Headteachers should drive to the homes of absent pupils and get them into school

[Amuseaboosh]

Headteachers "have a duty" to drive to the homes of absent pupils and bring them into school, the education secretary has said.

Gillian Keegan said levels of absence in schools were now "a crisis," with recent figures revealing that 125,000 pupils spent more time out of class than in.

I know how very lucky I am to have never had to cope with any of my children not wanting to go to school.
However, I'm not so ignorant that I believe that all the parents dealing with this issue haven't tried absolutely everything to get their child into school. Where is ANY member of teaching staff supposed to find the time to attend to 125,000 pupils in person to get them to come to school?

AIBU in thinking Gillian is out of touch and ignorant? Or can someone see wisdom here that I cannot?

staff do drive to the homes of absent children, who is this muppet that thinks that doesn't happen?

She's stupid. Ignore her.

Not all parents will have tried everything. Some of them will have tried nothing.

Indeed. Deputy head and attendance officer turned up on my friend's doorstep saying that she wasn't making enough effort and that they were going to get her school-refusing teenage son into school.

Needless to say, they didn't succeed.

This is a stupid suggestion from the education secretary, a) because schools are already doing this, b) because parents are very often trying their best too and there is nothing magical about a headteacher that means they would suddenly be able to resolve the problem.

I’m a governor. Our head does drive to the home of one family at our school (primary) who regularly fail to get their 4 children into school for more than one day a week.

Don’t many schools already do this, have pastoral/mentors or similar that can and do go to the homes of children/young people that are frequent absentees to encourage them to school.

Maybe she should start driving around the homes of absent children to bring them in to school. Somebody better warn her she needs a chaperone and a vehicle insured to carry school children, and she will need to pay for that herself because the school can't.

The "not fine in school" facebook group is really eye opening as to why kids may not want to go. Dr naomi Fisher is linked with the group and may provide more insight that just thinking staff turning up will somehow transform them. (Google too emotional based school avoidance).

However yes this could help if it was a parent struggling/not managing multiple children/children with additional needs/their own issues.

As usual, some people have no idea. Schools do send a member of staff to homes of persistently absent pupils. Parents very often don’t even open the door, never mind let them inside.
Social work also go check in many cases. Even the police. The checks (by sw and police) are to make sure the child is actually there and alive primarily.
No one can physically drag a child down the street and into school though.

The primary school I work at has about 3 regular school refusers so the deputy head goes and gets them when they refuse to come in. The deputy is soooo busy and it means there is less support at school when there are extreme behaviour issues but it really means a lot to those families who are struggling to get their children to school so they can get to work.

She's very welcome to come and collect my two when they refuse to go in! I've tried everything except throwing a bucket of water on them (which I can't/won't do).

Some schools do this, some schools sit on their little chairs telling a parent of a school refusing 16 year old bigger than she is that she should 'get him to school by any means necessary, drag him if you have to' after she spent months asking them for help with him.

Teachers should stick to teaching rather than worrying about the schools attendance record, they couldn’t give a f about the education of a single child or the issues a parent might face getting a child to school. If the head or any teacher turned up at my door they’d get it slammed in their face

Sadly though a lot of schools do think that way.

ds attendance is generally below 90% but his school thankfully are very sensible and know he is in when he can be and we work together to make sure he is supported. If school didn’t have a sensible approach his attendance would probably be much lower

My son's head teacher came to collect him (with my agreement) he absolutely flipped, smashed up the house and attacked me. She ended up having to call the police and he was arrested.

I agree with the recommendation. Not all parents are trying everything and there are sometimes safeguarding concerns.

Some parents are trying everything and working with schools (us included - but very difficult when a child will not physically leave the house and hyperventilates when near school).

Others don't. And perhaps need more practical support to help with schooling.

There's a big difference between kids who are not in school because they are "refusers" and those who are missing out on education because their parent can't get them there for whatever reason. I have known a primary HT in Scotland go him/herself to get that child to school. But this is generally a temporary arrangement and usually part of a wider picture of getting support for the family.

DD is on 70%. Her head would need body armour and a hotline to CAMHS / police to get her in on days she refuses.

If the government want to help then fund schools and CAMHS properly.

Some children will never be able to fit into a regular school. We need to re look at provision for those 125k. I willing to bet most are struggling with mental health. No coincidence this has risen since covid.

Many will be ND as well.

They just can't do it.

We need small schools for these kids maybe even online based classes too with highly trained teachers that understand the issues they face not these Victorian values

But the point is, this happens already, to the extent that it can, given that it costs masses of time and money that schools just don't have

If any head teacher has a magic wand that can usher a 6foot teen into school against their will can I have one too please? Heads are not fairy godmothers!

She is ignorant. She does not understand complexity sitting behind those absences. Most are not people who can't be bothered or who have useless parents. SEN, rising mental health issues, housing crisis so people are rehomed away from schools, ...many things sit behind pupil absence. I say this with my own experience as a parent of a EBSA teen and a school governor in a school with many disadvantaged families.

There are school refusers and kids with mental health issues.
There are also parents who can't be arsed.
We have one kid who has missed almost a full term due to days off. They are off if it rains, if it is very sunny, if it snows.
If there a big football match on tv, they'll be off the next day. They miss at least a day a week!

I know of two or school Refusers, both have sen And parents are still up agaisnt a bricked wall at the school to makes small tweaks to make school easier and the school refuses?