{"id":200185,"date":"2024-03-01T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=200185"},"modified":"2024-02-29T19:50:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T19:50:37","slug":"bigger-absence-fines-wont-solve-the-problem-attendance-tsar-admits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/bigger-absence-fines-wont-solve-the-problem-attendance-tsar-admits\/","title":{"rendered":"Bigger absence fines won\u2019t solve the problem, attendance tsar admits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Increasing fines for parents whose children skip school will do nothing to cut unauthorised absence, the government\u2019s new attendance tsar said, as he outlined his ambitions for the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ministers announced this week that they will increase the penalties for the first time since 2012 to \u00a380, bringing them in line with inflation over the past 12 years.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education secretary Gillian Keegan said the move \u2013 which will come into force in September \u2013 was part of her department\u2019s \u201cnext step to further boost attendance\u201d across England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We need to convince parents\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But, after being named the government\u2019s \u201cnational attendance ambassador\u201d yesterday, Rob Tarn predicted that the changes would not stop rule-breaking parents from taking their children on term-time holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParents have spent 10, 20, 30 times more on the holiday than that fine\u2019s going to be. That\u2019s not the point,\u201d he told Schools Week<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI presume that the higher the [fine] number gets, the more families will see it as more of a deterrent. You could theoretically go on forever, but you\u2019d be talking about fines very few parents could even afford to pay \u2013 and what are you going to do then? Take them to court?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s about how we convince parents that the most important thing they can do is send their child to school every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fines consistency helpful\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As part of the changes, a national \u201cframework\u201d governing absence fines will also be introduced, amid concerns about inconsistencies from area to area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarn, chief executive of the Northern Education Trust,<\/a> believes this will stop the system being a \u201cpostcode lottery\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat lottery has caused problems,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the amount of money that will make any difference \u2013 it\u2019s having the consistency everywhere that\u2019ll be helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gillian
Gillian Keegan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHistorically, you could be in one local authority where there are so many days of unauthorised absence and drive a mile down the road to an area with a different level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarn launched the first \u201cattendance hub\u201d at one of his schools, the North Shore Academy in Stockton-on-Tees, in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of a truancy crackdown, the secondary carried out 6,000 home visits in a year, bringing attendance to \u201calmost 94 per cent for a school that was 70 per cent pupil premium\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the idea behind the hubs scheme was to point leaders in the direction of others who faced similar challenges and had \u201cmanaged to crack attendance\u201d. There are now 32 hubs supporting 2,000 schools nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Attendance partnerships for all\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Part of his new job will be to \u201cfind the very best examples\u201d that can \u201cbecome a template for future partnerships\u201d, the trust leader said. To help with this, he will visit the schools offering the service to \u201ccapture what\u2019s working well\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarn would eventually \u201clike to see all schools have partnerships for better attendance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure that will fully happen and I\u2019m not sure if there\u2019s a wish for that to happen [in the Department for Education], but I can\u2019t see harm being done \u2013 it can only do good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHistorically, schools have come together to share best practice around teaching and learning, behaviour, provision for students with special educational needs \u2013 I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve ever come together just to talk about attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Pre-pandemic rates not enough\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tarn said he had seen truancy rates improve in schools that have implemented \u201crigorous\u201d systems and processes to tackle absences and in those that have created \u201ca culture of aspiration\u201d in which children safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most effective primaries, meanwhile, have \u201cbuilt strong relationships with their families to understand their challenges [and] help overcome them\u201d. Despite this, he stressed there is \u201cno magic bullet\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA smaller part\u201d of Tarn\u2019s role will be to advise \u201con policy and the use of data to drive improvements in attendance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last academic year, 22.3 per cent of pupils missed more than a day every fortnight, up from between 10 and 13 per cent before Covid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent figures show \u201csome green shoots of recovery, but we\u2019d like it to go quicker\u201d, Tarn noted. \u201cWhat you hear said is that attendance is recovering slowly, but is still not back at pre-pandemic levels. I have a target that\u2019s beyond that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore Covid there were schools where attendance was unacceptably low \u2026 [and] returning to pre-pandemic levels in those schools isn\u2019t enough because it wasn\u2019t enough beforehand. I want to go further.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rob Tarn speaks to Schools Week about his plans for the new role<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311204,"featured_media":180631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[28,239],"post-theme":[2524],"class_list":["post-200185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-dfe","tag-education-policy","post-theme-attendance"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t