Number of children persistently absent from Suffolk schools doubled last academic year
The report suggests children in years 9 to 11 are most likely to miss school on a regular basis
The proportion of Suffolk’s children attending school less than 90 per cent of the academic year increased to over one quarter last academic year.
A council report shows cases of persistent absence, meaning children attend school for 90 per cent or less of school days, increased from just under 13 per cent in autumn of academic years 2019–20 and 2020–21 to just over 25 per cent in autumn of academic year 2021–22.
The spring term of 2021–22 saw around 23.5 per cent of children persistently absent. This was based on 60 per cent school return due to the pandemic.
This data incorporates authorised as well as unauthorised absences, and so includes cases where children were ill for long periods.
The report suggests risk of persistent absence in Suffolk increases in Year 9, and again in Years 10 and 11.
Maria Kemble, executive head at St Edmund’s and St Joseph’s catholic primary schools, said: “After the pandemic, there were some children whose parents took them on extended holidays to see their families abroad.
“I can understand this, as some parents feel it is really important for children to see their families.
“We have always told children schools are safe spaces and then for almost two years we have told them not to come because it is dangerous, which makes returning difficult for them.
“The number of children who are finding it hard just to be at school due to mental health problems is increasing. This is something that started before Covid but has been exacerbated by it.
“Many children with behavioural problems who have recently started primary school haven’t had the kinds of early years community support they would usually have – such as health therapists – due to the pandemic.
“Primary schools are now supporting children through these problems, which are often worse now as they haven’t been managed at an earlier age.
“The main thing schools need is more funding from the government. They have had a cut to funding in real terms.
“Although councils try their very best to help the education sector, they are also struggling to support schools with an ever-smaller pot of money.”
The executive head also explained that children with special educational needs are struggling to find the support they require in schools.
Like Maria Kemble, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Geoff Barton pointed to the issues of under-funding and mental health: “Schools work very hard to encourage and support good attendance because it is so vital to good outcomes.
“They are chronically underfunded by the government and there needs to be more investment, so they are better able to provide the pastoral and specialist support that is often required to help these pupils.
“The government also needs to address the long waiting times for local children’s mental health services and it must invest in local authorities so they are able to afford attendance support services.
“Some pupils became disengaged with school during the time they were unable to attend due to the pandemic.
“Many found this time stressful, particularly if they had an existing mental health condition, and their attendance has fallen as a result.
“There are also cases of parents being reluctant to send their child to school if they have a clinically vulnerable relative.
“We would encourage parents to talk to their school directly and identify any barriers to their child’s attendance.”
Efforts to bring down the numbers of children missing in education, who are not on school registers at all, appear to be working in Suffolk. The report states that current rates are the lowest ever in the county.
The ongoing cases of children missing in education reported in quarter one of 2022–23 was around 40 per cent the equivalent figure in quarter one of 2019–20, dropping from 1412 to 571 cases.
Councillors discussing the report last Thursday expressed hopes that the Schools Bill will ensure all parents are required to register their children with the local authority, irrespective of how they decide their children should be educated. This is not currently the case, which causes some children to be missing in education.
The bill in its current form, which is passing through the House of Lords, states all children of school age in the local authority area must be registered with the council if they are not registered with a school.
A scrutiny committee meeting at Suffolk County Council drew up draft recommendations to improve school attendance last Thursday, with a particular focus on finding those children not signed up to any school.
These included improving data provided to officers so they can focus their efforts where it is needed – by putting pressure on the department of education to provide attendance reports in ways that make it easy to measure absences and encouraging schools to take registers twice a day.
Another draft recommendation was to split data into ethnicity groups to influence work within the community, such as by asking faith groups to include school attendance as part of safeguarding training if the date shows this is appropriate.
Councillors also proposed encouraging teachers to do more investigative work to find out why children might not be in school and provide this to the officers monitoring and managing attendance across the county.