Is it time to rethink school attendance?

By Catherine Lynch

During the pandemic, school absence was understandably high with some parents and children anxious about going to school and others absent with Covid 19. However, throughout the past year, problems with school attendance remain ongoing.

Historically, good attendance has been extremely important to schools – and to their Ofsted rating. Of course, attendance is also important in a child’s overall attainment and achievement. However, a lot has changed since the post-war schooling system.

Parents may remember the days of attendance awards being given out to those who managed an impressive one hundred percent attendance across the school year. Tough for those whose attendance suffered because of circumstances out of their control. Not to mention children who had a chronic illness or disability and required absences for doctor and hospital appointments. These children would have never had the chance at receiving a one hundred percent attendance award.

These problems are still very much part of school life but now children’s mental health is very much at the forefront of nonattendance at school. In a survey conducted in summer term 2021, the most common reasons reported by the DfE for absence were that:

• pupils were anxious;

• pupils or parents had specific health needs, including those identified at that time as clinically vulnerable or extremely clinically vulnerable;

• pupils had disengaged from education during the pandemic.

The DfE reported that children’s anxieties are often unrelated to school, relating instead to factors such as family members being ill, seeing parents under more stress than usual, domestic violence and financial hardship.

Many employees are entitled to time off due to their mental health but a child needing time off from school because they are suffering from anxiety isn’t always met with the same level of understanding as a physical ailment. To add to the pressure felt by families, if a child is off for a prolonged period of unauthorised time, this can result in a fine.

The School Attendance: Schools Bill Factsheet (http://bit.ly/schoolattend) published by the government last year addresses problems regarding attendance, with a focus on school being the ‘best place for children’s attainment and wellbeing.’ However, it could be argued that the guidance falls short of considering individual circumstances and applies pressure to parents to make sure children, no matter how they are feeling, are attending school.

Catherine is a former UK primary school teacher, now writing for PlanBee (www.planbee.com) about issues affecting teachers, schools and pupils.