WFH causing school refusal to increase.

[rivalsbinge]

I read a thought provoking post on LinkedIn a comment about school refusals being so much higher since WFH became more "normal"

In essence the thought was a lack of everyone up, dressed out the door, it's now kids up breakfast dressed smart, out the door with parents in PJs or leisure wear going back home to work and the kids knowing that parents are at home makes them more likely to want to also stay home.

Obviously the parents do work but the kids (age dependent) are not seeing this and are thinking work/ school is now optional.

I did think this poster may have a valid point but interested in what others think, I'm also not talking about SEN and other considerations.

But all the other services you need have just vanished.

For example you could be teaching an able autistic child who struggles to communicate socially. You discover although this is clearly delineated in the EHCP no speech or other therapy has been offered for the first 5 years of secondary.

I wish I was making up examples; I really do.

I am not a therapist!

Identification is definitely a major factor but there are equally lots of studies citing maternal and child diet on the explosion of ASD. Basically all about UPF that is eaten and the consequent obesity. Before anyone tells me it’s genetic, the research is clearly leaning towards a genetic component activated by diet, obesity and overstimulation by phones and electronic devices, including tv

@Flipflop223 can you link to that research please?

Sorry, I’m short on time to pull it out but if you look through the journals, go for the peer reviewed ones and you can search on maternal obesity, paternal obesity and device usage/overstimulation. There is no shortage of papers covering this x

It is complex.

It's not likely that "parent working from home" is going to turn out to be the linking factor though is it?

I do think 97% of children (that are on roll in the first place, better not forget that) in every day required except for authorised absence, is not exactly a massive indictment of a school attendance system.

But often the authorised absence is an issue too. Currently around 1/5 of pupils are missing 10% or more of school (attendance 90% or below). Which equates to missing half a day a week, and 2/3 of a school year by the end of primary school - over a whole year by the end of y11. That’s a lot of children missing a lot of school. Arguing that some is authorised is really missing the point.

I don’t think parents working from home causes this. I think it makes it easier for dc to be at home when they might previously have come to school eg mild illness. There’s no doubt covid played a part for a whole range of reasons.

But leaving send out of it, the dc who don’t come to school as regularly as their peers generally come from lower income households, often parents who don’t work, have more chaotic lifestyles, parents who have their own bad experiences of school and their own struggles. And compared to a few years ago when we had surestart centres, family support workers, proper access to camhs and school nurses and other external support services…no wonder families are struggling more nowadays.

Yes, I know all that, but I hate how all discussion of it seems to start and finish, officially, with what parents are doing wrong!

@Thewholeplaceglitters most medical conditions have also increased in numbers, including childhood cancers and diabetes, plus many others.

Conditions that require ongoing , regular appointments, treatment and flare ups/relapses . I mean I can keep a kid who has been in hypo for over an hour in school to make it until afternoon registration, or I can send them home to be dealt with properly.

Priorities.

During Covid our kids were actually sad they had to sit in front of a computer all day doing remote learning. They saw us also spending the day on our laptops working.

They we’re happy to go back to school. No issues getting them to go to school.

If you’re having trouble getting your kids to school it’s time to find out what’s really going on. Is there a bully? Do they have friends, do they have issues with a teacher , do they have personal care products and nice clothing to wear - or are they getting teased because they get a bit stinky and their clothing is a mess…. Kids really can be awful to each other.

@BlueSilverCats I’m very confused about which part of my post you think said you should leave a diabetic child in a dangerous condition because ‘attendance’?

Clearly school attendance is multi factorial. Clearly we both have different experiences/ views about some of these factors. Quite possibly, we’re both right. I’m not sure quite what in my post led you to cast aspersions on my priorities or imply I’m encouraging risks with children’s health though.

Your statement that authorised absences are also an issue .

@BlueSilverCats Ah ok, thanks for explaining.

Because a lot of absence goes down as authorised. It’s really easy to phone up & say dc has a cold / has vomited / is non specific unwell. In my experience, this will be the case with certain households far more than others, and often is not because the dc is actually ill.

We all know a lot of people will also call in sick for their dc rather than saying they’re having a long weekend at Center Parcs / other family holiday. Of course at a point of attendance being low, no further illness will be authorised for a specific child without medical evidence. But it takes a long time to get to that point.

I was directly replying to a poster who was saying that because unauthorised absence sits around 3%, there’s not much to worry about and most dc are in school most of the time (sorry @Phineyj that is a massive paraphrase I know).

My argument is we need to take all types of attendance into account. You landed half way through a discussion with a whole load of assumptions! Not all authorised absence is equal 😊

Yes me too @Phineyj but it’s easier to set us all up and keep us all arguing with each other than seek to actually solve the issues (like how ofsted doesn’t help improve attendance at all by judging it!)

I definitely think there's loads to worry about!

I think attendance is a symptom though, not the problem in itself.

And that's the real problem. Especially since we're all too busy squabbling with ourselves over the ifs and buts to look at the real issues and demand change.

Ah, there’s no rush, just post it when you have time. Or at least narrow it down for others, who are also tight on time, by naming the journals you have found this in.

Thanks in advance.

This. People need to remember this.

