Educational Welfare Officers

[SchoolMumOnTheRun]

What do they do? Do they actually help children who are struggling with school or are they solely there to police school attendance? What powers do they have?

@SchoolMumOnTheRun

www.spencerclarkegroup.co.uk/what-is-an-education-welfare-officer/

www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence/legal-action-to-enforce-school-attendance

Wow, there is no mention of SEN in the job description. Maybe I shouldn't be so shocked.

How does it work in practice with an EWO? We have EWO involvement and I'm not sure what they can helpfully do other than misinterpret stats and tell you that you are making home too cosy and as a mum it's difficult to let our children go Always the mum's fault.
Can they offer any practical help, like supporting assessments, advocating for parttime timetable or alternative provision? Or are they just there to improve the attendance stats?

Basically are they friend or foe?

The new guidance on absence emphasises working with families where there is a barrier to attendance, so the role of the EWO alongside the school should be to offer support on the first instance. In reality a lot depends on the EWO and their relationship with the school. I got called for a meeting with the EWO about my DC's absence rate and she didn't even know that we had a reduced timetable arranged with the school.