Parents to be asked to solve school attendance crisis

[noblegiraffe]

There is an article in the Times about the current school attendance crisis. It cannot be overstated how awful the attendance crisis is. Pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, are staying away from school in much larger numbers, and for more days than before covid.

It says that lockdowns broke the contract between parents and schools which said that school attendance was compulsory.

It blames parents for keeping their children home when they have a minor illness or are slightly anxious about school.

It quotes Bridget Phillipson, Shadow Education Secretary as saying "If I were secretary of state, I’d be sending a very clear message to parents that every day at school matters, and that irresponsible parents who don’t care about sending their kids to school are harming other kids’ life chances, not just their own"

(Whereas current Education Secretary Gillian) "Keegan will expand a programme that gives children skipping school an attendance mentor who could drive or walk youngsters from their home to school in the morning or negotiate with head teachers on their behalf. She said: “Persistent absence is a hangover from the pandemic affecting schools around the world. Schools and the government cannot do this alone.

“Families play a big part in attendance and parents have a legal duty to make sure their children are at school. I know it can be hard to get children out of the door, especially when they are feeling a bit anxious or have a mild cough or cold, so we must rebuild the social contract between parents and schools and make sure everyone plays their part.”

While lockdowns are brought up, what is not mentioned is the utter state schools were in between lockdowns and after lockdowns. Children were being supervised in halls rather than being taught due to lack of teachers who were ill (and this is still happening now due to inability to recruit). Lack of teachers meaning that kids get endless cover which can be largely a waste of time. Children who are anxious about attending school are expected to get on with it while teachers who are unable to cope with the poor behaviour of students are signed off with stress. The experience of children in schools during and since covid can be extraordinarily shit.

Attendance is much lower in pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Child poverty is not mentioned - I was reading about a child who couldn't attend school because her mother needed to use the one pair of shoes they shared. Other children are needed to look after younger siblings while parents work because they can't afford childcare. How will this be solved by sending a car around?

But we also know that schools in disadvantaged areas are more likely to struggle to hire staff. What is the point in a child attending school when they don't have teachers? How will Keegan and Phillipson argue that one?

This bit is the most worrying:

"A Labour government, Phillipson said, would place more emphasis on absenteeism as part of the Ofsted inspection framework, with schools compelled to produce an annual report on attendance, off-rolling (removing a pupil without using a permanent exclusion) and safeguarding. Schools are required to submit weekly attendance records to the Department for Education but absenteeism does not have its own Ofsted criteria, instead falling under a broader category of “behaviour and attitudes”.
These reports would affect the Ofsted rating given to schools, which would also take into account the progress they have made in shrinking the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their more affluent peers"

Linking an Ofsted grading to attendance will just doom schools in disadvantaged areas to low Ofsted grades at a time when Ofsted had just started to recognise that grading a school based on disadvantage was a bad idea.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/1d7eb40d-c4c4-4dcc-85ea-ad6f62c65b9c?shareToken=6c4b865c0c1b8626f2761a5ad733b608

It’s a huge spectrum though. You can’t blanket say schools are crap and you can’t also say all parents are crap. Schools and parents HAVE to work together. But teachers are people and a lot of them are parents too, quite a lot of them with ND children! Don’t treat them like nasty bullies who don’t care. But also they are primarily educators, not mental health specialists or police officers. They are meant to be spending most of their time teaching, not parenting.

Where are all the teachers on this thread? I was saying to my colleagues today that if anyone taught in a school for a month that would quickly put paid to anyone laying blame at the school’s door and being against strikes. Being a teacher is a thankless task for many reasons (one of them being the extremely unreasonable expectations of some parents) but we do it for the love of our students and for the subject.

To add - we are specialists in our subject, not mental health. We are also watching the ongoing effects of covid and a selfish, incompetent government. In a full working week I have four frees. Four. That is used for marking, planning (we have ofsted any day soon) and pastoral. The system is broken. Do not blame the teachers.

I dont take mine out either but there appears to be an increase in those that do. Be interesting to see figures.