School refusal did exist back in the day - I certainly bunked off very regularly from year 9 onwards. It's just that my parents didn't know about it. The school didn't chase it up like they would now. Also, historically, plenty of kids left school completely from age 12-15 if they hated it and worked instead.

Covid meant that our ND children had a chance to access education in a way that suited them - at home, no bullies to face, no teachers punishing them for being them, no having to mask throughout a chaotic, stressful day, no need to have the only option of support being things that mark them out as different, no having to cope with noise, coping with large numbers of people moving, often unpredictably, in narrow corridors, no having to wait to go to the loo then have to queue because all pupils have the same 10 minute slot to access the otherwise locked up loos, no uncomfortable uniform adding to already unacceptable stress levels - I could easily go on.

Then forcing them back into that system that is even more chaotic, for some reason.

Rising numbers of school refusal has been happening for the last 15+ years. It’s worse now because numbers of SN are increasing (leading me to believe that we are seeing the true number of SN emerging, a symptom of a sick society and growing numbers of people who cannot cope with life as it is now - also see record numbers of adults unable to work) and teachers can’t cope, but have been increasingly channelled into an inflexible one size fits none environment.

SN parents have been fruitlessly fighting this for years, to learn that neither the teachers nor the government cares about our children. No improvement in support and not enough special schools leads to more school refusal, more attendance issues, more parents reluctantly home educating. It’s a shit show.

But yeah, WFH and term time holidays.

Either find a way to improve things, and it could be done quite easily if schools can be more adaptable and flexible, or expect this to get much worse.

SN parents have been fruitlessly fighting this for years, to learn that neither the teachers nor the government cares about our children*

Saying that teachers don't care about SEN children is uncalled for and untrue. Teachers are not to blame- the system is. Teachers are on their knees with workload and pressure and are woefully undertrained and supported. They are doing their best and the vast majority of teachers do their best but they have zero autonomy and can't help children without the correct resources and training- neither of which is happening. How can a teacher with no TA meet the needs of 30 children many of whom have complex needs? How can a teacher bypass policies and a school system that does not suit not only ND children- but others with SEN and indeed children in general.
I have three SEN children. When I've worked with teachers to support them- they have thrived.

Parents and teachers are on the same side and it's really upsetting when comments like this are made. Talk about "some" teachers or "some" schools even- due to poor leadership but don't speak about all teachers and say they don't care. It's offensive and insulting.

I can't tell you how many times y6 teachers said it would be pointless and distressing for certain children to sit the SATS, but the powers that be decided they have to do them anyway. Even if they just write their name. What's the point in that? The parents however always blame Miss Brown and how SHE made them. Miss Brown understands,Miss Brown agrees that they shouldn't, Miss Brown has no power. Miss Brown also quit after 3 years of y6 because she was pulled in two different directions and blamed by both sides.

With all due respect this is utter BS and extremely patronising for parents trying to deal with school refusal.
The schools environment is the problem,.not the child.
Instead of trying to force the child to adapt to an environment that has made them sick, the answer is to change the enviroment.
Most school refusers are home schooled because that is the only option, there is no help out there, no miracle cure.
It is a world wide pandemic, not just affecting young people in the Uk.

Ex teacher here and completely agree.

Attendance issues are just a symptom of the many underlying problems with the education system that the government (of all colours) seem absolutely in denial about. Until they look at their part in this and admit it needs a complete overhaul, they’ll put the blame on families and let us argue between ourselves as a distraction from their failures.

I have a child with a long-term fatigue condition. The school have been so rigid and protective of their system refusing to bend around a childs low level needs. I have had to fight them every step of the way using the law to try and get them to a)keep my child at their school on a reduced timetable with gradual increments, b) stop them from simply referring him elswhere, c) send work home on the core subjects for him to keep up at home when not in school. The school have even made up non-existant policies to justify their stance. They have been underhanded to get their way at all costs regardless of the childs education. Its not a lot to ask for work to be sent home when he is too tired to attend. They refuse repeatedly. I work in higher education which uses online platforms to provide learning materials and enable students to catch up or go over anything they wish to again, with virtual recordings of key content. I didnt think this was particularly progressive ...... until I came across high school resistance to anything other than doing things their own way. It is no wonder more and more kids are missing out on education with such a rigid school centric education system which has not adapted in 50 years despite the pandemic

Its not a lot to ask for work to be sent home when he is too tired to attend.

It really is.

Schools and teachers are at breaking point when it comes to workload and ‘can you just send work home’ may not sound like much to you but it is probably half an hour extra work per day for each teacher you request it from.

Have you looked at Oak Academy? Ask the school for the scheme of learning as a rough guide to what he should be learning at that point.

I work in higher education which uses online platforms to provide learning materials and enable students to catch up or go over anything they wish to again, with virtual recordings of key content. I didn't think this was particularly progressive

Higher education is different, because it is being provided to adults, and the recording of lectures etc was established during lockdown and has kept going. AFAIK, schools did not record lessons during lockdown, even if they provided online lessons. Also, a class of 30 will be doing more discussing, buzzing around the room, getting into small groups etc (depending on age and subject) It's a very different situation to one person at the front delivering content and answering questions to a 100-200 person room.