A new group of leading figures across education, health and social care met for the first time today in a bid to “supercharge efforts to improve school attendance”.
Chaired by the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, the newly convened “attendance alliance” will not be looking at Covid-related school absence as part of its work.
The group includes the education secretary, Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza and chief social worker Isabelle Trowler.
Ms Spielman is currently carrying out a review of best practice on attendance in schools, which will be published in the new year.
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The Department for Education said that the recent trends in attendance have been “largely driven by Covid”, which is outside of the group’s remit.
Improving school attendance
However, it said the government is determined to address the wider underlying causes of children not being in school.
The DfE highlighted how persistent absence increased to 16.3 per cent in secondary schools in autumn 2020, compared with 15.0 per cent in 2019, not including non-attendance in Covid circumstances.
The launch of the new group comes as new data from FFT Education Datalab shows that more than a third of secondary students and a quarter of primary pupils were persistently absent this term, with even higher levels among disadvantaged students.
At the close of the meeting, the alliance members issued a “ joint call on all those that engage with children, whether as a parent, teacher, GP, police officer, social worker or anything else - to work together to break down any barriers they find to them being in school for every possible day”.
Mr Zahawi said: “Where children aren’t in school without good reason or don’t want to be in school, something has gone substantially wrong and needs fixing. This new attendance alliance includes the people with the power to do just that.
“They will be working over the coming months to make sure everyone working on the ground with children, as a teacher, football coach, mental health worker or in any other role, has the tools and resources they need to break down barriers to children attending school.
“I will continue to prioritise taking action to make sure children have the opportunity to spend time in class with inspirational teachers and good friends - simply because it is the single most powerful tool at our disposal to make sure every child fulfills their potential.”
The launch of the alliance follows the education secretary’s commitment, when he came into post, that he wouldn’t let school attendance fall.
Members also include the NAHT and ASCL general secretaries Paul Whiteman and Geoff Barton.
