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

Both my parents worked at schools where most of the local parents considered it free childcare and nothing more. They were constantly ill from teaching some coughing/sneezing kid, which inevitably meant I was too. Can still remember being on 4 different types of medicine for all the bugs I had simultaneously, and how much I struggled to breathe for weeks on end. So yay for presenteeism I guess.

Keep your bloody germs to yourselves

Sweden calculated the relative risk of infection across professions. Primary school teachers were less at risk than many professions- at par with supermarket staff. Schools were initially open in the younger years due to the concerns over children from lower socioeconomic groups and vulnerable children. Then the data came in and the risk was not that high.

separately, Sweden made mistakes in other areas. Many male migrants drive taxis and have female family members working at care homes. Covid came (I have been told this, not read a report) through taxi drivers and straight into care homes. Lots of excess deaths there.

The calculation was made in Swedish schools. I’m not an expert on them, but given that public spending 8n Sweden seems to maintain a high level of state provision is it possible that they had better ventilation, fewer children in classes and (given the Swedish lifestyle) more outdoor space/time?
I also remember reading at the time that Sweden gave guidelines about distancing and isolation which didn’t need to be made into laws because the majority followed them anyway - so maybe schools could stay safely open because people behaved responsibly?
I also remember reading that those responsible for the way Sweden handled the pandemic said later they had been wrong and should have done what other countries did after all.

@cardibach , I am not sure where you are getting the information about sizes? I assume that the Swedish schools vary between city and country side like in the U.K.? There were 30 ish in my school when I grew up.

with regards to Covid, again, who said that please? I tried to find it any only found a report from the ministry of health, saying that there were no evidence that closing schools limited the spread of Covid 19 (Nordic comparison), unfortunately in Swedish.
https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/nyheter-och-press/nyhetsarkiv/2023/maj/inga-belagg-for-att-stangda-skolor-minskade-smittspridning-av-covid-19/

With regards to spending on schools, in Sweden the government funding for state pupils follow those pupils if they chose to go private, kind of subsidised private schools. Are you suggesting that this enhanced the school offering? Could be, but downsides as well in terms of oversight.

30ish in my class!!! Many more in my school.

No, my concern is sick children being off-rolled by schools and/or parents being coerced/bullied into removing sick/disabled children from the school roll by pushy school leadership.

That Ofsted could be a motivating factor for schools to off-roll children with undesirable attendance percentages was a secondary point.

It’s hard enough accessing education when you are just one of 2000 pupils and you might die anyway without schools becoming especially motivated to ditch you (sadly, some teachers, a minority, thankfully, do not seem to recognise the value in educating a child who might not make it to adulthood).

I said I didn’t know, but was guessing based on an impression of the quality of services in Sweden. And 30 is fewer than in many U.K. primaries (and secondaries) now.
As for getting it wrong, this from December 2020, for eg. https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-admits-coronavirus-strategy-underestimated-strenght-virus-lofven-stefan-2020-12?r=US&IR=T

Thank you @cardibach , I think we are both right. That article is older, whereas what I posted was the final evaluation from 2023. With regards to schools, I don’t think they ever wavered on keeping schools open year 1- year 6 due to the vulnerability of younger pupils. It is also important in the context to consider that Swedish children starts school (or did when I was little) aged 7, so we are talking older children.

with regards to class sizes, for me, that was 50ish years ago, we have had a huge population increase since. However, I would guess that the possibility for all parents to get the government funding on school place and put that towards any private school of their choice has opened up several new schools so it is possible that there are more school places now.

Sweden did get a lot wrong with Covid, care homes and the different living conditions of many migrant families (many generations, smaller space = increased vulnerability) are some that I am aware of - but not closing schools for the younger children, I have never seen that been discussed as a mistake. The 2023 report also purports to show that Sweden did the right thing there.

As in keeping schools open for younger children is something I believe Sweden was doing deliberately- and proud of. Sorry, I realise that the last bit didn’t make sense

I’m response to the author’s initial statement

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.

I think schools should need to produce an annual report on off-rolling pupils and safeguarding as I know many schools use this tactic with children, reduced timetables and using temporary exclusions frequently it’s no wonder that some children’s attendance is poor.

If those in charge of schools want to ask parents yo solve the attendance issues and criticise parsnt for keeping kids off when they have anxiety then they need to improve their SEN position. My anxious ADHD autistic kid is not being sent to school for 8.55am when his anxiety is through the roof and they tell me that although they'd like him to be assessed and diagnosed, they can't get this done unless he is in crisis, whilst also acknowledging his significant anxiety that apparently isn't good enough crisis! I am also adhd and autistic and the just keep going approach was not helpful.

they tell me that although they'd like him to be assessed and diagnosed, they can't get this done unless he is in crisis, whilst also acknowledging his significant anxiety that apparently isn't good enough crisis!

They're telling you this because - as horrific as that is - it's the position we are in. There are entire local authorities where this is policy.

@Yikealikes does he have a diagnosis already?

No, because apparently he can't get diagnosed because he isn't in crisis. The SEN lady at school got us to fill some form and then LA support came in and said both school and I had underestimated the impact of his neurodivergency so they decided to refer him on for diagnosis and then we were told this wouldn't happen as he's not in crisis. The school thinks he's on the autistic spectrum but don't think he's got ADHD because he's not super naughty which is a little annoying. I'm diagnosed ADHD, pretty confident he is also ADHD and the "naughty" bit bugs me. We suspect he's DCD as well which in some ways is bothering him more than the rest as he's more aware of it when playing football etc with peers so we are looking at what we might be able to do privately and I do what I can to support him at home but it does feel like there's little support or guidance. Most of the stuff that I was asked about when they first raised the possibility of autism had me saying "is that not normal?". We've got ALOT of neurodivergency in my family, it's normal for us 😂 I'm trying to work out how I can support him and whats best yo do whilst trying to work through my own neurodivergency challenges and I'm not sure I'm succeeding with either!

