Trauma-informed practices driving sustained attendance improvement at Abbey Hey

As a large inner-city primary school in Manchester serving over 650 pupils, Abbey Hey has faced significant attendance challenges in the post-pandemic context, grappling with high levels of poverty, transient populations, and even homelessness for some children. These challenges are compounded by diverse family experiences and perspectives, together with pandemic-related anxieties, which directly affect pupils’ attendance.

As part of a wider collaboration across 44 United Learning schools, ImpactEd has partnered with Abbey Hey over the past year through our Understanding Attendance national research project.

Leading this work is Tracey Short, supported by her team. With 28 years at the school, she is the assistant principal responsible for safeguarding and attendance, with a strong focus on inclusion. In addition to a range of well-established strategies, two approaches stand out at Abbey Hey: a blend of data-driven monitoring and trauma-informed practices.  These work to foster connection, belonging, and emotional safety through structured routines and consistent positive reinforcement. This approach has already contributed to a 1.5 percentage point increase in attendance in the past year.

We would like to thank Tracey for taking the time to speak with us and share her insights, which have been invaluable in shaping this case study.

Conscious Discipline®

A cornerstone of this trauma-informed approach is Conscious Discipline®. Over the past three years, Abbey Hey has refined this distinctive aspect of their behavioural strategy. In pursuit of nurturing every child’s sense of belonging, Conscious Discipline® has since been embraced across the United Learning Trust.  

Originally developed by Dr. Becky Bailey, the classroom management methodology draws on neuroscience, child-development research, and psychology to form an ‘adult-first’ rationale, where staff reflect on and develop their own emotional responses to model them positively, creating a nurturing and productive learning environment. Tracey encapsulates it as a “total mindset shift.”

The model brings together four key components and seven ‘skills’ and ‘powers’ that interconnect to create lasting transformation, replacing punishment with learning opportunities. Although initially met with some scepticism, Tracey maintained that continuous training and contextual adaptations led to demonstrable positive outcomes and attitudinal change.

A key first step is to re-examine behaviour, attendance, and safeguarding policies to ensure they align with each other and with Conscious Discipline® principles, creating a cohesive framework. As Tracey explains, “these policies are all linked. You won’t see any gains in attendance until you've got that right.”

Once this groundwork is laid, daily practices are incorporated into the school day. At Abbey Hey, morning and afternoon meetings give pupils a moment to pause, reconnect, and prepare for the day. These sessions might include centring activities such as breathing exercises, ‘wish well’ rituals for absent classmates, or family photo boards, all designed to cultivate emotional safety and belonging. Classroom responsibilities encourage ownership and cooperation, while each class sets a collective commitment linked to the previous day’s learning, for example committing to line up calmly after recognising it had been a challenge.

Each session closes with a reminder that their role is to keep every child safe, a responsibility shared by the class. This intentional use of language around safety, cooperation, and positive intent is fundamental to building trusting relationships. As Tracey reflects, “If a child isn’t safe and a child doesn’t feel loved, then they’re not going to learn, and they’re not going to come in.”

This ethos extends throughout the day, particularly in behaviour management. Staff are encouraged to reframe punitive reactions as opportunities for learning. For example, if a child runs unsafely through the corridors, teachers model calm, clear language such as “Use your walking feet.” This frames behaviour positively, supports internal motivation, and transforms moments of correction into opportunities for growth.

Abbey Hey works closely with parents to ensure these principles extend beyond the classroom, recognising their cooperation is central. By aligning practices at home and school and showing how these skills develop emotional intelligence, self-regulation, and problem-solving, the school bridges the gap between the two settings. This consistency helps children feel confident and joyful while fostering trust and communication with parents. When home and school work in harmony, children gain a dependable sense of safety and belonging. In Tracey’s words, “It then helps the parent to feel safer. Because, if they can see that their child wants to be in school, school must be doing something right?”

This impact is reflected in survey results, placing Abbey Hey in the top third of schools from the Summer 2025 primary cohort for adult and peer relationships, school environment, inclusion, and wellbeing. Pupils’ highest-scoring responses were ‘I feel proud of my school’ and ‘I want to come to school because it is important,’ both 0.3 points above the benchmark.

A Cycle of Sustained Improvement

Working with ImpactEd has enabled Abbey Hey to build on their existing work around Conscious Discipline®, using data to strengthen and extend their impact. Early survey findings revealed an unexpected pattern: pupils with the poorest attendance were reporting some of the strongest feelings of belonging. At first, this seemed surprising, but the team soon recognised that it reflected the success of their targeted support. These pupils were already receiving consistent attention from staff, and the strategies in place were clearly helping them feel connected to their school community.

This insight prompted Tracey and her team to focus on pupils highlighted by the data, those whose attendance hovered just above the persistent absence threshold and whose sense of belonging was weaker. As Tracey recalls, “We pretty much went through with a fine-tooth comb.” By identifying and supporting students who had previously fallen outside the scope of interventions, the team ensured that no pupil slipped through the gaps.  

Embedding ImpactEd’s data into everyday practice and taking a closer, more detailed look at individual students allowed the school to identify small but meaningful opportunities for support. Over the course of a year, this approach led to a 1.5 percentage point increase in attendance. Its effectiveness lies in building on existing practices rather than replacing them, allowing small adjustments and quick wins to accumulate naturally and gradually create a positive cycle of improvement that benefits both students and the wider school community.

Abbey Hey’s three-year journey with Conscious Discipline®, combined with the collaboration with ImpactEd over the past academic year, illustrates the power of bringing together attendance, behaviour, safeguarding, and wellbeing within a unified framework.  By enhancing and integrating successful practices, the school has ensured these strategies reach the students who need them most, reinforcing a culture of belonging and sustained improvement.

If you are interested in finding out how Understanding Attendance can support your school or Trust this year, get in touch with us by emailing hello@impactedgroup.uk

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