Dd got her ASD dx age two her SSEN (EHCP forerunner) age three before setting foot in any educational establishment. I did it all expecting the support I had secured would mean she would thrive in school and in Primary she did. Went to Secondary,a useless SENCo and learning support that ran for the convenience of the SENCo and her pals (TAs supposedly) along with her being academically very strong meant that they ignored the EHCP (because she was predicted 9s) and it all fell apart and she was no longer able to attend. You expect me to give up my time to do the job that the school have the funding for making the provision as detailed in the EHCP? You don't have a clue.

I get my 15 year old into school as often as possible. His mental health is very poor and before the Christmas holidays he approached 2 members of staff and told them he had been sexually assaulted to which both replied "Go away!" I kept him off till after the Christmas holidays and he returned today. They can stick their attendance figures & letters up their a*%#s as far as I am concerned. His wellbeing and safety is more important to me than their tick boxing exercises.

@SaucepanRattle

I agree.

I would add, also not having read the entire thread but will go back and do so.

I've been In safeguarding for many years, and now have four, very young, covid children.

I do not care what anyone says, but in this area, all children who were born just before or during covid and have no older siblings have been absolutely hammered by bugs. Hammered.

I've never seen anything like it.

I've also seen a complete and utter refusal by many parents to even consider the possibility that their child may be contagious. Sickness rules, out the window, antibiotics, who cares, send them to school and leave.

No more work leave
Tougher older children
Whatever

But I do know that the younger ones, parents are going out their mind. And then they get attendance letters, as new school parents, with a child who threw up everywhere.

I've had three parents tell me recently that their child has gastric migraines. So throws up randomly. Strange how the entire class goes after them.

I've not read the whole thread, but sometimes when schools tell parents that every day is essential, that's not quite the case. Covid lockdowns did demonstrate that for quite a few children, school is a source of anxiety and stress and they really do work better from home!
My dc has anxiety - the school environment is very very hard for her. She tries, she wants to go because she wants to be like everyone else, but on done days she just can't do it. Cahms won't help her because she isn't actually self harming. When she's been at home, her grades have actually improved, so it's hard to support the party line that she needs to be there every day.
Her school have largely been brilliant and do everything they can to help her, but in all honesty, schools are designed to fit a certain type of learner and for children who are outside of that type, it can be a very difficult environment.

Much of what I've read on this thread echos what I was told recently by someone at our local authority. Lockdown provision for primary children varied wildly: some schools offered live lessons daily from 10-12, then 1-3pm, 5 days a week, others closed their doors and effectively said "We'll be in touch." Much provision fell between the two, but yes, some schools really did abandon the children and the families behind them. For many parents, the erosion began when Gov claimed that kids couldn't get covid and continued from there ... it was down to parents to protect their children against the virus, no mitigations in schools and perhaps most starkly, the demand that parents send a covid+ child into class, for "the sake of education..." when we all know what that leads to everything but.

I suspect many parents found this deeply offensive. Teachers certainly did. I'm frankly puzzled how they think the latest family abuse strategy will attract anything except derision. This rebranding of a list of problems caused by funding refusals, such as unmitigated SARS2 transmission, lengthy CAMHS referral times and SEN waitlists together with child poverty, into "Attendance" is just the next parent-shaming noise to emanate from the Government.

Whilst the disruption(s) continue, the learning gaps can't be effectively addressed. Parents are becoming increasingly aware, numbers of families pulling out of state primaries and switching to Home Education have rocketed in the last two years, including families with teacher parents.

Blaming parents is so cheap in every sense, but no-one is actually buying it.

Where are all the teachers on this thread? I was saying to my colleagues today that if anyone taught in a school for a month that would quickly put paid to anyone laying blame at the school’s door and being against strikes.

Or even if someone could be a fly on the wall in a school for a few days tbh. People have no idea.

My children’s school have said my daughter shouldn’t be kept off with hand, foot and mouth I told them that they were crazy if they thought I was sending my child into school when her hands and mouth are covered in blisters and she was in pain. I then got threatened with the truancy officers but she’s 4 so I wiped out the not of compulsory school age as of yet so truancy officers won’t care.

