As the Education Secretary makes attendance his top priority, there has been a recent increase in Government support to tackle the issue of persistent absenteeism.
With children in and out of classrooms for the past two years, frequent absenteeism has become a national problem. Schools across the country have now been tasked with re-engaging persistently absent pupils and addressing potential barriers to good attendance.
Schools Minister Robin Walker said, “I recognise that COVID-19 is still with us and causing some unavoidable absence – but this is all the more reason that we must all take action to address every avoidable reason for a child not being in school.”
I have recently met with the Regional Schools Commissioner, who noted that our persistent absentee level is high. It is my understanding that we are currently in line with the national average, as COVID-19 has caused some of our children to fall below the 90% attendance level.
If a child’s attendance falls below the 90% guideline for persistent absence, this equates to 20 days absence from school, which potentially is 80 lessons missed. This can have a negative impact on the learning and progress of our pupils, but parents and carers may not be aware of the cumulative effect of the absence.
As a Trust, we wholeheartedly agree that this is an urgent matter and fully support the government’s investment in the issue. It has never been more crucial for children to be in the classroom environment, face to face with their teachers. This is the place where the best learning takes place, and the children can truly achieve their full potential.
In my discussions with the commissioner, I shared stories of how we have tackled persistent absentees across the Trust. Here are some innovative ways our schools have dealt with this issue:
One family just couldn’t get up in the morning. There were many excuses; the phone had run out of charge, the alarm didn’t go off, they kept pressing snooze on their phone, the electricity went off in the night and no alarm went off etc. We bought the family a battery-operated alarm clock which we set for them and told them to put it in the kitchen where they had to get up to turn it off. This system worked – they started to get to school on time!
A little boy in reception refused to get dressed in the morning and it was taking mum an hour to bribe him into his school uniform. We told the little boy that he could always get dressed at school so no need to waste all that time in the morning. He turned up to school in his PJs for only one morning and got dressed into his uniform in the changing rooms. He decided that he’d rather get dressed at home from now on like everyone else.
One little boy in year 2 refused to turn the TV off and get into the car in the morning. Mum spent a long time shouting at him, waiting for the show to end, offering rewards etc. We helped mum put together a visual morning timetable so that the little boy could tick off when he had done each task – including watching 20 mins of TV.
One busy family of four just couldn’t get everyone and to school every day – it was too much. We worked with the parents to create a routine that started the night before; put uniforms out, pack the bags, make a packed lunch, get the shoes out. Then the mornings were much calmer and better organised allowing the family to get the children to school more often.
I have a parent that I phone at 7:15 each day. If she doesn’t answer I let it ring until they answer it. Then I know that they are up and able to get the children ready in the mornings so that they can get to school. We also will collect the child if no response on the phone.
We offered breakfast club to all our persistent absentees so that they had longer to get into school in the morning, they were fed and ready to learn.
These are all fantastic strategies to ensure that pupils are getting back into the habit of great attendance. Of course, there will be difficulties as the pandemic continues with isolation periods and positive test results, but I know that our teams throughout the Trust will be doing their utmost to get those children who can attend back into their classrooms.
JOHN 15:5
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