Top marks for tech firm as it moves to new HQ

A fast -growing  edtech company whose software has helped tackle absenteeism in hundreds of UK schools has moved to a new head office.

A Star Attendance, founded in 2018 by former local authority attendance officer, Jill Robson, has relocated to Houghton-le-Spring's Evolve Business Centre.

The move follows a strong year for the business in which its software was utilised by over 200 schools across the academic UK.

During the 2023/2024 Autumn school term, the absentee rate among UK schools stood at 6.7% according to the DfE, which was down on 2022/2023, but higher than pre-pandemic rates which were consistently below 5%. 

The A Star System however is hoping to help schools buck this trend by providing a dedicated online platform that helps better manage pupil attendance in a more transparent, fair and robust way.

Jill said: "Our overall aim for A Star is to help schools more effectively monitor attendance, ensuring no child is forgotten and ensuring every child has an opportunity to receive the best possible education.

"The A Star System is the first and only intelligent monitoring solution that achieves this, offering a comprehensive solution to attendance monitoring, tracking, intervention, and reporting. It manages every aspect of pupils' attendance, without the need to produce endless reports and we're delighted with how it has been received so far.

"This will not only help young people get more from their education, but it will also help teachers identify issues impacting on attendance at an early stage whilst building bridges with families. It could be a real game-changer in terms of helping us tackle the rising rates of absenteeism we've witnessed post-pandemic."

Since the company's launch in 2018 it has reported remarkable results, with one North East secondary school in particular witnessing a 2% increase in attendance since introducing the system.

This has led to the company not only expanding across the UK, but also receiving enquiries from as far as the UAE and USA. And with a new operations manager now in place, in the form of experienced educator Melissa Warwick, the company is excited about the future.

"The appointment of Melissa and the move to the new head office is incredibly exciting, especially when you look back at how far we've come," Jill said.

"When I set up the business in 2018, it was just me, working from an office in a local school. Now we have our own office and a team of experts who are making a real difference to children's lives across the UK.

"The reason we liked Evolve is because it just has a lovely feel about it. We met James [the centre assistant manager] and he was so welcoming.

"The office has two rooms, but we can see ourselves needing to grow again and it has a lot of space to accommodate that. You've got all of the fitted-out meeting rooms, too, it's just perfect. I can see it being right for us for the next few years as we continue to expand."

The Evolve Business Centre is owned and operated by the business investment team at Sunderland City Council, who have also supported Jill on her business journey.

Cllr Kevin Johnston, Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Business at Sunderland City Council, said: "Evolve is one of several business hubs set up by the Council to help provide a nurturing environment for companies to innovate and grow and this is yet another fantastic example of how they continue to do that.

"What A Star has achieved in such a short period of time is absolutely fantastic and we are delighted that the firm has chosen to move to Evolve as it looks to continue growing and expanding across the UK. It's yet another fantastic success story for our ever-growing tech sector."

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