To think the Ofsted inspector who blames WFH parents for low attendance is probably just resentful?

The bit about the social contract from before covid having gone is completely right. The levels of parental alienation are much higher too.

I didn’t see this before posting. I agree with much of this.

Correct about it being or could be a parent who doesnt have a job. Difference to years ago is that parents who were stay at home parents, got up, got ready, ran to a routine of school attendance

When you say 'our culture', who are you talking about? Im talking about the UK in general. There are pockets and different demographics who are very pro school and education, Asian families for one, there are many others

But generally speaking as a nation, we are poorly educated and dont value or use education to our advantage. We have a poor work ethic as shown by the huge numbers of economically inactive people we have

It's certainly my experience- I am a School Improvement Advisor for a local authority and behaviour and attendance are in my job description. In every school, there are increasing numbers of parents with this attitude - more in some areas of the local authority than in others but they exist in numbers in every school.

In my experience there are a great number of different reasons for absence. Anecdotally, I have experienced parents (mostly non-working, rather than WFH, and particularly abrasive sorts)telling their kids they don’t need to bother to go to school. The social contract that existed between parents and schools was broken by lockdowns and then when we subsequently went on strike because of poor pay and conditions. A certain sort of parent decided this meant they didn’t have to send their kid in because apparently teachers can’t be bothered to go in.

Personally, I think it’s time this lot got over it - Covid was 5 years ago, your kids need to be educated and also to learn the self-discipline of getting up, getting ready and being somewhere on time.

It is a perfectly reasonable viewpoint and he is not at all being inflammatory in how he says it.

If children see parents at home all day, that becomes their norm and they want to be part of it. I work at home one day a week - I never talk about it to our DC, I am up, showered and dressed at 7am as usual and getting them out to school DS2 asks me almost every week at breakfast 'Mummy can I stay at home with you today?' The answer is 'No, you go to school every day and I will be very busy working all day.' He never makes a fuss and goes off quite happily but it's clearly in his head.

Secondary school children in particular are vulnerable to this because they get to the point where they know they can just say no and often get their own way. . Many, many parents just give in- it's not worth the fight to them if their 14 year old is lying in bed all morning or making cups of tea and quietly watching tv. They are parents who give in over lots of things and this is one of them.

@JandamiHash I don't care at all about ofsted or attendance figures. But I do care about mental health. I care about the MH of the kids that aren't able to attend school and I don't believe that long periods out of school are good for children's long term mental health. It generally means they are less likely to gain qualifications, less likely to feel able to get a job, less likely to form friendships. It is not in the interests of these young people to stay home all day with their parents who are WFH.
But how do we change this?
Schools are battling parents unnecessarily, but there needs to be compassion there. And solutions!
I'm not convinced that EHCP's are the solution to EBSA either. EBSA is a mental health issue, although some school adjustments are beneficial, I have yet to see an EHCP massively reduce school anxiety.
If I wasn't able to go to work due to anxiety, adjustments at work might help, but maybe I still would struggle to serve customers all day.
We would look to MH services to develop coping strategies, distress tolerance, some understanding around their learning styles. Education about emotions and habits to help MH, such as the importance of sleep, diet, staying off SM, exercise, talking therapies etc or DBT for neurodivergent children.
Trouble is, CAHMs are hugely understaffed and you have to be a huge risk to yourself or others to get through the door. There should be MH support specially for EBSA.
I hate to mention this too, but tech is also massively addictive and designed to be so. Especially for ND children like mine. The reason school is so soul crushingly dull and doesn't validate them or interest them is that they are used to huge flashing images of their special interest of the week or the endorphins of gaming. We all would.

That is definitely a thing that happened!

I havent read the actual article so it may well differ to your link to ITV

I agree with the comments he has made that are printed in the link

We have an anti education culture and narrative in the UK. We have a 'whats the least I can get away with' work culture. We have a work culture which is 'Im not being paid much so Im not doing much'. We have a 'too cool for school' attitude

Many school refusers have an anxiety that they are missing out on something at home, school refusals are higher in households where a parent is at home, WFH would fall under that category

The social contract fr school attendance was broken during covid and I dont think we'll ever get it back.

