If you work in education, what do you think is causing the current attendance issues?

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I’ve read quite a lot on this recently. DD1 is 10, she’s always been reluctant to go to school. She had a spate of UTIs, stomach aches, headaches etc. She’s had a bit of time off sick but we only triggered the attendance letter recently as it went below a certain threshold. DH and I have always done our best to get her into school, being reassured that she’s ‘been fine all day’ by her teachers. It all came to a head this year (yr 5) after a complete meltdown, several anxiety attacks and refusal to leave the house. She’s now on a reduced timetable at school and on the waiting list for an ASD assessment.
Academically she’s ahead but just can’t seem to cope with the school environment.

I’m just wondering what those who work in education think the issues are. Am I just a terrible parent? Although I’m not sure what else I could do. I suspect a complete lack of funding in education has had the biggest impact on schools and students. Especially those with SEN.

parents who dont work or work from home and cant be arsed to get out of bed to take their children to school and so look for any excuse to avoid it .

For us it was covid. It was like my child saw going to school as optional. Lounging around during lockdown was preferable to the school timetable. Originally she went back quite happily but now the smallest thing at school starts refusal, tears, complaints of illness etc.
I don’t work in education but how do you explain to your child how important it is to go to school when they were told to stay at home for months. Yes, there was home learning but for those of us also wfh and trying to occupy nursery aged children at home at the same time, the home learning was a joke difficult to manage.

My kids have both left but it was Covid that changed things for me as a parent. My then year twelve missed the best part of a year and we were constantly being texted to say she shouldn't go in. It felt like school saw it as optional and gradually so did we. It completely changed my view as a parent.

This is purely my own speculation, but I think there is an element of it that is due to parent poor health (including mental health) and complete overwhelm. I work in higher education, but I know that our staff have been going down like flies for the past two years. Our occupational health dept is completely overwhelmed with staff off on shorter and long-term sickness. I had a period of 3 months sick leave earlier in the year, related to a long term condition, and I've never had time like that off in my life. It's just been a huge struggle to keep people in work and people are just really teetering on the edge.

I have no doubt that similar issues related to physical and mental health (from lockdowns, from cost of living, from family stress) are effecting children, but with this many adults struggling to be well and to keep on top of everything they usually need to be doing day to day, it's hard for me to believe that this wouldn't impact on children and attendance too. I don't mean that in the sense of it's lazy parents not getting their kids to school. But when I was unwell and off work and struggling, a lot of things went to shit around me. My kids didn't miss school, because I am hard core about attendance (see below), but they were late quite a bit.

Growing up I had a mum who wasn't emotionally well some of the time. She just struggled with being overwhelmed by being a parent and doing the usual stuff we all have to do. I missed a lot of school. It was just easier for her to avoid having to take me and the stress of it all - because getting a child up, dressed, fed, teeth brushed, shoes on, out the door on time IS stressful - so she just stopped taking me. I missed a year of school - a whole year - because she largely just gave up on dealing with anything too difficult. Now that's an extreme case, but I can't imagine that lots of parents who are struggling with life being overwhelming right now aren't picking their battles just to get through - and getting the kids to school may be one of those battles they are compromising on.

Again, this isn't to say I think this is the main issue, but I can't help but think it's part of it, based on what I'm seeing professionally amongst my colleagues (and students too) who are struggling.

I think your specific question about school refusal is part of a wider question over the increase in anxiety among children and teens. I think social media is a big part of this - does your DD have access to social media? If so then that's the first thing I'd consider changing.

I think the curriculum is overfull which makes for a lack of flexibility and no time to talk to children about how they are, what’s wrong and to reflect. I would rather in the primary years, there was some wiggle room to focus on breadth of learning and consolidation, rather than memorising facts.

The lack of funding and Ofsted have meant that staff are leaving in droves and the ones who are left then have to pick up the pieces so are more stressed and unhappy. Most teachers in my school are on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication; this is not good. Unhappy staff and stressed children doesn’t make for an ideal learning environment.

Reform the curriculum.
Seriously alter Ofsted and its impact.
Sort out school funding-so that we can support all children, including those with additional needs and pay staff a decent wage.
Sort out the workload expectations in school so that staff stay.

Look at what children don’t like about school-ask them what is causing stress and unhappiness. Try to find ways to stop that, rather than making some poor overworked teacher or TA be a mental health ambassador and make them responsible/accountable for the wellbeing of everyone in the school without any money, time or resources to change the system.