I guess I am the parent that is slightly more blasé if the kids aren't feeling well, and that is as a direct result of lockdown. I will also never forget my daughter who was 6 at the time coming our of school and she sobbed her heart out because she felt so poorly, she had fallen asleep in lesson and still no one called me. She ended up in A&E that night. Unless a child vomits or has a temp my children's school won't call us as parents. Due to that, I would rather keep them home if their under the weather, rather than worry about them deteriorating at school and no one communicating that!

Schools do provide for and value children as individuals- the fact you don’t know this is probably due to the fact you and your child are hardly there. The more you keep them off, the worse it will get and wider the gaps will be in your child’s learning. As long as you point the blaming finger at the schools though, then everything is fine 🙄
Why don’t you ask the school if you can go in and try to support your child whilst they’re there?

All schools? All teachers?

My DS was self harming aged 6 due to the behaviour of his teacher towards him. She had no understanding of developmental trauma and, in all honesty, no sense of empathy or care towards him. A child that had no behavioural issues before or indeed since was so anxious about going into her class he was scratching himself to the point of drawing blood. The only good thing about Covid was that his time in her class was cut short.

He went into school but there were gaps in his learning because anxious children simply don’t have the capacity to learn. And I wasn’t about to ask the school if I could go in and support him in class because a professional should be able to manage their behaviour without parental supervision, and oddly enough I had my own job to do without supervising a teacher doing theirs.

What I don’t understand is why you all aren’t rising. We know it’s complex and varied as to why there is such a big problem. We know the government likes to blame a community,
in this case parents, when the fundamental failures lay with their disastrous policies and under funding of key services (NHS, CAHMS, schools,SEND etc) so why are those who are angry, not on the streets demanding more from the disgusting PPE contract scandal?? Anyone who watched the post office drama on ITV can share their utter disbelief that a government organisation has failed so spectacularly and in full knowledge for so many years.

ive read the responses of angry parents on this thread at schools etc and I feel cross with you. It’s easy to finger point, why are you not looking at the root cause and rising? These are our children, why are we allowing the government to fail so deliberately whilst they line their own pockets?

wake up people - whoever the government and opposition parties blame is purely a scapegoat. I wish we had more of the spirit of the French, our silence is our complicity

Schools do provide for and value children as individuals- the fact you don’t know this is probably due to the fact you and your child are hardly there. The more you keep them off, the worse it will get and wider the gaps will be in your child’s learning. As long as you point the blaming finger at the schools though, then everything is fine 🙄
Why don’t you ask the school if you can go in and try to support your child whilst they’re there?

No they don’t. I was a secondary school teacher for 26 years. Schools provide for those who fit in. They don’t provide for individuals. They only care about results. They pay lip service to provision, but only on the context of results. They used to care 20 or so years ago, but now it’s just all data.

My son was meant to attend schoolin the days that the Headmaster did not understandADHDor wantyo learn about it so for many weeks he never went to school even though he wanted to do it was a joke No home tuition no education even though he was on the special needs register the pyschiatrist had grave concerns about the headmaster And the education department in the council did nothing refused to talk to is the arrogant people

Just to quickly add, I am a secondary teacher and deeply care about my students and try to accommodate SEND needs as much as possible but it is not easy. We are lucky to have a very good SEND department and pastoral team where I teach. The demands and needs are a lot though and I sometimes feel it takes a toll on my own mental health but try to mitigate this. It is a complex situation but please don’t think all teachers/schools don’t care. Lack of funding is another matter. We need to keep speaking up.

all the dozens and dozens of parents on this thread describing how shite their school was during covid, I have questions

what was the school like before covid
what was the school like after covid

and a Brucie bonus - if the answer is “shite” is there no way you could have moved them at any point outside of covid?

Both my children have always enjoyed school, and i really mean that (11 and 14). in fact my youngest returned from first day back yesterday and literally spoke at me for an hour about how amazing the day was… from a science experiment she loved, to a new book they’d started in english to being selected for the netball team to loving the spag bol at lunch.

