As a teacher and lawyer who has represented children at special educational needs tribunals, but chiefly as a parent with children who have experienced mental health crises, it is hard not to feel disempowered by the lack of appropriate support given to children who are in crisis and therefore struggling to go to school (Government to fund school ‘attendance mentors’ in worst-hit areas of England, 5 January).
In older children, poor attendance is often linked to depression and anxiety. This is not wilful non-attendance and cannot be simply rectified by sanctions for non-compliance. This so often results in students’ low mood sinking even lower.
With schools’ eyes firmly on attendance data, with letters sent to parents and contracts required to be signed for those whose attendance is below an acceptable level (and punitive consequences for the breach of such agreements), coupled with inadequate support for children in crisis, we are desperately far from supporting our children back into the classroom.
There is no quick fix. The solution does not lie merely in “attendance mentors” being introduced in some of the “worst affected” areas.
Labour’s plan to have mental health counsellors in every secondary school and mental health hubs in every community goes further and should be welcomed, but until schools understand more fully the impact of poor mental health on children’s attendance, and are fully supported by adequate mental health provision for their students, we will not be giving our children the education and care they deserve.
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