YABU based on what we see in our school. We have a significant number of children who know full well that their parents are 'at home', even if they are working, and will pull every trick in the book to try to get sent home. Some will refuse to leave the house in the morning. And parents will frequently cave, call them in sick, and keep them home because they can't deal with the hassle and need to start 'working'.

We also have a lot more parents who view school as 'optional' when they want to holiday, have long weekends, etc, because 'covid school closures' and 'strike days'. It's ridiculous.

Indeed. And also I think what should be pointed out is that when the school refusal started in 2020 we had no choice but to work from home for several months, as we were banned from leaving the house unless necessary at the time! I really don't know in our case whether any of it would have happened without the pandemic.

It's striking that he hasn't backed it up with anything. Vibes based.

Fwiw I'm a remote worker, but it's irrelevant to me because I already had hot and cold running relatives so there'd always be someone to leave DC with regardless.

I think he's maybe right, but not in the way he thinks.

I don't WFH (I'm a teacher!) and I only get 3 "family days" a year. Very often I'm having to send my kids into school when they're not really well enough. I give them a hefty dose of calpol as we leave the house, and I hope that lasts til lunchtime, and that they manage to hang on for the afternoon as well.

I'm talking 5+ times for two of my kids already this academic year. And still I've had a letter that one of mine's attendance has dropped below 96.5% or whatever the threshold is these days. My third child hasn't had a day off in over two years - he just doesn't get ill!

Basically, I think expectations of how often primary aged kids in particular might be unwell are unreasonable, especially now Covid is here to stay. I've been more unwell in the past 4 years than ever before in my life, never mind the kids.

Also, most young kids should enjoy being in school with their friends. If they're starting to refuse school, then this needs to be investigated sensitively and thoroughly. Primary aged kids don't stay home because they can't be arsed. And teenagers can stay home whether their parents WFH or not.

strictly speaking as long as they can access the books etc, people in olden times eg anicent greece etc had different people that didnt go to what we know as school and they became house hold academic names.

to conclude yes society does not need modern schooling system to build empires

Omg thinking i know, but its true and history has many examples of individuals not needing the formal education system we have.

yes they still need to study, learn and be taught.

Yet again someone blaming parents rather than actually addressing why some young people struggle to attend school. My teen DD has EBSA. Her attendance is about 50%. My DH and I are both teachers and have never been able to WFH. We have battled for two years to get any kind of support. There have been some adjustments at school but loads of fairly simple things not done, such as providing a safe person. She is diagnosed with autism and anxiety. Early intervention might have helped keep her in but her needs were more or less ignored because she is quiet and doesn't cause any disruption so the meagre pastoral and SEND support didn't seem to stretch to her.

We would like nothing more than for her to be able to be in school full-time, learning and feeling safe. The current environment in many schools is totally unmanageable for many ND kids.

@Cupcakes2035 but you’re implying that Einstein didn’t go to school, and he was clever, therefore no one needs to go to school, and they can all be as clever as Einstein!

I think there’s something in it. I wfh sometimes and tbh when faced with an ill child if it’s at home day I’m more likely to send them back to bed. If it’s a go out to work day, it’s calpol, get dressed, have breakfast and in an hour when it’s time to go I’ll make a decision.

It is rubbish going to school unwell, even if it’s just a nasty cold. I do think sometimes going to bed and having a proper rest means you get better faster. If you push through it can just drag on for ages.

I wonder if school attendance issues are more closely related to the fact that schools are increasingly dangerous places and very little education takes place there because of the constant violence and disruption for which there seems to be no consequence

So the article should be wfh improves outcomes for children, as they are appropriately cared for an home by a parent when unwell.

He's got a point. I'll qualify it by personally acquired albeit anecdotal evidence.

At my DCs secondary school they had a major attendance issue, this is pre COVID. The attendance officer who I knew (due to DCs sen) said that amazingly those students with a parent at home had far worse attendance than those where all adults in the house went to work, she even said that parents kept dc home to keep them company (these were mostly non working rather than wfh)

Every school then knew that sickness (for mild self limiting type illnesses) is far higher in kids with sahp, wfh is just an extension of that phenomenon.

On an individual level I'm sure it seems justified for whatever reason but at a whole school or whole population level you can see major trends. Remember that if you loose money (or even loose your job) if you don't go to work, getting your kids into school every day is a priority

It certainly is the reason why it is being pushed.