Attendance Report: Listening to, and learning from, parents in the attendance crisis

A recent report, Listening to, and learning from, parents in the attendance crisis, aimed to understanding parents’ views on school attendance. The findings have been described as 'essential but sobering reading'.

The report uncovered a stark shift in parental attitudes towards school attendance due to the pandemic and strike action and a severe breakdown of the traditional home-school partnership. Many parents, across all social groups, no longer believe that it is essential for the children to attend school every day. Overall absence rates in the UK have reached a record?high at 7.5%, up from 4.7% in 2018-2019 before the COVID pandemic.

Find out how the Leading Parent Partnership Award and the Wellbeing Award for Schools can support pupils, parents and schools. Email Joshua Hawkins, Improvement Awards Manager at [email protected] .

"Pre-COVID, I was very much about getting the kids into school... attendance was a big thing. Education was a major thing. After COVID, my take on attendance now is that I don’t really care anymore. Life’s too short. I want them to be educated and I want them to go far in life. But if we’re not getting our help and support from the government and the schooling system, then I’m sorry, I used to back it [school], but post Covid, I don’t now." Parent/carer, Female, children aged 5 and 10, ATTENDANCE-REPORT-V02.pdf ( publicfirst.co.uk))

Top 10 findings of the report:

1. Parental attitudes to school attendance has changed as a result of COVID pandemic.
2. Parents no longer believe that attending school every day is necessary.?
3. There has been a breakdown in the relationship between schools and parents across all groups.
4. Many parents believe their child's attendance is not the problem, it is the fault of other parents and pupils.
5. The mental health crisis in young people is a huge, compounding the issue around attendance.
6. Term-time holidays are more acceptable across all socioeconomic groups.
7. The cost-of-living crisis is an underlying cause of poor attendance.
8. The increase in parents working from home is not driving the attendance crisis, despite media and government claims.
9. School level attendance systems feel increasingly harsh towards families, and yet not sufficiently robust, which is causing further damage to the relationship between school and families.
10. Consequences and imposed sanctions?are now seen as irrelevant across all parent?groups.

The need for children to attend school extends to more than academic performance and long term prospects. Developing a routine, resilience, socialising with friends and communicating with teachers is essential for the development of soft skills and to support and monitor positive physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing.

Working to redevelop the strong channels of communication between schools and parents/carers is crucial to overcoming the problem. When a strong communication network is established between schools and parents/carers, children feel more supported and the importance of attending school is reinforced, leading to improved attendance. Any consultation that takes place between schools and parents should to be relevant and timely and it is essential that parents feel that they have been listened to when they receive feedback. Hosting face-to-face events, such as inductions, learning, development and transition, to meet parents and answer their questions has a positive impact on relationship building.

The report also found that the 'mental health crisis in young people is a huge, compounding the issue around attendance'. The parents interviewed as part of the study, particularly those of secondary children, had serious concerns relating to mental health and wellbeing. Some parents sought a GP diagnosis for their child after their children reported being too tired, stressed or anxious to attend school. They talked at length about their concerns surrounding their children’s mental health and how it has impacted upon their attendance. Many participants believed that schools could be doing more to support families.

How can we help?

Throughout our many years of experience working with schools, Optimus Education has helped thousands of schools to improve their relationships with parents and enhance staff and pupil wellbeing.

The Leading Parent Partnership Award encourages parents to be more involved in their children's learning, leading to improved outcomes in all aspects of school life. Increasing parental participation in school life holds a number of benefits including improved attendance, enhancing pupil progress, punctuality and behaviour.

The Wellbeing Award for Schools is one of our most popular awards. It uses a tried-and-tested approach to helping schools to improve mental health provision for all pupils and staff by changing the long-term culture of the whole school. Using an evidence-based framework to drive change, school leadership teams can deliver effective staff and pupil wellbeing and ensure mental health and wellbeing sit at the heart of school life.

"We know that children achieve best at school when their families are involved in their school life. The Leading Parent Partnership Award has helped us to strengthen our partnership with parents, improve our systems of listening and responding, and increase the engagement of parents with school life. The award has highlighted the important role that parents play and achieving it celebrates all of our hard work." Headteacher, East Ward Community Primary School (accredited September 2023)

We understand that schools are already working extremely hard to address these issues. Our awards help school leadership teams to target the problem at its core by providing a structured approach to achieving real, positive change.

To find out more about the Leading Parent Partnership Award or the Wellbeing Award for Schools , email Joshua Hawkins, Improvement Awards Manager at [email protected] .