To think the Ofsted inspector who blames WFH parents for low attendance is probably just resentful?

[JandamiHash]

The Chief Inspector of Ofsted is blaming parents who WFH for the demise of school attendance https://www.itv.com/news/2025-02-16/parents-working-from-home-makes-children-feel-school-is-optional-ofsted-head?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0ULgukQnTsabNTlcJRBI4kVQsMYkhCPK_KA4lUAgVkxOocYfo3onmRNHU_aem_nuBknA_QEGgfA93CaTPagg. Apparently none of us want to take our slippers off so we let our kids stay at home while we work.

He makes some REALLY weird points like his overworked dad he didn’t see much as his inspiration to go to school. And also MPs making sure they spend weekends with their families is a bad work ethic.

I know MN is a good example of whenever WFH threads are brought up, non-WFHers come on dripping with resentment over WFH and implying WFHers don’t really work. AIBU to think this man - who has somehow been knighted - is basically doing that? I’m not sure how much inspecting he does now, but Ofsted inspectors aren’t any superior or harder working just because they spend a few days working away from home at a time (something BTW I’m expected to do, at least 1 overnight a month).

Also as someone from a household where 2 of us WFH, I can’t think of anything worse than having kids flapping around us while we try and work. I’m FT, and this week I’m off Weds-Fri, as is DH. my DD11 will be at home tomorrow with strict instructions to keep away unless there’s a serious emergency (she’s secondary and old enough to take care of herself) and at a friend’s on Tuesday. My DS is 8 and is going into a holiday club tomorrow and Tuesday as his neediness is unbearable. Both have somewhere between 97 and 99% attendance so far this academic year.

YABU - “He’s got a point”
YANBU - “He’s wrong/resentful”

There's probably two factors - that COVID undermined a lot of parents opinion of the school system, and not allowing kids to attend for the majority of an academic year has meant that parents see attendance as less important than it was before. Coupled with the fact for a lot of people, a sick day for your kid no longer means you have to take a day off work when WFH, then it probably has contributed to increased absences.

Nothing to do with WFHers being lazy though, as you say - I can't imagine anything worse than having to WFH with a child under my feet all day. But if it's a sick child in bed all day that I just have to make a few drinks and meals for, it would be more doable than taking an unpaid day off would've been in the past.

I worked from home long before the pandemic. DD1 never had any attendance issues. DD2 didn't have any attendance issues before 2020 and starting secondary school during a pandemic. Go figure. School was the problem, not home, not my parenting and not our work patterns.

@jellyfishperiwinkle I am on that page, as we still have ongoing issues off and on. Like I said, no one can judge parents doing what they need to go to survive. If that's letting your child stay home whilst you log on, or take your child in every day in the hope that something piques her interest enough to get her through the door. Both choices are dependent on your situation.
If I lost my job, I would have lost our home, which is the home to both my children. We would have had to move to temporary accommodation, probably a BnB for a period of time. My Dd would have been severely dsyregulated by all of this. So it was the lesser of two evils to get her in every day.
However if I had been able to WFH, then I would have been very tempted to let her stay home, for my own mental health.
But I have no doubt that had I done that, we would not have an EHCP and she would be out of school now.

@jellyfishperiwinkle trouble is, we never doubt our parenting. I am not the most natural parent and I have made mistakes. I can admit to that. And I think school refusal does is often related to our parenting, as well as in individual children. My son loves school. That doesn't mean that I didn't play a role in my daughter's school avoidance.

It's not nuanced at all imho. There's bizarre thoughts and opinions, unless you think that's nuanced?

What was the most stressful part for me (apart from seeing DD's distress at trying to go to school, and depression when she could not) was constantly being threatened with fines and court action, even though every single day I would email the school, we were trying so hard to get her into school every day , and we were getting her all the help we could and we attended all meetings with school and the local authority they asked us to. DH and I could potentially lose our jobs with a criminal record and we had done absolutely nothing wrong.

This made me chuckle

so hardly loads, then id want to know how many had studyed upto date research on the issue, vs how many just made an auto assumption based of their own views without any research

I wasn’t teacher bashing, I was providing an insight into the general consensus. You’re welcome to ignore it, and only see your viewpoint. But (as a teacher) you’ll never get to the bottom of the mindset if you don’t firstly see the other side.

For what it’s worth I don’t think this way at all, I think teachers should’ve been prioritised for vaccines and I fully support the argument that schools should have fresh air filtration systems.

But as a teacher, you surely can see that these things have helped harvest a mindset that attendance is optional / not important.

I can assure you I do doubt my parenting all the time, and certainly don't get everything right.

Particularly when DH and I were having a full on physical fight with our 5'9" daughter to get her in the car and stop her from getting out and running away. Which is what school wanted us to do every day.