This is exactly what I put on last week's thread on this (former teacher), discussing causes and solutions:

It's a very complicated situation and I don't think there's a one size fits all solution.

I feel like presenteeism is pointless when we are in an age where we could have work sent home for children.
The big barrier to that is the burden on individual teachers.

If there was a scheme of work developed specifically for home learning to tie into the school's national curriculum (something a lot of homeschooling curricula don't follow) that could be used alongside the existing SoW, then they could just download the right lesson activities and send them to the child to do.

But there isn't a scheme of work like that, and even if there was, what schools are going to be able to pay for another scheme of work when half of them can't afford to update their current school-based ones as often as they'd like!

On the other hand, sending work home doesn't work for kids who don't see the point of school. And I can see where they're coming from as well. Education used to be the key to a good job/career. Nowadays, you can fail as much as you want during your school years and you can still get a job and become an NHS trust manager in 20 years! You can become a social media star and the barrier to accessing this is nothing like the barrier to getting into film/TV. A lot of kids will know at least one social media success story in their own school, even if that success isn't particularly great in adult terms. The job market isn't what it was even 10 years ago. Qualifications are largely meaningless for most career paths. Then people keep saying the environment means the planet is doomed and that AI is going to take everyone's jobs, and kids internalise this stuff and of course they don't see the point in going into school. Of course they're anxious. There's a lot to be anxious about in the world as it is presented to them by the news etc.

If we want kids to care about something as trivial as school we need to dial down all the serious shit and doom mongering and disaster porn (aka "news") on the TV and let them have their childhoods back. They're little adults now, with the pressure to do something big, and school is the waste of time in their way stopping them from doing that.

If the most disadvantaged ones had enough money to eat properly their brains would function better and they would make better decisions (and actually be able to learn). It's not the children's faults that their parents aren't in work or are low earners, and yet they're the ones who are being penalised when their parents' benefits get cut off for spurrious reasons or their parents' work hours are suddenly given to someone else.

And if we want long term sick kids (including serious MH) to go to school we need to fund the NHS correctly and give them meaningful treatment that actually helps them instead of box ticking appointments with someone with no power to actually help them get functional.

Just like in the 1820s when school became mandatory in the first place, adultification of children and pressures on them due to big problems is the main issue, augmented by lack of acceptable medical care.

Targeting individual schools or children doesn't solve the societal problems underlying everything.

OP, Is your DD able to articulate what makes her so anxious in school? Is it friendship issues? Academic pressures?

It's a bit difficult to sell the concept of education and career to a 15 year old who watches Mr Beast become a Billionaire by messing around on YouTube.

"Work hard my precious child, study, get top A levels, spend 4 years in Uni, come out with 40k in student debt and get a 28k a year job in the Civil Service"

"What do you mean you want to be famous on TicTok?"

"I don't care how much Piewdepie is worth, you can't get rich playing X box and making stupid comments online"

"Yes I know he did, but you cant"

That's why there's an attendance crisis.

Or maybe I'm being too cynical.

I think your situation is completely understandable as to why your DD isn’t in school. So that situation aside for me personally I think it’s bad parenting ( not you , you are trying to get help ) parents who are too busy trying to be best buds with their little Johnny and Johnny could never do anything wrong he’s an angel 😇

Im in my 40s but I was scared of my mum and dad ( they weren’t violent or abusive) but I knew how was boss in my household and it was certainly not me!!! I think - personally- we have got too caught up in being best buds with kids and forgot as a parent you actually have a job to don

If it is Covid lockdown related you would expect this to be replicated in other countries. I wonder if there are any figures?

@GenXisthebest no, no social media at all. This all started when she started school. Just wondering if there has been a huge change in the school environment itself that makes it far worse for kids now in general.
I loved primary school myself but hated secondary. That was due to bullying mostly.

My child can’t go to school because of NHS waiting lists for specialist treatment.

My DS has always loved school. The past year or so, so many of the other kids in his class are so badly behaved he says he can’t learn and doesn’t ‘feel safe’.

He’s still going in every day, but we’re having to work really hard to help him hang in there.

I also think the boundaries have been redrawn regarding acceptable attendance. Back in the 80s we had most of the day off for hospital appointments, days off to go out etc and as long as you were generally in school and not falling behind no one minded. So has attendance actually got lots worse over time or do we just now interpret it differently?