Had i ever felt that they were being let down by their schools at any point for an extended period - if attempts to engage and improve hadn’t been fruitful… i’d have moved her/him

and a Brucie bonus - if the answer is “shite” is there no way you could have moved them at any point outside of covid?

My kids school is actually pretty good, despite the difficulties my kids have had at points. Pre and post Covid for the most part the school and the teaching staff have tried very hard to work with me to support my kids and were very creative in working to keep them in school and for school to be a safe place for them.

Despite those efforts there were problems at times and with particular staff members. Some teachers just aren’t that engaged with the kids, some are just getting through the day, some are downright harmful. As in all professions there are the good, the bad and the ugly.

In my case moving the kids away from teachers they had made connection with, moving away from a school trying to make things work, away from their friends and in the midst of assessment processes wouldn’t have helped anyone.

Some of the issues were indeed structural- as a result of government policy and funding, so moving elsewhere wouldn’t have improved things as I could see the leadership team being very creative with what they had. The individual staffing issues you’re going to find at any school, so better to try and resolve them and avoid disruption if possible. Even good schools have their issues.

Yes because just moving a child to another school is easy, for those with EHCPs its a nightmare, for those without, well there just arent enough spaces. Round here anyway

Dd was one of the lucky ones during Covid,in independent specialist school that didn't close at any point and school life remained largely unaltered. Class sizes of 4 and multiple sites and lots of staff made that easy. In contrast the maintained special schools closed two weeks before lockdown and were never heard from at all. LA made weekly safeguarding phone calls to all children with EHCPs (still got them for dd despite her being in school). Keyworkers with children in special schools were offered places in hubs in mainstream which were largely useless if you had a child needing hoisting or AAC or knowledge and experience of their needs or how to support them.

so you did part of your job while homeschooling your own children? While others had to actually work full time and also homeschool their own. Setting work is not teaching students

Lots of people are. If you google it, there have been plenty of rallies and protests about it. However, it’s often quite difficult for parents of SEN children to do - we tend to spend a huge amount of time attempting to work but being sent on parenting courses that are often not geared to our children’s needs to double check it’s not our parenting causing the issue (always in person on the morning of a work day in my area), phoning services to try and get support for our children and writing pages and pages of information about our children to try and help services understand issues, fitting SEN/ALN specific workshops and courses around work and childcare and teaching ourselves techniques to manage the behaviour or educating ourselves on why certain issues might happen and appropriate responses to the behaviour. That’s not to mention the actual childcare itself.

I’m more fortunate to have some time to write letters and protest, my children’s symptoms are currently the type where mainstream school is possible and my school is supportive and my life is a bit odd to some but not markedly different. We’ve had some serious crises, but they are not daily or weekly. Some parents are changing 10y old’s nappies, haven’t slept a night since their child was born, are dealing with child to parent (and sometimes to sibling) violence, are dealing with at home crisis, self-harm, suicide attempts, general supervision of children who might put everything in their mouths (including dangerous things) or climb dangerously and never have a break because respite care isn’t suitable or can’t be found and the child cannot attend mainstream school.

I’ve never voted Tory in my life and have regularly rallied and protested against many issues including the poor MH and SEN provision. I’m still in the same situation. I’ll keep trying, but it’s not as simple as just the parents rising up. Others need to be supporting for the parents who can’t show up because their children’s needs mean they simply can’t. I’m struggling with time right now because of the amount of things that I have to do for my child and for doctors to begin to see them. Again, I’m lucky because I run my own business, so although I’m very stressed and have no one to ask for cover or time off, I don’t have to explain to an employer why I can’t be in work for an entire morning for 20 weeks of 2 courses (that clash, so this will be the case until August). I know I’m going to be beyond exhausted trying to do my work and these courses and tasks and looking after my family during this time, alongside trying to remain a good manager and Director. However, I don’t have a choice if I want to access support. Many of us are fighting daily to try and access a system that sucks and some will not have the energy to fight an extra fight on top of that and shouldn’t be badmouthed for that.

Ours was decent before and isn't bad now, especially given the constraints schools are operating under wrt budgets, staffing etc. The specific problem was lockdown.