One campaigner criticizes schools using rewards to improve attendance, and says they are isolating children who miss school through their own fault.
The report suggests that the lasting impact of the Covid-19 lockdown and the pandemic-era message continues to affect school absenteeism beyond pre-2019 levels.
Children have always been legitimately missing schools due to illness, but school staff said there are indications that the “pandemic-era message” on preventing the spread of infections has been “changed thinking” about illness and school attendance.
The student “expressed his belief that being at home when it is contagious is not only a personal happiness, but also a responsibility to protect others from infection,” the report said.
Since the pandemic, schools have also observed a low threshold for taking out sick days, finding students are more likely to be at home due to “mild illnesses” like coughs and colds, but have previously said they would have come to school with those symptoms.
The study is based on interviews with staff and students from nine state secondary schools and includes responses from an NFER survey in which more than 600 secondary education teachers and leaders responded.
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Of the total absent rate, nearly half (3.5%) was due to illness, followed by “fraudulent others” (1.7%), permitted absences (0.5%), and fraudulent holidays (0.5%).
The impact of lockdown
Changes in work and home culture during the lockdown, where schools and many businesses were closed, also affected attendance.
Teachers have been easier for children to stay home when they feel sick after the pandemic, as many parents still work remotely, but in the past, parents had to be in the office and may have attended school illnesses.
As families spend a lot of time together during lockdown, school staff said they observed this led to “enhancing attachment” between parents and children.
“This enhanced attachment and familiarity with the home environment felt to contribute to an increase in school absenteeism,” the report said.
Support for sanctions will be prioritized
The report also said it highlights the “strong link” between issues facing student mental health and absentees.
“Anxiety seemed particularly at its biggest concern. Most schools have reported a significant increase in anxiety-related issues in students since the pandemic,” he said.
Based on their findings, the NFER said sanctions “still have a role to play,” but schools should prioritize providing support and personalized approaches to address student absences.
He added that building “positive and trustworthy relationships with students and parents” felt crucial not only to improve attendance, but also to support “reintegration” after absence.
Bicycle, iPad, pizza party
Penalties for parents who had unauthorized absences at school last August rose from £60 to £80, with subsequent absences potentially leading to prosecution or a fine of £2,500.
However, she said parents often don’t receive the understanding they need, and the system doesn’t take into account unique circumstances in families, including children with chronic illnesses, special educational needs, or mental health challenges.
“The entire system of fines and prosecutions destroyed the relationship between the home and school,” Elliott told the Epoch Times.
Fraudulent absent rates in British schools. PA Media
The campaigners also criticized schools that employ reward systems. The reward system excludes children who are not without their own absence, but without their own absence.
The NFER report noted that some schools will use reward-based incentives to increase attendance, including iPad and bike prizes, pizza parties, travel and attendance at the 11th year prom.
“It causes conflict between students,” Elliot warns that these rewards can lead to relationship breakdowns, bullying, and toxic environments, as they can be blamed across classes where sick children are missing out on rewards, particularly based on average class attendance.
Holiday fines for periods
The report also raised the issue of parents taking their children out of school for family leave. Nfer said this form of absence accounts for a smaller proportion of mental health difficulties and illnesses, but has continued to rise since the pandemic.
She hopes that if debate arises, MPs will help them recognize the broader impact of penalties on families.
Elliott said the change would improve attendance as happier and healthier children could also reduce sick days and reduce school absences related to mental health pressures.
“We need more understanding. Fines and prosecutions never solve the problem,” she said.
Students have been “severely absent” from schools in the UK. PA Media
In response to Elliott’s petition, the government said absence was “one of the greatest barriers to success for children and young people,” and the increase in absence was “related to dramatic reductions in achievement.”
The government says, “We take that responsibility seriously to ensure that schools are prepared to meet their children’s needs and support their success, but that is consistent with the legal responsibility of parents to send their children to school every day.”
A DFE spokesman previously said that he was determined to “change the trend towards lower attendance and breaking down barriers to opportunity.”
