School Attendance at an all time low, but what’s the reason?

When you look at the current focus on fining parents who take their children out of school for holidays, you’d think that was the main reason why there is an issue with school attendance levels. However, the latest report from the Institute of for Public Policy Research (IPPR) reveals a very different picture.

School attendance is at a crisis level, but the key issue is not a cheaper couple of days at Center Parcs, but the very serious issue educational settings not being able to meet children’s needs be that for children with SEN needs, or the who are experiencing bullying and experiencing anxiety, especially post-Covid and the experience of lockdowns on children and young people.

This important report from the IPPR and The Difference today sets out a plan to end the rapid rise in absence, exclusions and the special educational needs crisis that all drive lost learning. Five years on from schools going into lockdown, the report has brought together more than 100 teachers, leaders, students, parent groups and charities to pinpoint the root causes of lost learning, and to find solutions.

Reading the report it couldn’t have been more fitting as yesterday, just like many parents throughout the UK, Lolo couldn’t take her 5 year old autistic son to school because he was distressed and over stimulated, and it wouldn’t have been fair on them, him or us to take him into school knowing that they didn’t have the facilities or staff to help him. Last week he was in school for less than hour before we had to collect him again. Some weeks he copes really well, and others are a real struggle and this is a child who has had an autism diagnosis at 4, ECHP since October term of starting in Reception, funding for a 1:1 and who goes to an outstanding primary school. A specialist school is listed on his EHCP, but who knows how long it will before he is actually moved to that setting.

Lolo’s son is non-speaking at present, and as a parent it is heartbreaking to know how crucial early intervention is for children with SEN needs, but to not have any access to such facilities. I dread to think of what the families who have children waiting years for diagnosis and ECHPs feel and experience. With two older children aged 12 and 13, one of whom also has SEN needs, I’ve seen first-hand the rapid decline in support in schools and the lack of funding and support from the local authority; you can feel the frustration from the teachers too.

Maybe instead of the local authorities concentrating so much of their admin time into fining parents – who most of the time are hard working parents who just want to give their children life-enhancing experiences, spend quality family time together and simply require more flexibility as to when the can take them on holiday as more and more families have both sets of parents working, and – and let’s focus the extra time and energy into solving the real problems as to why our children are not in school. It’s always one of the first topics of conversation when I meet another other SEN parent.

Also, look at the very real issue of bullying and subsequent anxiety for young people, who are experiencing intimidating behaviour in the classroom that they cannot escape from, as it follows them online and across social media platforms into the evenings and weekends. Even if we take their phones away, they can feel anxiety thinking about what is being posted and said about them when they are offline.

We cannot accept the narrative that a skiing trip is a beneficial cultural and social experience when put on by a school, but irresponsible when part of a family trip. We need to acknowledge how much more expensive holidays are in school holidays, and how much the cost of living has risen for everyone – it is harder than ever raising a family.

If we care about our children’s education, we can support parents to ensure there is consistent learning during term-times including remote learning where needed, and build trusted relationships between families and schools. By blaming parents for absenteeism when the actual issue is that many children’s needs are not being met and there are many children that have dropped out of the education system post-Covid, this approach is not going to improve attendance levels in a meaningful way.

Children and young people need schools to be safe places, where they can have an enjoyable education and they are not fearful of going to school. Let’s focus on this and deal with actual problems we have, rather than blaming parents who are trying to give their children a balanced, happy life, that can include the occasional affordable holiday with their family.

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