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.

What is good attendance?

Of course, a child’s attendance has direct implications for parents and the school’s relationship with a child’s family but there is some argument to say that parents are, in fact, not aware of what constitutes good attendance.

According to the DfE report 2021: ‘attendance data is misunderstood by parents – while ninety percent may be good as a mark in a test, in attendance terms it means one day a fortnight being missed.’

This may come as a shock to some, as the majority would assume ninety percent sounds like a good amount of time spent in school. The DfE describes the hard line some schools are taking with parents:

‘Leaders who are successful in improving attendance and maintaining high levels of attendance over time have expectations that are high for all pupils. They make it clear to parents that parents are responsible for ensuring that their children attend school. Expectations are also communicated as soon as the child joins the school.’

But can good attendance allow children to look after their mental health?

Go to school or stay home?

Parents are encouraged by schools to keep infectious children, suffering from Covid, flu, chicken pox or diarrhoea and vomiting at home. But with such a focus on good attendance, some parents may feel pressure to send children back to school before they are fully recovered.

Additionally, there is a perception that some parents take advantage of the system, taking children out of school for regular holidays or days out here and there. This is where fines play a part in encouraging parents to keep their children in school.

There is, however, a counter argument to this. Taking a family on holiday during the school holidays is expensive and potentially beyond the reach of some families. According to one report by Inews, parents can pay up to sixty three percent more to go abroad in August in comparison to September, when children are back in school.

Yet parents and children work hard and holidays are important in providing the chance to spend relaxed, quality time together away from the usual responsibilities of life.