Attendance Mentors Pilot Expansion

This PIN is for market engagement only. It does not signify the commencement of any procurement process and does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education. If the Department for Education decides to commence any procurement process as contemplated by this notice, a separate notice will be published at the relevant time. The requirements and values set out below may be subject to change. Regular attendance at school is vital for children’s education, wellbeing, and long-term development. Improving attendance is priority. Support for pupils who are persistently absent was also the subject of a recent education select committee enquiry: Persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils - Committees - UK Parliament. The department is currently piloting a 3-year intensive mentoring programme in 5 priority education investment areas (PEIAs), delivering attendance mentoring support for pupil in areas with high levels of persistent absence. We are now looking into options to expand this pilot programme into more PEIAs. We are looking for a contractor that would recruit and train mentors to provide targeted 1 – 1 support for an identified pupil or their family to overcome barriers to attendance. This relationship would need to be responsive to the individuals needs, with the ultimate goal of specific pupil barriers and improving attendance. Mentors work intensively with pupils to support excellent attendance. We would be looking for a possibility to deliver an attendance support offer, initially for one year with the intention to extend to three years (total). The pilot would work in around ten identified priority education investment areas (PEIAs). We expect around 3,600 pupils to be supported by mentors each year. More information on PEIAs can be found here.  We would need a supplier to support vulnerable children and families in each of the identified PEIAs to improve attendance. Through this work we aim to enhance capacity for early help/intervention, by working with pupils who are persistently (missing with <10% attendance) and severely absent (missing with <50% attendance).  The successful contractor would be expected to train mentors to be able to support pupils and families on a one-to-one basis with the intention of understanding barriers to the pupils attendance and supporting the pupil and family to resolve this. This support should be responsive to the individuals needs and may be delivered in the school, or in the pupil’s home. Depending on the pupil need, trained practitioners may also be expected to work with external local agencies to ensure all support to a particular family or pupil is aligned and drives towards overcoming attendance barriers. Mentor work could also involve working closely with families to support better engagement in education. The successful contractor will also need to work with evaluators to evidence the impact of the support throughout the project lifecycle.  SSQ460