Commenting as the Department for Education announces new ‘expert
attendance advisors’ to start working to help reduce pupil
absence, James Bowen, director of policy for school leaders’
union NAHT, said:
“It’s important to recognise that the pandemic is still having an
enormous impact when it comes to school attendance, and it
remains the case that driving down infection rates is going to be
key if we want to minimise the time pupils are missing in school.
“Beyond that we need to understand the different factors causing
higher than usual levels of absence as they will determine how we
can best support these pupils.
“When it comes to persistent absenteeism, every single school in
the country will already have detailed procedures in place for
working with families where pupils are persistently absent. The
vast majority already use existing staff to work with families to
try and improve attendance when an issue is identified – this is
standard practice.
“The challenge is that tackling persistent absenteeism takes more
than a quick conversation or a one-off visit, it involves hours
of work to address the issue and a sustained commitment from all
involved. The task has been made all the harder in recent years
by budget cuts.
“Many schools simply can no longer afford a dedicated member of
staff to carry out this crucial work. In addition, many local
authorities have had to cut back the staff whose job it was to
intervene when attendance became an issue.
“If the government really wants to tackle this issue it must be
prepared to invest in the support services schools so desperately
need.”
