforces attendance by paying more attention to school attendance of children. The model aims to make schools nicer places to come to and to stay in. The model has been compiled nationally and was published to be implemented in May. It is supposed to be established regionally and locally as part of school activities during the years 2023 and 2024.
School attendance problems have increased nationwide
Most popular reasons for absences have to do with illnesses and other everyday situations. According to studies, school absences and problems in going to school have increased.
– Sometimes there can be challenges in going to school and there are bigger reasons behind the absences. It is important to be able to react to these reasons as early as possible. If the child is often absent, the threshold for coming to school can increase, project coordinator Assi Piilikangas says.
– The cooperation of home and school plays a big part in reinforcing attendance. The school will contact the guardians if a child begins to accumulate absences. The purpose of the contact is to ensure that the pupil’s schoolwork continues as expected even during absences and, if necessary, support can be provided, Piilikangas continues.
SATAsky is a part of Engaging school community work program. The essential goal of the program is to produce a national model for tackling school attendance problems. The main focus is on preventive actions at school level. The national model will be prepared on the basis of local pilots and developmental assessment work. Hundreds of school take part in the program across Finland.