Pandemic has shifted parental attitudes to school attendance

A new study from Public First has revealed a breakdown in parental attitudes to the idea of full-time school attendance in the years since the Coronavirus pandemic.

Researchers on the project undertook focus group conversations with parents across the country, from all types of background to find out what was driving the sudden drop in attendance. Overall absence is up by more than 50 per cent since 2019 and persistent absence (pupils missing 10 per cent or more of lessons) has more than doubled.

Parents in the focus groups were clear that school closures during the pandemic had shifted this attitude in an unprecedented way.

Other factors driving the drop in attendance were found to include the increased willingness among parents to take children on holiday during termtime; the rise in mental health problems among young people; and the cost of living crisis.

The research did not find any evidence to suggest that working from home was driving the sudden drop in attendance. It also concluded that fines for significant absence were counterproductive.

The report also found that the cost-of-living crisis is driving more families into poverty, and this is an underlying driver of poor attendance in families from lower and no-income groups. ​

The report recommends a review of how schools and the wider education system communicate with parents and the messaging, and the efficacy and implementation of fines should be reviewed and potentially abolished.

It also recommends that schools are supported to provide intensive, nuanced support to families for whom attendance is a significant issue. ​

There also needs to be a an urgent need to improve the accuracy of school-level attendance monitoring systems so that information shared with parents is accurate.​

It also says that SEND and children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are significant factors in the attendance crisis, investing in these two areas will significantly improve attendance.