I had a full blow breakdown a couple of years ago before I was diagnosed and I've been in and off antidepressants that didn't work since my teens. I can't help but feel that I'd have been much better off if I'd been diagnosed earlier (although I know that it just wasn't something that was looked for in those days). I had awful grief when i was diagnosed, supported and medicated for what might have been with an earlier diagnosis. I don't want that for my son.

It's a terrible situation to be in. So
much of what you say rings true. We did finally get a diagnosis after several 'threat to (his own) life' situations. But we're in Scotland. No EHCPs, seemingly no situation in which you would be given a one to one (which he had before we moved) I think I made a terrible mistake moving him here, honestly.

A school said the words ‘super naughty’? Wow 😮

Yep. There seems to still be a belief that boys can only have ADHD if they misbehave. I often forget how negatively ADHD is perceived as whulst there some very difficult challenges, i actually think my ADHD is a massive bonus in others. I'm excellent at strategy and thinking with different hats on. Once I was diagnosed and I'd got to a less stressful place, i was able to see my challenges and start finding strategies to help. I genuinely was a bit shocjed that my brain operated differently to others at the time, which now ive hot more insight seems ridiculous. Another mum at the school has the same issue and they are now saving, doing extra shifts up to have him assessed. The school seem to be leaning heavily into attendance rates this year after pressure from the LA, who I assume are also under pressure. We get regular statistics on attendance rates to the point where I think parents completely ignore them. I've worked in the LA, I understand their under pressure but chucking stats at parents and saying you have to send them in even if they are in full blown anxiety to the point of panic doesn't help. Most parents who suspect their kids are neurodivergent are also discovering they might be neurodivergent and are very concious of the struggled they had as kids. I usually manage to get the anxiety down with mine and in but not in time for the bell. I'm not going to drag him into the car, I'm going to take tine working through his panic so he can learn to think it through and help himself as he grows. I'm not going to teach him that you just have to plow on even though you feel like you are going to die (which he did say in one panic attack). That approach just led to tears of antidepressants and anti anxiety meds for me. When I had my breakdown, I'd just been shovelling down anti-anxiety meds to get through the day till I stopped functioning completely. Now I've had PTSD counselling and my diagnosis, I can see I pretty much lost 3 years operating like that and I'm lucky I was finally able to access the help I needed, I'm not sure I'd still be here otherwise. To me it makes no sense that kids with neurodivergency who aren't considered in crisis aren't getting help now. Learning strategies now to manage challenges means its a lot less likely they will need to access services as an adult. The future cost to the NHS of not helping in those early years must be huge!

This, this, this. I want my child in school. He wants to be in school. But we've got kids who need more support creating situations that result in more anxiety with my child and then his own challenges generally. And as parents, we are directed to a website that tells us we don't need a diagnosis to support our child but no info on how best to do this. 2 people who are SEN workers said we should get him a diagnosis so he can access the support he needed before they went to crisis only. Whilst we were waiting it changed to crisis only and suddenly everyone is pretending he (and we as parents) doesn't need that support and we aren't even being given a steer on what to do!

Schools, workplaces cater for the majority. SEN children/adults fall through the cracks because they are a minority who are seen to cost more, schools just don't have the budgets, specialized schools are few and far between. Many employers don't have the experience so just don't hire or lay off when problems arise.

@unwrittenredbook I agree wholeheartedly. My son is currently out of school with mental health issues and unmet SEN needs. He was physically bullied which was the final straw. On one day that he was having several meltdowns, they wanted to keep him there even though they had told me themselves that they'd seen a mention of suicide in an exercise book. Now that he's at home (while we figure out next steps) I feel it's a constant push from them to get him in the building, for their attendance figures. On the other side, my daughter's school wanted to speak to me about her missing 4 days across 2 illnesses, where she had a temperature and slept all day. Having Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria myself, all of this pushes me to think that I am the problem and gives me sleepless nights. But I want my son in school, I don't see how he is either safe or having a good education though

Are teachers trained for this though? Even mental health professionals and specialists in SEN still can’t meet every individual need with their knowledge and experience, so what are mainstream teachers meant to do when the pressure is on from the government and Ofsted to fiercely educate every child that is on roll? If a child is on their register, a headteacher has a duty to get that child to attend, even if they know that mainstream is distressing and perhaps damaging. They are not allowed to encourage you to homeschool, even when they feel it’s the right thing for your child. The blame game and pointing of fingers at mainstream schools just damages relationships. They have minimal training in SEN and even less capacity to support. The teachers I know never once wake up and say ‘ah I’m not going to meet their needs, I can’t be bothered today’. They just don’t know how because they are completely overwhelmed with trying to meet everyone’s needs and trying to teach the curriculum.

Parents are responsible for getting their kids to school. (obviously not including kids who are genuinely too ill to attend.)

This used to be something people were fined for. If they were fined now, the situation would probably be very different.

Since when is a head teacher in charge of getting a kid to attend school? They're not. A place somewhere has to be offered to a child where possible. Then it's the parents' responsibility to get them there. Has the world gone mad?

They have minimal training in SEN and even less capacity to support.

Obviously if a child has SEN or other disabilities, the schools do have a responsibility to help that child participate.

They do get fined. And yet the situation is as it is.

Headteachers are responsible for attendance- they have to report attendance and show that they have made every effort to support a family in getting a child into school. This is very similar to SEN support because it’s about removing barriers, not diagnosing and supporting children who have very specialised needs. They just aren’t qualified to do that, and they don’t get extra funding to put in 1:1 support unless the child has an EHCP, which are like gold dust…