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

[NeedAnUpgrade]

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.

I’m so sorry, @NeedAnUpgrade— my mum ignored it completely - she just pretended I wasn’t falling apart every day. I still had it at university, but could cope better and by the time I was out in the world working it was gone - although I remained very close to my parents and visited often.
Then, I married and moved from California to Rhode Island and my mother fell apart lol.
I think your daughter is very fortunate that she has such a caring mother - they’re the best.

Pre lock down school attendance was a must, unless they broke a bone or vomited. During lock down, our school abandoned the children. We had a couple of emails, then nothing, until they were ready to accept the children back. Post lock down we have to drop the kids in at the entrance, parents are still not allowed on the grounds in the mornings. Most parents at our school feel like, school doesn't care about the children. It's meant every sniffle/tummy ache, they stay home. Because now the children are prioritied, over school.

Lack of funding for SEND, lack of support for teachers, lack of wraparound support for families. It's a perfect storm.

This

We let the primary school application pass by on Monday without applying. We've knows since DD was 2 that the school system is dire and we've planned our lives accordingly around being able to home ed. I appreciate this is not a positive choice for many people and they are forced into it rather than it being their first choice. It's solidly our first choice over school and it's a choice that's becoming much more popular.

If a teacher committed suicide due (in part ) to the pressures from Ofstead, just think what academic pressures may do to a child. This will of course influence their willingness to go to the place they feel this pressure 5 days a week. It’s a no brainer for me.

I don’t think there’s 1 thing, it’s too complex for that. My gut feeling is it’s due to a variety of factors. Better diagnosis to account for some, but not all. The rest may be caused by:

1. Screens. Of course there was TV when we were kids but at limited times. And there were no tablets which is an entirely different ball game - the excitement loop/reward feedback is completely different. I would be interested to see how a lot of screen time (due to covid and streaming services) plus tablets have shaped the brains of very little children (babies and under 2s). It wouldn’t surprise me if the incredibly addictive nature of screens (plus the fact they cause you to disengage with the outside world and develop atypical or reduced speech) somehow creates withdrawal symptoms that mimic anxiety/repetitive behaviours when not in use.
2. The internet causing anxiety. Anxious behaviours are very intertwined with neurodivergence. I blame the Internet for a lot of health anxiety (Google tells you you’re dying), anxiety about global events (24/7 news and updates, graphic videos of war/genocide/natural disaster), online bullying, social media competitiveness, and so on. This may account for anxious or later presenting symptoms in teens.
3. Possibly environmental factors, older parents, premature babies surviving, pregnancies being propped up that wouldn’t have progressed years ago.
4. Modern life frankly overwhelming people to the extent that they feel they’re abnormal for not being able to cope with it.
5. A rise in speech delay, again this can mimic neurodivergence. Delayed speech has also rocketed, exacerbated by lockdowns but also the loss of normal interactions with babies and toddlers because of screen distractions. This is a massive thing I’ve done a lot of reading around and can post links if helpful.

But, who knows, this is just a brain dump on my part.

Mine hasn't been to school much since Covid. It ruined their mental health, my teen is fundamentally very very ill. SH, suicide attempts, crying, eating problems, insomnia and on and on. There's no way school is set up to manage all of that and provide an education, or that their brain will allow them to retain that education.

I'd love it if they were well enough to go to school. I'd be overjoyed. But keeping them actually alive is my priority. Education can come when they're ready and able.

I am so sorry your daughter is experiencing all of that, in particular the physical bullying. It must be really difficult for her, adapting to all of the changes over the past few years. Is she bilingual? Or is language another barrier to her being happy at her school?

And, to be clear, I'm not using 'Covid' as an excuse. What I mean is the impact of living in a pandemic when everyone is being told at every opportunity that it's serious and people will die, with daily death tolls on the tv, has been brutal. To go from that that to 'all ok now, back to school with you' was a 360° turn my child simply couldn't cope with.

I've never lived through a pandemic before. I ended up having time off work with MH problems.

It's not just kids. But, as always, the government like to blame internet/social media/kids/teachers/anyone else for the impact of the decisions they made.

My child was broken. They're not fixed just because the government say it's all ok.

I think this is indicative of how what we have designed ‘education’ to be is just not the best way for most people to learn nor is it a conducive environment for most.

Screen Time being a negative thing is a huge myth when it comes to children (and adults) with SEND.

It’s most often the opposite, in particular for people with Autism or ADHD. Screen time can really help people with SEND to regulate and can have a genuinely calming effect - whether that be through watching YouTube videos or gaming.

But if there was a withdrawal effect then it would calm them wouldn’t it, in the same way a cigarette calms a smoker. It’s a bit chicken and egg.

If they’re paying surely it’s up to them?

We used to fall asleep in our lectures!

Well no because if they’ve taken a student loan out they’re pissing away taxpayers money that has been loaned in good faith of them getting a decent job with the degree and paying it back.

I'm just trying to work out what you are saying, are you saying that you don't think that it's always autism then, just behaviours derived out of undesirable factors and it's over-diagnosis?

I say that because you are saying 'mimic neurodivergence' in paragraph 5?

Wow. And you claim not to be prejudiced!

