The Department for Education is employing “attendance advisers” to send into local authorities and schools with high rates of persistent absence.

The DfE said up to seven former headteachers and top local authority chief advisers will start their new roles from next week. They will be paid up to £500 a day.

The move comes as schools report increasing Covid-related absence as case numbers soar in some areas. The government says it is tackling persistent absence now because the pandemic has shown the importance of pupils being in classrooms.

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Schools minister Robin Walker said teachers could ring parents or employ someone to carry out visits to homes in order to reach pupils who are absent.

Tackling pupil absence in schools

“Every lesson that we can prevent a child from missing is another building block to their life chances, development and wellbeing,” he said.

“My department is channeling all its efforts to provide support and guidance to help schools, local authorities and multi-academy trusts take action to increase attendance, and I ask that everyone working with children does everything in their power to help break down any barriers to them attending school.”

He added: “I recognise that Covid is still with us and causing some unavoidable absence - but this is all the more reason that we must all take action to address every avoidable reason for a child not being in school.”

However, headteachers’ leaders say schools are already working hard to tackle persistent absence.

James Bowen, director of policy for school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “The challenge is that tackling persistent absenteeism takes more than a quick conversation or a one-off visit. It involves hours of work to address the issue and a sustained commitment from all involved.

“The task has been made all the harder in recent years by budget cuts.

“Many schools simply can no longer afford a dedicated member of staff to carry out this crucial work. In addition, many local authorities have had to cut back the staff whose job it was to intervene when attendance became an issue.

“If the government really wants to tackle this issue, it must be prepared to invest in the support services schools so desperately need.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said persistent absence has been exacerbated by Covid.

“The idea of deploying school attendance advisers to help support this work may well be helpful,” he said. “But what has certainly not helped is government cuts over the past decade that have greatly reduced the capacity of local authorities to provide support to schools and families to address attendance concerns.

“In addition, schools are endeavouring to tackle this issue within the context of extremely tight budgets caused by years of government underfunding.”

The department says it will write to local authorities with the highest levels of persistent absence offering support and it will be up to them to accept it.

Attendance advisers will not work directly with schools but instead will work with local authorities and school trusts, sharing best practice from areas that have been most successful in reducing absence rates.

They might advise how data and partnership working can be improved across local areas to identify and support pupils at risk of persistent absence, or how local authorities can make sure all parts of their services, from social workers to housing officers, are focused on breaking down barriers to attendance, the DfE said.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said: “Schools work hard every day to engage and support pupils who, for whatever reason, are absent from class.

“School leaders are no strangers to the diverse causes of absenteeism, and have procedures in place to work on relationships with families and build a way back for pupils who have become disengaged from learning.  

“This work is important but can often be time-consuming. Any support forthcoming is to be welcomed, but it is also incumbent on government to recognise its role in some of the causes of school absence.

“This ranges from a narrow and arid curriculum driven by a culture of testing which drains much of the pleasure away from learning, right through to the turbulence that disadvantage and poverty can bring to families - where children may often have to take on carer roles themselves.

“We must also consider the sheer number of SEND pupils as yet undiagnosed, and the mental health issues which have only increased during the pandemic. Fining parents and punishing students is not the approach that will address these issues.  

“As the National Audit Office reported this week, the decimation of local authority support services for schools has had far-reaching consequences. This is also true of support services for families. Schools have had to pick up a lot of this work themselves, often under very challenging funding circumstances of their own and without dedicated staff.

“If there is to be a step-change on the issue of absenteeism then government must take a serious look at the investment which is so obviously needed.” 

Mr Walker said he visited one of the schools with above-average attendance rates, London Academy, today to see how it has tackled absences.

He said: “It has been fantastic to see how through a combination of data, proactivity and a focus on children’s wellbeing, a school like London Academy has driven up attendance and reduced persistent absence.”