The topic of pupil absences across the North East has been making headlines once again, following on from the recent House of Commons Education Select Committee report, published on 11 September.
Is it any surprise that this subject has reared its ugly head, considering we’re still waiting for real, long-term support to rectify the issue?
The Education Committee said school absence rates, which worsened during the pandemic, have seen “no significant improvement” and are “of great concern”.
Furthermore, Department for Education data shows that, in the 22/23 academic year, the North East had marginally above average absence rates but the highest levels of persistent absences in England.
We know that the issue is far more complex than the stats show, which is why we’re pushing for a better plan that gives our schools and students the tools they need to flourish in the way we all know they’re capable of.
What do the stats say?
In response to the ongoing challenges of attendance following the pandemic, the House of Commons Education Committee launched their inquiry into persistent absence in January 2023.
The report that followed highlighted notable increases in absences, with an absence rate of 7.6 percent in 2021/22, up from between 4 and 5 percent pre-pandemic.
22.5 percent of pupils were persistently absent, which is around double the pre-pandemic rate.
Schools North East submitted written evidence to this inquiry, following feedback from school leaders in the region, having already flagged this issue to Ministers and media following roundtables with North East school leaders.
How do we rectify this issue?
To drive real change and implement solutions with substance, we must ditch the idea that students are missing school simply because they ‘can’t be bothered’ to show up.
Instead, let’s turn our attention to poverty, high levels of psychological distress, special needs, and the ever-growing cost-of-living crisis. This is the foundation of truancies, and without real backing from the top, it’s possible we’ll have this same conversation in one, two, even three years from now.
That thought is chilling.
Adding fuel to the fire is a recent study from Public First, which revealed parental support for full time attendance has collapsed. Parents no longer believe that it’s their responsibility to ensure their children show up to school every day, which is a contributing factor to this burgeoning issue.
In Schools North East’s most recent State of the Region survey, three quarters of schools had attendance above 90 percent. This was a slight decline on previous terms.
Perhaps most worryingly, however, was that 80 percent of schools said they’re particularly concerned about the attendance levels of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East, said: “Schools across our region are in desperate need of support that doesn’t ignore the underlying reasons for absence, but instead solves it for good.
“There are external services that specialise in working with schools to support Send students and those with mental health challenges. We need additional funding and support to ensure our schools have appropriate access to these kinds of services.”
Additionally, the government needs to work nationally to get parents to support schools once more, and underpin the importance of full attendance to their children, otherwise we’ll continue to find this challenge incredibly difficult to overcome.
We must stop putting schools in the firing line of an issue that goes beyond their four walls. For example, threatening parents with fines has the potential to get in the way of building those strong school-parent relationships we’re in desperate need of if we’re serious about solving this issue for good.
We all know our region’s pupils have huge potential to do well in school, we just need to get them there – consistently, safely, and positively.
