{"id":216061,"date":"2024-10-12T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=216061"},"modified":"2024-10-11T15:39:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T14:39:00","slug":"schools-stumble-on-the-attendance-tightrope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/schools-stumble-on-the-attendance-tightrope\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools stumble on the attendance tightrope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Schools are walking an attendance tightrope as the government ratchets up pressure on reducing stubbornly high absence rates \u2013 but parents are becoming more vocal in their opposition to measures to get kids back in the classroom post-Covid. Schools Week<\/em> investigates \u2026<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools are having to apologise and scramble to dampen parental anger over proposed attendance policies. In one case, a parent took to social media to tell a secondary: \u201cYou do not own my child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders say the incident is indicative of heads put in an \u201cimpossible position\u201d, as the government increases the pressure to get pupils back into class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has described absence levels as an \u201cemergency\u201d, with analysis suggesting it has become a bigger issue during inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents\u2019 views have changed in a post-Covid world. Research<\/a> conducted by consultancy Thinks Insight & Strategy, cited by the Department for Education, shows parents \u201cconsider small periods of absence from school manageable\u201d and are more concerned about \u201cspreading illnesses\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attendance tightrope<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Towards the end of last month, Glenmoor and Winton Academies in Bournemouth sent an \u201cattendance pledge\u201d to parents and pupils that required pupils to commit to \u201calways\u201d coming into school, \u201ceven if you feel unwell\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But following a number of comments about the letter\u2019s \u201ctone and content\u201d, principal Leon Lima said: \u201cWe got this wrong and apologise for doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Neale-Wade Academy in Cambridgeshire was also at the centre of controversy this week after informing parents it would not accept \u201cill\u201d, \u201cunwell\u201d, \u201cpoorly\u201d or \u201chas a cold\u201d as reasons for missing school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absences because of period pains also would be listed as unauthorised, \u201cunless we have medical information\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Graham Horn, the academy\u2019s principal, said staff had since \u201cwritten to families to clarify our approach, which does not require medical notes when a student is absent\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellie Costello, a director of the parent-support organisation Square Peg, said the wider attendance challenge was \u201ca tightrope. It\u2019s a balancing act of the two hands of leadership \u2013 the boundary, as well as the care \u2013 but it is doable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ellie Costello<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Glenmoor, which is part of United Learning Trust, has now said attendance solutions will need the \u201csupport of our parent community\u201d, inviting parents to join a \u201cworking group\u201d to develop recommendations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepe Di\u2019Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said most parents understood pupils should attend \u201cevery class\u201d, but the \u201crise of social media has left schools vulnerable to abuse from a vocal minority\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costello also said attendance was \u201cnudging on the multiple challenges that are requiring schools to be more things to more people. That\u2019s an impossible ask because it\u2019s exposing all the tensions that are there, the loss of allied services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ofsted scrutiny<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Schools are increasingly held to account for their attendance rate, with mentions of \u201cattendance\u201d rising to about 1.7 times every 1,000 words in inspection reports this year, analysis by SchoolDash shows, the highest figure since the start of 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ofsted said attendance was not scrutinised more than in the past, but rather that \u201cattendance is becoming a more prevalent issue\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absence rates are falling, but are still higher than pre-pandemic. However, unauthorised absences are almost 80 per cent higher at secondary than they were before Covid, Education Policy Institute analysis has found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there was \u201ca smaller decline in absence rates than others\u201d among disadvantaged children and those with SEND, widening the attendance gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bridget
Bridget Phillipson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many of the factors behind absences, such as mental health illness, were outside a school\u2019s control and came as attendance services and other forms of support were increasingly inaccessible, Di\u2019Iasio said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ofsted reports should \u201cacknowledge the external factors that are making this more challenging, while also taking local context into account\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month Phillipson wrote in The Sunday Times<\/a> <\/em>that \u201ctoo many parents\u201d believed \u201ccheaper holidays, birthday treats or even a runny nose\u201d were reasons not to attend class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the election, then schools minister Baroness Barran claimed boosting the attendance of pupils who missed the \u201codd day\u201d was the \u201creally big prize\u201d for heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her team discovered 31 per cent of children missed 5 to 15 per cent of school in 2022-23, up from 21 per cent before the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Don\u2019t be threatening\u2019<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The government raised its absence fines from \u00a360 to \u00a380 this school year. If not paid within 28 days, the figure rises to \u00a3160.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Rob Tarn, the chief executive of the Northern Education Trust who was appointed the last government\u2019s attendance tsar, said parents needed to \u201cbe trusted to make judgments about whether their children are well enough to get into school\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCovid made people very sensitive to respiratory illnesses. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s for schools to be threatening around that, but it is for schools to question when that happens with individual families too much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rob Tarn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Yorkshire, Red Kite Learning Trust has this year moved its attendance approach \u201cfrom penalising parents, to much more about focusing on the culture within our schools\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tactic was trialled at Temple Learning Academy in Leeds after an Ofsted inspection report noted a \u201csignificant minority of pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should\u201d, despite staff \u201cdoing everything they can to improve attendance\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staff carrying out calls and home visits to absentees now stress to the child they \u201care being missed\u201d. It also has a \u201cstratified approach\u201d to identify children whose attendance has fallen below particular levels and \u201callocates resource and individuals to them according to their need\u201d, said Richard Sheriff, Red Kite\u2019s chief executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attendance has risen to 91 per cent, the \u201chighest it\u2019s ever been in the school\u2019s short history\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Red Kite primary has also created a \u201csafe space\u201d for parents to gather at pick-up and drop-off times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re worried about seeing a teacher, or the headteacher\u2019s going to have a go at them because they\u2019ve missed school, it doesn\u2019t matter, they can come that safe space on site. It\u2019s about making the school less intimidating,\u201d he aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horn said close partnerships with families was important, with the trust working hard \u201cto understand any challenges or difficulties\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe very much have an open-doors approach and encourage families to come and talk to us about any worries they have so we can \u2026 find a positive way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home-school agreements<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many leaders use home-school agreements that set a school\u2019s aims, values, responsibilities and expectations of pupils and parents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016 the government scrapped a requirement for schools to put the agreements in place<\/a>. At the time, a DfE spokesperson said the decision was made to \u201ccut red tape\u201d and free schools of a \u201cone-size-fits-all, prescriptive approach to engaging with parents\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But their use appears to be creeping back. A Teacher Tapp survey found 56 per cent of leaders had such as agreement, up slightly from 55 per cent last year, They were more likely in affluent areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"exam\"
Richard Sheriff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Red Kite gives its academies the option of using the agreements. One outlines expectations for pupils to \u201ctry my best\u201d to hit its attendance target of more than 95 per cent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheriff said \u201ccolds and runny noses aren\u2019t the big issue for us. Often it\u2019s much more fundamental issues associated with mental health \u2026 and poverty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost parents are very keen to get their children into school and I don\u2019t think lambasting parents, particularly after what we\u2019ve been through with Covid, is a particularly constructive way of improving attendance.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home-school agreements at North Star Community Trust\u2019s schools in London set out expectations that children \u201carrive on time at school each day\u201d and \u201cfamily holidays are not taken during term time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marino Charalambous, its chief executive, said 90 to 95 per cent  of parents were fine with everything a school did. \u201cIt\u2019s the ones that are challenging who you refer back to the home-school agreement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A DfE spokesperson said: \u201cWe must tackle the national epidemic of school absence\u201d. The department advocated a \u201csupport-first approach for children who are facing barriers to regular school attendance\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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