Asked by
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to
reduce absenteeism in schools.
The Minister of State, Department for Education ( of Malvern) (Lab)
My Lords, tackling absence is at the heart of our mission to
break down the barriers to opportunity. If children are not in
school, it does not matter how effective or well supported
teaching and learning is; they will not benefit. That is why we
are committed to working with the sector to provide access to
specialist mental health professionals in every school and
rolling out breakfast clubs to every primary school.
(Con)
I am grateful for that. Does the Minister agree that Covid
weakened the contract between parents and schools? As a result,
we have over 150,000 children missing on average every other day,
double the number pre Covid, as well as 1.7 million missing on
average every other Friday, again double the number pre Covid.
Against the policies that she has just announced, will she agree
to have targets to reduce absenteeism for those two
categories?
of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Lord is absolutely right to identify the scale of
children who are both missing school and, in the case of those
who are severely absent, missing more than 50%. We have seen
those figures continue to rise, unfortunately. I am open to the
idea of targets being the right approach, but I absolutely assure
him that we are working extremely hard with a range of policies:
the breakfast clubs that I have outlined, the specialist mental
health professionals, the new guidance expecting close working
between schools and local authorities, and the work on data and
better analysis of those who are absent. That was started by the
noble Baroness, Lady Barran, and we are absolutely determined to
build on it to make sure that we bring those figures down.
(LD)
My Lords, I entirely agree with the Minister that we should
ensure that children are in school and get the best possible
learning opportunities. However, we have a system whereby any
parent can take their child out of school and say, “I am home
educating them”. We have no checks on whether that home education
is taking place, on its quality or on whether children are
safeguarded. After Covid, we have seen children go back to
school, not like school and say, “Can I be home educated?” “Yes.”
Is the Minister prepared to support my Private Member's Bill on
home education?
of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Lord is of course talking about a slightly different
issue from absenteeism, which is where somebody is already on a
school roll and is not attending. He makes a valiant plug for his
Private Member's Bill, which I am delighted to say I will respond
to on 15 November. It is probably also worth saying that of
course, through our children's well-being Bill, we will legislate
to introduce children not in school registers, to improve the
visibility of children and young people who are not on school
rolls, including those getting unsuitable home education.
(CB)
My Lords, the Minister will know that children in the care of
local authorities have generally had very disturbed childhoods
and, because of that, missed a great deal of schooling. Will
everything be done to help them catch up?
of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Lord is absolutely right. Sometimes children in the
care system have to move too frequently from one placement to
another, which too often means that they have to move schools.
They rightly get priority for admissions to schools but it is
crucial that, through the work of our virtual schools and all
corporate parents of children in care, we ensure that they have
the stability to enable them to attend school and succeed.
(Lab)
My Lords, the main drivers of school absence are mental ill
health and poverty, so it is very welcome that the Government
will provide specialist mental health counsellors in each school.
Hitherto where that has been provided, it has mainly been paid
for from the pupil premium. Given that a number of those pupils
now requiring assistance and counselling are not in receipt of
free school meals, how will it be paid for and will it be the
responsibility of the Department for Education or the Department
of Health and Social Care?
of Malvern (Lab)
My noble friend is right that mental health disorders among
children are a growing problem. Working alongside the Department
of Health and Social Care, we will provide access to specialist
mental health professionals in every school, and develop new
young futures hubs, which will include access to mental health
support workers. Also, we will recruit an additional 8,500 new
mental health staff to treat children and adults, to cut the
unacceptably long time that children and young people have to
wait for child and adolescent mental health services; that
commitment is specific to the Department of Health.
My Lords, is there any causal correlation between poverty,
particularly in the wake of the cost of living crisis, and
absenteeism from school?
of Malvern (Lab)
The right reverend Prelate is right to identify that. The data
shows that those on free school meals are far more likely to be
absent from schools than those who are not. That is why we need a
wide-ranging approach to ensure that we provide both the school
action and the home backgrounds that will enable children to
attend school and learn. My right honourable friends the
Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for
Work and Pensions are working hard on the cross-government
childhood poverty strategy precisely to address some of those
issues.
(Con)
What is the Minister's assessment of the National Parent Survey
2024 published by the charity Parentkind, which showed that three
in 10 parents are now more relaxed about school attendance? This
aligns with the department's excellent data, which shows a big
rise in that group since the pandemic.
of Malvern (Lab)
My assessment is that it is concerning that parents, for whatever
reason are becoming relaxed about their children's attendance at
school. As the noble Lord suggested, this has partly been linked
to the pandemic. We know that each day of lost learning can do
serious harm. Days missed can add up quickly. There is a link
between absence and attainment, and pupils who are persistently
absent are less than half as likely to achieve good GCSEs as
those who attend every day. We need to give that message loud and
clear to parents who, in being relaxed about their children's
attendance at school, are fundamentally damaging their future
prospects.
(CB)
My Lords, numerous studies have demonstrated the positive impact
of arts and creative programmes on attendance and engagement,
which is especially true for pupils from at-risk populations,
where absenteeism of course creates an even longer shadow. Will
the curriculum and assessment review take account of this
evidence in considering the value of arts subjects, and will the
Government encourage more schools to take up Artsmark, given that
96% of Artsmark schools report positive improvements on
attendance, punctuality and engagement?
of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right that we need a curriculum
in schools that will encourage all children to flourish and to be
engaged. That is why, in setting up the curriculum and assessment
review led by Professor Becky Francis, we have specifically asked
it to consider how we can ensure that the curriculum meets the
needs of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational
needs, and that it does that through creating space for exactly
the sort of creativity for which the noble Baroness is a strong
advocate.
(Lab)
Has any work been done on working from home? I gather that this
is a factor which is leading to some absenteeism. As we are
likely to see a growth in the number of people working from home,
could we see that, at least in the public service, part of the
contract is that those working from home will give an undertaking
that their children will go to school?
of Malvern (Lab)
My noble friend makes an interesting point. In my response
earlier to the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, I was very clear
that, to be honest, it does not matter whether you are working
from home as a parent, or where you are working—your
responsibility is to ensure that your children are in school
every day. If you do not do that, you are disadvantaging their
futures. I do not think my noble friend meant this, but I would
not want there to be some idea that there is some sort of excuse
because of the way in which there are—quite rightly—more
flexibilities about the way in which we work. However we as
adults work, we have a responsibility to ensure that our children
are in school, because that is where they will learn and have the
best chance of a successful future.