I just want to pick this apart for a minute. My youngest child is a girl who has always enjoyed board games, loved being active, she now plays her sport for the county and for a local premier club. She is autistic but was an early talker, has to wear noise cancelling headphones all of the time. She couldn't cope with the uncertainty of primary school, particular triggers were things like Rock Stars time tables, she's also dyslexic and this affects numbers as well as reading. She was always sat by the disruptive children because on the face of it she was compliant and quiet, she was targeted by bullies and was bit at school on at least 2 occasions. By the time I stopped forcing her into a harmful environment she was refusing to eat and after getting her dressed for school on a Monday she was so overwhelmed that she couldn't get undressed without a meltdown, she slept on the Floor in her bedroom fully dressed. She had rituals where she had to go around her room touching several things and saying things before she could leave the room and then I had to walk her to school when she was crying and trying to run back home. School said she was fine. She was 7 years old. No access to the internet to misdiagnose herself or to ramp up her anxieties ffs.

She has been out of school since then and has access to OT and SALT, not because she can't talk (or because she wasn't an early talker!) but because she doesn't understand receptive language. The OT is to help with her sensory processing differences.

She will do GCSEs just like everyone else will and she is going to look at local colleges to see if there is something she is interested in.

She has an amazing social life and peer groups through her sport.

I don't dispute that modern life makes things more difficult for neurodiverse people but I do dispute your repeated suggestion that school is no different from 20 years ago. Did you have to do your timetables timed to loud music? (one of multiple examples) and that people are misdiagnosed.

I also dispute your idea that school is necessary and that kids who don't conform to schools won't succeed in life. It's narrowminded and simply untrue.

*stormy4319trevor · Today 11:25

I think teachers should be required to have a first, rather than second class degree. Getting a first means the person is dedicated, efficient and passionate about learning and this is what we need from teachers. I know some graduates who, having got a second class degree, enter teaching because it's a job they can get and the money isn't bad. I would say the bar for entering teaching is set too low. Also, everything that has been said here about reforming curriculum, less petty rules, plus returning teaching to the highly valued profession it should be*

This shows little understanding of the profession. I had a first class. Plenty of my colleagues did. Lots had MA’s/MSc’s. Some were doctors. Ofsted drove me out. Plus lack of suppprt. Most of these people l worked with have now escaped. If the quality of teachers is crap it’s because conditions have driven the higher educated out, as they are more desirable in the work place.

Yes CAMHS told me NOT to remove screens for my school refusing children. It is a safe space.

Mindjam is a reflection of this, it is a service that many local authorities offer and it is support via gaming.

It’s very telling how we treat children in our society that they were expected to jump at every turn of the pandemic and just get on and cope.

We really are a very ‘adultist’ society.

Im sorry to hear how this adversely affected your child 😞

I didn’t say they won’t succeed in life. Many will particularly if they develop their special interest, or go into an industry where being autistic is a strength. But given the numbers now, this simply won’t be possible for everyone, and especially not if they miss out on education. In the same way I’ve taken jobs I didn’t like, almost everyone does at times. My friend is autistic and has gone into a niche area of engineering and is very successful. However she didn’t miss school and is very exceptionally bright. It’s not that profile I’m worried about.

And yes, I’m open to it not always being autism. That’s not to say there isn’t an issue, or significant symptoms. But the symptom umbrella has expanded to such a degree that virtually any behavioural/communication difficulties now seem to be autism. I can’t remember the last time I heard about any diagnosis like this that wasn’t ASD, ADHD or usually both. People are complex creatures and the idea that they all fit into just one or two diagnoses doesn’t feel right to me, but we’ll see.

I think in 20 years there will be significant progress in this area and we will have a more finely tuned idea of what is going on, and the source of the difficulty. As well as a better education system I hope!

They all need to be taught it isn’t a given in many countries and some kids would kill to have the education they get, they’re very fortunate indeed.

They know this full well. They get told it quite often, in my experience. Telling kids something doesn't mean they care or take any notice, unfortunately. Even for the very few who actually take the reminder to heart at the time, it will not be something they constantly bear in mind. It will be forgotten the minute they are in a boring lesson or want to chat to their friends instead of listening to the teacher.

It's like when your parents tried to make you eat your sprouts because starving children in other countries would be glad of them. Doesn't work.

So are you an educator, expert in autism or parent with a child who has struggled with the environment of school?

Or do you just think that you know best? I'm just wondering what your area of expertise/ interest is here?

Many experts in autism agree with the things I’ve written above, they’re fairly unanimously agreed there’s been an increase in incidence as well as just ‘better diagnosis’.

There are so many factors.

• The cult of presenteism which puts so much pressure on. We need to return to a flexible, common sense approach where illness, family trips, extra-curriculars etc are all accepted with good grace as reasons to not attend school every once in a while. It's not a big deal and shouldn't be made to be. The threat of "falling behind" is absolutely preposterous, needs to be nipped in the bud.
• Parents are more often from a generation that struggles with mental health and also believe the approach to tackling mental health struggles resides in the environment adapting to them rather than the opposite. It's neither right or wrong, it's just a fact that the notion of "pushing through" is no longer a common shared societal value like it used to be.
• Covid has played a part.
• There is a precedent where children have friends who have been put on reduced schedules etc and they get the message that if they act up in a certain way, it will be an option for them
• The check-box approach to education and discipline in schools is soulless and genuinely stressful for children. I wouldn't want to be there either.
• The lack of discipline in the classroom is as stressful for children as it is for their teachers.
• The societal messages that everyone needs/deserves an individualised education plan, rather than doing one's best which what is provided to the group, is both unworkable and self-defeating. Children and their parents now expect accommodations to be made as the first port of call rather than helping their child develop the skills to benefit from mainstream education.

Did you have to do your timetables timed to loud music?

I wonder how many schools do this. Dc school seem aware and they have ‘marshmallow claps’ no hand contact so not too loud

I can see loud music plus timetables might be hard