Swindon youth project stresses that school absences aren’t for ‘lack of willingness’
8,000 children in Swindon miss school once a week
A Swindon organisation that is working with children who struggle with school attendance says it is often not for a lack of willingness.
Instead, they say many children aren’t able to due to fear and a lack of peer support.
Earlier this week, a report to Swindon Borough Council found that one in five children are identified as persistently absent – meaning that they miss school once a week.
Rowan Kikke, lead for innovation and collaboration at SMASH, said: “It's impossible to pin it on one thing as the changing landscapes for schools make it more and more complex for young people to attend.
“There is an increasing pressure on teachers and educators to play many roles and, actually, it's from both ends. There's a lot of pressure but also Emotional Based Schools Non-attendance doesn’t target one social economic background”.
Although the rate of school absences in Swindon is still much higher than before the Covid pandemic, it has dropped by 0,1% this school year.
This means that the borough’s absence rate of 6.9% is in line with the national average.
The report adds: “There are also 800 children, – just over 2 per cent of the total cohort of children of compulsory school age – who are identified as severely absent, an absence rate of below 50 per cent”.
According to Ms Kikke, there is a strong evidence base around Emotional Based Schools Non-attendance starting in primary school.
This is why they are trying to intervene as early as possible to tackle the issue before it turns into a bigger problem.
She explained: “We've been working with children in need in Wiltshire, specifically North Wiltshire, to look at creating community resilience with younger young people.
We are specifically working in primary schools with years fives and sixes to show that making mistakes again is OK, to show that we can talk to adults and we can find trusted peers. And then we go with them up to secondary school and do a few touch point visits to make sure they're settling in well”.
They have also been collaborating with schools to try and find as much wiggle room as possible in their behaviour policies to make school days as comfortable as possible for those children who struggle.
“Things like having quiet spaces to go to during social times. Having a card that you can put on your desk that says that you need to use the bathroom, so you don't have to put your hand up and ask for it.
“One particular school has small blue badges that they put on the lapel that tells a young person they won't be called on in class. They know that they can go into class without knowing they're going to have to speak and perform in that space as that can be really terrifying for them”.
Andy Malcolm, CEO of SMASH, added: “What having an independent youth worker in that space can do is actually start to join up those dots. Schools don't have the capacity to do that work about getting it right and understanding exactly what's going on.
“Equally, parents and families, it's really hard to understand how to navigate the system and what is reasonable and what they can expect and what they can't as well.
And so, to be able to come alongside and be a supportive listener and whilst advocating for the young person in the midst of that is a really key part of part of our work”.
Since last August, councils are obligated to have a school attendance strategy as well as a support team that works with schools and families to improve attendance.