I wonder if the guy has any investments in commercial properties? I feel like a lot of the anti WFH stuff is being pushed because there’s a lot of rich people losing money.

It certainly is the reason why it is being pushed.

He's got a point. I'll qualify it by personally acquired albeit anecdotal evidence.

At my DCs secondary school they had a major attendance issue, this is pre COVID. The attendance officer who I knew (due to DCs sen) said that amazingly those students with a parent at home had far worse attendance than those where all adults in the house went to work, she even said that parents kept dc home to keep them company (these were mostly non working rather than wfh)

Every school then knew that sickness (for mild self limiting type illnesses) is far higher in kids with sahp, wfh is just an extension of that phenomenon.

On an individual level I'm sure it seems justified for whatever reason but at a whole school or whole population level you can see major trends. Remember that if you loose money (or even loose your job) if you don't go to work, getting your kids into school every day is a priority

So the article should be wfh improves outcomes for children, as they are appropriately cared for an home by a parent when unwell.

I wonder if school attendance issues are more closely related to the fact that schools are increasingly dangerous places and very little education takes place there because of the constant violence and disruption for which there seems to be no consequence

Really? You’re easily amused! There wasn’t another thread BTW the other thread was about something different this bloke said.

I think there’s something in it. I wfh sometimes and tbh when faced with an ill child if it’s at home day I’m more likely to send them back to bed. If it’s a go out to work day, it’s calpol, get dressed, have breakfast and in an hour when it’s time to go I’ll make a decision.

It is rubbish going to school unwell, even if it’s just a nasty cold. I do think sometimes going to bed and having a proper rest means you get better faster. If you push through it can just drag on for ages.

@Cupcakes2035 but you’re implying that Einstein didn’t go to school, and he was clever, therefore no one needs to go to school, and they can all be as clever as Einstein!

Yet again someone blaming parents rather than actually addressing why some young people struggle to attend school. My teen DD has EBSA. Her attendance is about 50%. My DH and I are both teachers and have never been able to WFH. We have battled for two years to get any kind of support. There have been some adjustments at school but loads of fairly simple things not done, such as providing a safe person. She is diagnosed with autism and anxiety. Early intervention might have helped keep her in but her needs were more or less ignored because she is quiet and doesn't cause any disruption so the meagre pastoral and SEND support didn't seem to stretch to her.

We would like nothing more than for her to be able to be in school full-time, learning and feeling safe. The current environment in many schools is totally unmanageable for many ND kids.

My year 6 nephew is a school refuser and my Sis and BIL are really going through it - the only way they could get him to school is if they both used all their strength to physically force him against his will. Which is child abuse but they’re being told they need to do more. It’s so bizarre that schools can’t see past numbers and pressure from Ofsted to maybe take a different approach - but apparently part time is out of the question. It’s ALL on parents. My sister’s physical health has suffered lately she’d 43 and has the health of an 80yo woman and I really think the stress is destroying her.

strictly speaking as long as they can access the books etc, people in olden times eg anicent greece etc had different people that didnt go to what we know as school and they became house hold academic names.

to conclude yes society does not need modern schooling system to build empires

Omg thinking i know, but its true and history has many examples of individuals not needing the formal education system we have.

yes they still need to study, learn and be taught.

I think he's maybe right, but not in the way he thinks.

I don't WFH (I'm a teacher!) and I only get 3 "family days" a year. Very often I'm having to send my kids into school when they're not really well enough. I give them a hefty dose of calpol as we leave the house, and I hope that lasts til lunchtime, and that they manage to hang on for the afternoon as well.

I'm talking 5+ times for two of my kids already this academic year. And still I've had a letter that one of mine's attendance has dropped below 96.5% or whatever the threshold is these days. My third child hasn't had a day off in over two years - he just doesn't get ill!

Basically, I think expectations of how often primary aged kids in particular might be unwell are unreasonable, especially now Covid is here to stay. I've been more unwell in the past 4 years than ever before in my life, never mind the kids.

Also, most young kids should enjoy being in school with their friends. If they're starting to refuse school, then this needs to be investigated sensitively and thoroughly. Primary aged kids don't stay home because they can't be arsed. And teenagers can stay home whether their parents WFH or not.

It's striking that he hasn't backed it up with anything. Vibes based.

Fwiw I'm a remote worker, but it's irrelevant to me because I already had hot and cold running relatives so there'd always be someone to leave DC with regardless.

Indeed. And also I think what should be pointed out is that when the school refusal started in 2020 we had no choice but to work from home for several months, as we were banned from leaving the house unless necessary at the time! I really don't know in our case whether any of it would have happened without the pandemic.