How schools are tackling pupil absences

The government must make “ambitious” reforms to curb high absence rates among poorer children, a think tank has warned.

The Centre for Young Lives, chaired by former Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield, said ministers could only tackle the country’s attendance problem by alleviating child poverty.

School absence rates have soared in the wake of the pandemic, with children from more deprived families far more likely to be persistently missing lessons, official figures show.

One in three children eligible for free school meals are missing 10% or more of school, compared to about one in seven for children not eligible for free school meals, Department for Education figures show.

In a report shared exclusively with Channel 4 News, the think tank said the reasons for this include higher rates of ill health and low incomes putting extra pressures on parents.

The cost of school itself – such as uniforms and transport – can also be a barrier for families, it warned.

Ms Longfield said: “Those children are the ones who absolutely need to be in school, need to be learning and need to be getting all the help they can to be able to thrive and flourish.”

She called on the government to make “ambitious” changes to alleviate child poverty, for example by removing the two-child benefits cap.

Emphasis on understanding

It’s 8.20am on a dismal morning in Derby.

But secondary school pupils arriving at Chellaston Academy are being greeted with a smile.

Among the staff offering a warm welcome in the rain is assistant head Laura Horvath.

The positive attitude is deliberate, she says. In an effort to boost attendance rates, they are trying to make coming to school as appealing as possible.

They want to create a fun, caring vibe with less emphasis on punishment and more understanding.

“The most important thing we’ve done over the past year is really ensuring that our staff are aware of how to meet and greet kids in the morning in the most positive way,” she says.

“For them to be a couple of minutes late and have a member of staff stop them and say, ‘Why are you late?’ is really not helpful for setting up for the rest of the day.

“So we’ve done lots of work with staff around that kind of positive language.”

For the past 11 months, Laura has had another role – improving attendance across more than 100 schools in the city.

Absence rates rocketed nationwide in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and across England, 24 priority areas were given government funding to improve attainment and attendance.

City-wide partnership scheme

In Derby, where absence rates were higher than average, a city-wide attendance programme is providing support, teacher training and a publicity campaign about why going to school is fun.

It is being run by a partnership involving the Derby County Community Trust – the football club’s charitable arm – along with schools and the local council.

Laura has been tasked with running the programme across the city.

Early signs show the scheme is making an impact, she says.

But they have found that one big barrier to good attendance is poverty.

Laura says: “It’s cost of transportation, cost of uniform.”

“It’s the fact that those parents don’t necessarily feel that that conversation in the morning, of the child saying, ‘I really don’t feel like it today, I’ve not slept well, I’m tired,’ that conversation is not worth that effort at that time in the morning.”

“Their priority is to get out of that house and get to their job on time.”

At Chellaston Academy, they provide free uniforms to those who need them, as well as referring families under strain to a local food bank.

Fining parents for a child’s absence is only used as a very last resort.

Laura describes the financial pressures facing some of their families, with children sometimes staying in temporary accommodation, hotels, even a van.

She says: “The priority of where school is for them is then going to go down that ladder, it’s going to change.”

Government’s response

Last month, England’s education secretary Bridget Phillipson pledged to tackle what she called the school “absence epidemic.”

She told Channel 4 News: “Poverty scars children’s lives and limits their chances to succeed, and no more so than when it prevents regular school attendance.’

“I am determined to improve the life chances of every child, in particular those growing up in poverty, which is why I’m joint-chair of the government’s child poverty task force, as well as introducing free breakfast clubs in every school and expanding our attendance mentors programme.”