I went to an academic private secondary, so quite pushy, but they pale into insignificance compared to the pressure that is put on kids now.

The constant relentless pressure to pass exams, the amount of work and the fear mongering - if you don't achieve this....

Every report has what you expected GCSEs are and what you are scoring now.
Honestly I hadn't got a clue about how the exams worked in the first 2-3 years of secondary.

We have a screwed up school system which is pushing our kids so hard, but not actually bringing our kids who love learning.

It begins in primary.
I am a teacher and learned in an era when child centred play based education was considered normal until aged 7. I find how schools are now heart breaking.

3 kids, youngest is 16, and we ahve spent the last year taking the pressure of. I don't care if you fail English Lit. Or only get a 4 in French. I care that you are coping and mentally well.

The school system isn't fit for the modern world and needs an overhaul. Its too old fashioned and overcrowded.

I think one of the reasons for poor attendance is that post covid more parents work from home so it's easier for children to be absent from school. No more having to send them in to school because you have to go into work and have no childcare.

It's the rules and regulations.
Honest it's ridiculous and all schools are bothered about is numbers.
Kids being in a queue in freezing cold weather waiting to get into school.. then getting detention for stamping their feet to keep warm.
Having half hour for lunch.. but queuing for an empty table.. then not having time to eat your lunch because the bell goes.. you try to eat it while standing in the queue then get detention for doing so.
Your hair is an inch too long.. detention.
Your skirt is an inch too short.. detention.
You haven't got the school logo on your polo shirt ( well those are £20 each and a pack of four is £12.. cost of living.. detention.
You get beat up on way home from school..
It's out of school.. not our problem.
You have a dentist appointment..
You have to have a five page letter from the dentist to prove you actually do have an appointment.
You are in hospital..
School ringing mother every day to ask where where her son is .. because it's not been approved before hand.
Yes my daughter had all this and loads more with her son. His MH was horrific.
She de educated him and did home education. .. he's now at university.

Gosh to go back to the 70s where teachers were more approachable.. they got you through your O levels without the school being run like the army and feel like your in jail.

@mindutopia I had similar growing up as you. My Mum gave up trying to get me to school as it was easier not to bother. I was determined my own DCs wouldn’t miss as much as I did. Think that’s why I was so determined to get her in as long as she was well enough.

@SisterMichaelsHabit you make some really good points. Maybe education in this country just isn’t fit for purpose.

I think covid broke the contract and it’s going to be difficult - maybe impossible - to get it back in place now.

1. Secondary schools too big leading to discipline problems.
2. Discipline problems being tackled by iron fist for all. This puts off the pupils who would not be getting into trouble, but find themselves with detentions etc. however hard they try.
3. Curriculum too rigid. Children often do not see its relevance.
4. Too much data collection.
5. Too little trust of teacher's professionalism, leading to burnout and job dissatisfaction which conveys itself to the children.
6. Schools being run by large corporate MATs who are out of touch with staff and pupils.
7. Too little emphasis on values and ethos.
8. Too many religion sponsored schools, leading to subtle (and not so subtle) indoctrination.
9. Too little funding for SEND - children get assessed as needing x hours of extra input, whilst only funded for half x.
10. Covid - changed the mindset of many. Home learning became very appealing and seen as an option.
11. Too little "culture" - music, drama, art. We are churning out fact-learners and not feeding their soul.
12. Poverty - too many families unable to afford the basics - the bus fares, the clothes, the space for homework.
13. School uniform obsession - puts children off and is expensive for poor families.

Oh well - I could go on ......

School feels like a very alien and uncomfortable environment for many children.

I think this sort of response is the sort of thing the OP is worried about.

Personal circumstances would suggest Covid. On line learning became an option - prior to that, if you were sick, you had to slog to catch up. Now, lessons can be done in half the time from their bedroom.
School life has had the joy sapped out of it. It seems to be a relentless circus of learning and tests. Most extra-curricular niceties like foreign exchanges, theatre trips, lab work have been scrapped. The fun seems to have gone.

@LunaLovegoodsLeftEyebrow we have similar issues with behaviour. There is one child in my DDs class who will randomly start screaming and runs in and out of the classroom. She needs a specialist school but there aren’t any places. I think it makes some of the other kids feel like they can behave however they want.