The first days and weeks of term predict the whole year's attendance
A child who misses the second, third and fourth day of a new term is predicted to have an overall absence rate of 43% – 30 days across that term (Children's Commissioner, 2026). When a pupil starts struggling to attend, support needs to be in place quickly. AV1 helps schools act within days, before absence becomes complex and entrenched.
Meaningful access to learning from day one of term
By the start of term, you already know which pupils are at risk of absence. Those whose attendance already dipped last term, have come back from a diagnosis, whose anxiety makes it difficult to get through the school gate, or those who are showing the early signs.
None of that shows up as a crisis on day one. It shows up as one missed day a week, which turns into two, followed by a note from a parent, leading to a conversation with inclusion teams. By the time persistent absence appears in your data, the gap it describes has usually been open for weeks.
In England, current DfE attendance guidance is clear that whole-school strategies work best when they start early and stay proportionate, offering support before sanctions. September is the only point in the year when you have that kind of runway.
A bridge back to the classroom for absent pupils
The AV1 telepresence robot allows schools to act within days, offering agile support before a pattern of non-attendance escalates and becomes complex and difficult to reverse.
AV1 enables children and young people to participate in live lessons when they cannot attend school in person. It acts as the pupil’s "presence" in the classroom, helping them stay connected to learning, their teachers, and their friendship groups.
AV1 can be deployed during periods of medical illness, for pupils experiencing mental health challenges, to facilitate gradual reintegration, or when a pupil needs to follow the lesson from a quieter space or support room within the building.
Adapt AV1 to each child's needs
Every attendance challenge is different. The best AV1 setup, and the conversations that support it, should reflect the reason a pupil isn't able to be in the classroom.
SEND
Some children benefit from a flexible, tailored approach to participation. AV1 can complement other support plans and adjustments.
Medical Illness
When a child is recovering from injury, surgery, or long-term illness, AV1 keeps them connected to lessons and friends until they’re ready to return.
Early Intervention
For the pupils flagged early, a difficult transition, a wobble last term, a family crisis. AV1 is a first response, before absence is entrenched.
Built for schools, putting children at the centre
Meets your inclusion responsibilities
AV1 gives you a concrete, documented intervention to show inspectors, governors and parents
Inclusion and belonging
Pupils hear the laughter two minutes before the bell rings. They don't just catch up later – they were there.
No extra workload for class teachers
Rejoining their peers in the classroom, the pupil connects and disconnects seamlessly. This frees up teaching staff to deliver impactful learning to absent students.
Learning and curriculum continuity
No disjointed work packs or catching up in isolation. Through AV1, pupils experience the same lesson from the same teacher, in the same moment as their classmates.
GDPR compliant
Student and teacher privacy is completely protected. With unique code authentication and an encrypted livestream that blocks screenshots and recordings, your classroom's safeguarding is entirely secure.
Reintegration
Returning to school is much easier when a classroom presence is maintained through AV1. In fact, 80% of pupils successfully reintegrate into the classroom.
What schools say after using AV1
“They’re still part of the lesson but in a smaller, safe environment.”
“It’s taken away the discomfort and anxiety that stopped him engaging with learning,”
"She's in the same class group, can log on at break time, and still feels part of the school community."
Funding AV1 with the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF)
A new funding stream for schools and academies to become fully inclusive
The Inclusive Mainstream Fund is new, ring-fenced government funding of £400 million a year for mainstream primary and secondary schools in England , £1.2 billion over three years, announced in the February 2026 Schools White Paper as part of a wider SEND reform programme. First payments landed in June 2026.
It sits alongside your existing notional SEND budget, not instead of it. There's no bidding process: funding is calculated through a national formula and paid directly to academies, or via your local authority if you're a maintained school. You don't need to apply, if you're a mainstream school in England, you already have an allocation.
The DfE hasn't pre-approved a supplier list. It's the headteacher and SLT, working with the SENCO and Business Manager, who decide what the funding is spent on, provided that spending is evidenced against the DfE's seven principles of inclusion and reported in your school's published inclusion strategy.
£400m / year
Ring-fenced IMF funding for mainstream schools in England, 2026–27
No bidding
Allocated automatically by national formula, nothing to apply for
Get in touch to explore how AV1 can help you
Questions we get asked in the first week of term
Some of the most common questions we get asked. If you can't find what you are looking for, please get in touch.
What is AV1?
AV1 is a telepresence robot that allows children and young people to take part in lessons when they are unable to attend school in person. It acts as the child’s presence in the classroom, helping them stay connected to learning, teachers, and classmates.AV1 can be used during periods of illness, emotionally based school non-attendance, for reintegration, or when a child is learning in a quieter space within school.
Where does AV1 work?
AV1 is placed in the classroom, and your child connects to it securely through an app on a tablet. Through the robot, they can see and hear what is happening in class in real time, and participate by speaking or raising their hand digitally. The child controls when they connect and can adjust sound and camera direction themselves.
Is AV1 secure and private?
Yes. Safeguarding and data protection are central to how AV1 is designed and used in schools.AV1 is built with privacy at its core:- Only one student can connect at a time, using a secure login code. When connected, it is visible in the classroom – so there is never any uncertainty about who is present.- The livestream is fully encrypted end-to-end. Nothing is recorded or stored.- Screenshots and screen recordings are blocked within the app.- No personal data is collected about the student or their classmates.AV1 is purpose-built for education settings and designed to protect both the child using it and everyone in the classroom.
Does AV1 replace teaching or other support?
No. AV1 does not replace teachers, learning support, or pastoral care.It is a tool that helps maintain connection to the classroom while other support is in place. AV1 works alongside the adjustments, plans, and professional guidance already agreed for your child – whether that includes learning accommodations, wellbeing support, or a phased return.Its purpose is to preserve access to lessons and relationships during a difficult period, not to substitute the role of educators or specialist services.AV1 is most effective when used as a part of a wide support plan developed in collaboration with the school.
Is AV1 backed by research?
Yes. AV1 has been independently studied by multiple peer-reviewed academic publications and is used in thousands of real school settings worldwide.Internal data from over 3,000 deployments (2025) shows:- 77.9% achieved their intended goal- 77.6% supported a return to in-person learningResearch and real-world outcomes consistently show that maintaining connection to learning and classmates plays an important role in reintegration and wellbeing.
