Schools are facing a “rising tide of mistrust” from the public following the pandemic but can “re-establish the social contract” by helping pupils and parents “feel a sense of belonging”, a senior leader in the academy trusts sector has said.
Speaking as the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) annual conference got under way this morning, chief executive Leora Cruddas said she is optimistic that “schools are part of the social recovery”.
“It is possible to rebuild trust in what feels like a rising tide of mistrust by helping our young people and parents feel a sense of belonging,” Ms Cruddas said.
Her comments follow a report from Public First that revealed a “profound breakdown in parental attitudes” to the idea of full-time school attendance in the years since the Covid-19 pandemic forced many schools to close.
Addressing CST members in Birmingham this morning, Ms Cruddas warned that schools “struggle to operate in a climate of mistrust” and a “decline of faith” in public institutions means that schools “can no longer necessarily count on receiving the automatic goodwill and trust of the parents they serve”.
She said that focus groups with parents have revealed changes in attitudes and behaviour from parents, the impact of which is seen “starkly” in the growing attendance crisis.
Ms Cruddas also warned that the cost-of-living crisis is driving more families into poverty - which is in turn driving poor attendance in families from lower- and no-income groups - and called for the “eradication of poverty” to be a priority for the next government.
In an interview with Tes at the beginning of term, children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said that she was “very concerned” that heads were not getting the support they need to tackle growing levels of school absence.
‘Anchor institutions’
Ms Cruddas said that it was important that leaders were “explicit” about “purpose” in order to be “public and transparent” in attempts to “renegotiate the social contract”.
“It is our solidarity and our interconnectedness - our shared sense of purpose - that will make a difference to the children and communities we serve,” Ms Cruddas said, adding: “It is through this that we mobilise education as a force for social justice and wider common good.”
And talking about the importance of “place”, Ms Cruddas said that it was important that school trusts “anchor” schools in their communities.
“Whilst many trusts already do important work in ensuring all children can access full opportunities offered by schools, seeing trusts as ‘anchor institutions’ opens up longer timeframes and broadens our thinking about how we best address our collective mission to advance education for public benefit,” she told trust leaders.
