Schools face new absence challenges
(Picture: PA Wire)Some parents think they can take their children out of school for term-time holidays and ask teachers to provide remote lessons, Ofsted warned on Monday.
It is one of the new problems caused by the pandemic for schools trying to tackle absence, a report by the schools watchdog found.
While many pupils are off school because they have Covid, others are staying away because they or their parents feel anxious, they do not understand isolation rules, or because families are taking holiday now they are able to.
The report said: “Some parents think that remote education can be provided for non-Covid related circumstances, such as being on holiday, which leaders have to explain is not the case.”
Inspectors found that the provision of remote learning during the lockdowns has made some students think it is not important to turn up to school now.
One headteacher said pupils think “you weren’t fussed when we weren’t in school all that time in lockdown and we did our work at home, so why does it matter so much now?”
Some schools have been giving families a wake-up phone call every day to make sure they get in on time, while others have had to teach pupils about morning routines, including how to set an alarm, get shoes ready and a bag packed. The report said schools have “stepped back from assuming that ‘the basics’ are in place.” One school leader told inspectors they had bought a pupil an alarm clock to help them get up on time and wake their parents up.
Latest figures show that one in 20 pupils was off school for Covid-related reasons at the last count, and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi announced a crackdown on what he described as a "postcode lottery" on school absence across the country.
The report found that schools are continuing to face challenges that are indirectly related to the pandemic, such as parents’ and pupils’ anxieties. Some of the anxiety stems from fear that family members will become ill, seeing parents under more stress or facing financial hardship, and experiencing domestic violence. Older pupils worry about whether their Year 11 exams might be cancelled and how this might affect their future.
Social anxiety has also been fuelled by the amount of time young people spent online during the lockdown, inspectors found, while some parents do not want to bring their children to school because they have fallen out with other parents on social media and do not want to see them face to face.
One secondary school headteacher said pupils are now much more immersed in social media than they ever had been before, and said the resulting breakdowns in friendships were “through the roof.”
In one primary school pupils felt very anxious after being upset by anti-vax protests outside school, and teachers had to work hard to alleviate their concerns.
The report, which is based on evidence from recent inspections, as well as surveys and focus groups with inspectors and school leaders, said schools that do the best at tackling absence do not dismiss pupils’ anxieties, but sensitively analyse them.
Ofsted Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman said: “There’s no doubt that schools continue to face some very tricky challenges around pupil attendance. But it is clear that leaders who have previously improved pupil attendance have managed to maintain good levels this term by applying the same principle of ‘listen, understand, empathise and support – but do not tolerate.’
“These leaders listen to parents and pupils. They understand the importance of making their school a safe place where pupils really want to be, with the right ethos and a curriculum that enables pupils to make progress and achieve well. They also seek to understand what is stopping individual pupils from attending regularly and they put the right support in place to help solve the problem.
“I hope today’s report is helpful for schools that are looking for best practice in improving and maintaining attendance.”
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Disruption during the pandemic has created new problems for schools over managing attendance, including students fearing family members becoming ill if they go into school and seeing their parents under more stress or facing financial hardship. Attendance for some older students has been affected by concerns about whether exams might be cancelled.
“It is also worrying to note a new trend, with some students failing to recognise the crucial importance of being in school as a result of experiencing remote learning at home during the periods of lockdown.
“The wider problem, however, is government cuts to local authority funding which have denuded the support that is available to schools over attendance. In addition, school budgets have been under huge pressure for several years because of government austerity and this has, in many cases, affected things like pastoral support for pupils which can help to address poor attendance.
“To be clear, schools strive to minimise the impact of funding pressures but ultimately they can only afford what they can afford. It is also the case that many children face a range of challenges, such as poverty, mental health issues, and special educational needs which have not been sufficiently addressed and supported by the government, and that all these factors can impact on attendance.”
