To think that mass non-attendance at school is COVID-related?

It's weak parenting!

One part of the puzzle could be that people realized its ok to miss a week of school when ill.

I had a look. Seems to be mainly baking.

Yes , we can tell that you “dunno”.

and you'd be wrong in that guess.

How ignorant you are.

Go say that sweeping statement to the parents on the ongoing EBSA thread on here…

I dunno. I would guess that if you could peep into the homes of the school avoiders, 90 odd percent of them would be mindlessly scrolling all day everyday.

Then she should have said "for some kids Tiktok and mindless scrolling is more appealing but I appreciate that's not what's going on in all cases".

The pandemic was a catalyst for today’s attendance issues, it essentially broke the unwritten contract between families and schools but if you dig a little deeper this is a complex issue with many other facets.

Bullying.
Highly pressured, academic curriculum.
Underfunding.
Stressed out teachers.
Out of date system and curriculum.
Draconian rules.
Lack of support for SEND pupils.
Lack of SEND schools.

Add in social issues such as cost of living crisis and poverty, which lead to health issues, which leads to transport issues or things like caregiving issues, mental health issues and lack of motivation etc.

You don’t speak for the majority any more than she does?

And the prize for ignorance goes too....

TikTok and endless scrolling is more attractive than school, IMHO. Unlimited smartphone access and parents who are afraid of their own kids are too blame here.

I’d suggest that having a knowledge of history, geography, music, drama, art, technical subjects helps create well rounded young people rather than little work bots. Not to mention the ability to think critically, plan, be creative, problem solve that these subjects bring.

Head of History here.

I beg to disagree. The ability to think critically, to construct / deconstruct an argument, to know the difference between evidence and explanation (fact and opinion), these are all massively important skills, including in science.

But others are right. Dull and dry curriculums drive disengagement, so does endless rote learning and a hectic environment.

I work in a relatively small secondary (800 kids inc 6th form) and I know the names (bar about 20) of all the kids. That helps. Actually communicating with parents helps. Picking up on the kids at risk of EBSA, and bloody well doing something about it, really helps. But I'm old. Quite a few of us are old. We're bucking the trend whereby the UK has some of the youngest and lowest paid teachers in Europe. Our attendance has improved since 2019. Oh, and we're at something like 70% PP and 15% SEN.

As I say, the ability to think critically, to take apart problems and find creative solutions ...

Yes. Some just got given a few worksheets.

No offence but I went to school in the 90s and early 2000s and i don't remember half the things I was taught and still got a 2:1 in physics degree and git Jobs in amazing places. Knowledge gaps means jack all in the real world. Maths, English and Science ate the core subjects and what is needed in life. Knowing in what year did WW2 end is not helpful in real life and especially when obtaining work. Whenever i applied for work or even uni all they cared about is A-C in Maths, English And Science.

What kids neednto be doing now is to buikd up Interprofessional learning and development. Work placmwnts throughout the years, work experience and volunteering so they can be well adjusted social humans.

😂😂😂😂 You should work for the government. It doesn’t get any more simplistic that that.

I think current school are failing children… the government has made them into business who don’t care for students

School attendance rates have got worse since Covid. I think the reason is that some parents and children got used to not getting up and leaving the house and have continued this, so I agree with your change of routine theory. Nothing to do with illness or fear of illness.

Yes, I suppose the provision varied wildly. My own kids were literally doing 9 - 3, all lessons as normal except they were via a screen instead of face to face.
I suppose we were lucky?

It definitely has contributed for reasons others have already stated.

From my memory, we were well into 2022 when this sort of thing was still going on:

“Then we had the ridiculous rules of a pupil having contact with their uncles next door neighbour but ones budgie who tested positive and so everyone in the class within a 10 mile radius got sent home to isolate alongside their own family members.”

Pretty sure in Wales schools were still doing this at the end of 2022 going into 2023. It was entire year groups being sent home to self-isolate too. This was despite year groups being divided into “bubbles” and the 1 pupil in the year group, who might have been in contact at some point with their uncle’s next door neighbour but one’s budgie, not actually being in contact with the majority of pupils in their year group.
I also remember entire year groups being told to not attend school because so many staff were absent due to self-isolating and there weren’t enough staff.

Something I’ve just remembered from November 2020. A guy I knew, whose daughters’ year groups were at home self-isolating for the 2nd time since September, decided he would be keeping his daughters off until January. This was despite all of the time they’d missed. I could see his logic too. It had been a nightmare for him with work because the school suddenly announced the daughters and the rest of their year group had to stay off for 10/14 days or whatever it was twice in a 3 month period. His employer agreed it was easier to assume the schools would likely do the same again before Christmas and safer to assume he had to work at home because they were at home. Of course as it turned out the schools were all shut again for months on end well into 2021 anyway.

I’d echo a few others on here, as the parent of a teen on fluoxetine who has missed 18 months of school and is having to drop down a year to restart GCSEs. Behaviour, crap and oppressive curriculum, lack of services (still waiting to be seen by camhs - we had to go private), inflexible and awful academies, huge numbers in school. Makes it a nightmare for kids who are struggling.

Unfortunately school can cause or exacerbate mental health problems in plenty of children. We need to start making schools that fit children instead of trying to force children to fit schools

@BogRollBOGOF ’s post on page 2…

”Also data systems have changed increasing usage of "unauthorised" so data is not like for like.
DS2 was "unauthorised" for vomiting and following the school's 48 hour policy because I didn't try to waste mine or the GP's time to get an appointment to prove he had a temporary, minor, self-limiting illness. After a serious asthma phase (including 999 from school) and emergency surgery for another issue, school expected medical evidence for every ailment, and the GP does not have spare appointments for that kind of trivia... or indeed the escalating asthma in the first place 🤦‍♀️“

Can I just say how ridiculous and insane that state of affairs is! What are most GP’s surgeries policies if you’re experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea? They don’t want you anywhere near them! The same reasons that underpin the whole not attending school for 48 hours if you’re experiencing either. That isn’t anything new either.
Why on Earth (or actually HOW on Earth) would you be getting a GP appointment just to satisfy some bizarre eligibility criteria for your child’s absence to be recorded as authorised when they’ve been off with vomiting/diarrhoea and followed the school’s own 48 hour policy in the process? Demented.
Seeing as employees and workers can self-cert for up to 7 days - and reducing the number of people turning up to their GP to get fit notes was ultimately a reason why self-cert is a thing - it should be the same in schools for short term illness.

I think looking at why so many kids seem to need mental health support is important. It’s a bit extraordinary to me how children's mental health seems to have nosedived so badly.

Mentally healthy people aren’t plagued by COVID, most of the kids I know enjoyed the time at home but then cracked on with it when the schools reopened I lived in a country with extreme covid restrictions compared to the UK and I’m absolutely fine.