Children missing school will have ‘consequences all their lives long’, says Education Secretary

We spoke to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and began by asking why boosting attendance is such a priority for the government.

Bridget Phillipson: Yes, we’re working with schools to address this, and it’s the children who are regularly not in school that cause me the biggest concern, because that’s where you do see a big impact in terms of academic outcomes, what they’re able to achieve in their exams. But also from the evidence that we’ve pulled together, the lifelong impact it has in terms of earnings as well. The school I’ve been at today are doing some fantastic work to make sure that children are getting the support that they need, to get into school and to be at school.

But alongside that, we know that there’s more the government has to do. So that’s why it’s so important that the additional investment that we are putting into attendance mentors is about putting that extra help in place to support young people and families, because this is a complex issue. There are quite a few drivers of it and certainly mental health support is one area where we will make more progress because that’s part of the challenge that we’re facing at the moment.

Jackie Long: So just briefly, in terms of what you do know about why some of these children are persistently absent, what are the things that concern you most?

Bridget Phillipson: There’s a range of factors. Often it’s what’s going on at home. It’s also, for example, mental health issues that children and young people are facing or in their wider family, and also coming out of the pandemic. We know that with that disruption to children’s education, it’s really important that they are supported into regular patterns of being in school. The problems were already there before the pandemic. They’ve got worse.

Jackie Long: In February, polling by the Centre for Social Justice showed that 3 in 10 parents agreed that the pandemic showed them it’s not essential for children to attend school every day. That is a really significant shift, a break in the contract, if you like, between parents and education. How do you change that?

Bridget Phillipson: Look, it is a real cause for concern. And I’ve been clear that alongside government, parents have responsibilities too, to make sure that they are backing schools, supporting young people. But I also want us to be doing more as a government to make schools welcoming, supportive environments. And certainly the school I’ve been up here today is doing a tremendous job and has been really making some progress in often quite challenging circumstances where young people and their families often are having a pretty hard time of it and doing everything they can to overcome some of those barriers.

Jackie Long: What do you directly say to parents who are saying in this survey, the kids don’t need to go to school every day?

Bridget Phillipson: Well, I completely reject that because, you know, parents do have responsibilities alongside government and alongside schools. And my message to parents is that if children are regularly not in school, that will have an impact on how well they’re able to do in their exams. That has consequences all their lives long.

Jackie Long: A third of all children on free school meals are persistently absent. Poverty is a huge issue here, isn’t it?

Bridget Phillipson: We’ve got to pull together that work across government. I’m absolutely determined that we will drive down the numbers of children growing up in poverty. That’s why I am in politics.

Jackie Long: But there’s an easy quick thing that you could do now isn’t there. We know campaigners across the country say lifting, ending the two child benefit limit would immediately help hundreds of thousands of children. We know 1.6 million children are affected by it. And a survey earlier this year had hundreds of families say things like, we’re not able to send the children to school every day because they can’t afford shoes. That children were giving up PE because they couldn’t afford kit.

Bridget Phillipson: We have seen big increases in the number of children growing up in poverty under the last conservative government. We are determined to make progress on this. Of course, we would love to go further and faster, but I think everyone recognises the really dire fiscal inheritance that the last government left behind, but that isn’t stopping us taking action now. We will be acting to limit the number of branded items that schools can insist young people have to wear, cutting the cost to parents, rolling out breakfast clubs in all of our primary schools to make sure our children are getting a great start to the day. And an expansion of nursery classes within primary schools.

Jackie Long: I will move on from this, but, you know, I’m really interested in this. You grew up in poverty. You know how limiting poverty can be. How disappointed on a personal level are you that the government can’t move on this right now?

Bridget Phillipson: During my childhood, you know, I spent periods of time where it was pretty tough. I know how poverty, growing up in poverty makes you feel. I know the impact it has on families right now. It’s why I’m in politics. It’s what we are determined to change. It is the moral cause of Labour governments to bring down the numbers of children growing up in poverty.

Jackie Long: A lot of your plans in education rely on the money you’re hoping to make out of ending VAT breaks on private schools. And you recently tweeted out, ‘our state schools need teachers more than private schools need embossed stationery’. Do you regret that people described it as snippy, a cheap shot, the absolute epitome of the politics of envy.

Bridget Phillipson: This is a straightforward question of priorities. We are ending the tax breaks that private schools enjoy, to put money into our state schools where the vast majority of children go, where the vast majority of your viewers will be sending their children to school. And what they want to know is that they’ve got a government on their side, taking the action to get more teachers into our classrooms, more mental health support and much more besides.