St Helens schools - calls to tackle absence rates

A report presented and approved at a St Helens Borough Council Cabinet meeting this week highlighted absence rates.

Absence rates

It showed that absence rates for the20 21/22 autumn term were higher than the regional and national average.

The primary school absence rate stood at 6.7 percent compared to the North West average of 6.0 percent and 6.2 percent in England.

Meanwhile, data at secondary school level showed an absence rate of 10.2 percent compared to the North West average of 8.8 percent and rate of 8.6 per cent in England.

At a Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee workshop last year, it was agreed a spotlight review into school attendance should be held in response to the rates.

The local authority said that since then, overall attendance rates have shown an improvement, with St Helens Borough Council taking a proactive approach to ensure this trend continues.

In statement, the council added “that it’s everyone’s responsibility to improve primary and secondary school attendance rates”.

Focus on the issue comes following the disruption created around education caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a number of strikes by teachers, which have affected some pupils.

Councillor Nova Charlton, St Helens Borough Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, suggested some parents feel it is acceptable to take pupils out of school for holidays.

Taking children out of school during term time is a topic of debate nationally, with some parents arguing that they do so that they can afford family holidays.

Holidays during school breaks are considerably more expensive than in term time, with families often able to save hundreds of pounds.

In a statement, Cllr Charlton spelled out the cumulative amount of schooling that can be missed if a pupil misses 10 per cent of school each year.

Concerns over holiday culture

She said: “There seems to be a culture of thinking it’s OK to take children and young people out of school for holidays and that 90 per cent attendance is good when in fact, over five years, that equates to half a year of being absent.

"As a council, our main priority is to ensure children and young people have a positive start in life which everyone has a role to play - from us as elected members, education leads, teachers, school governors and of course, the parents and carers themselves. “Through no fault of their own, children and young people have had their education significantly disrupted over the past few years, largely down to pandemic during which many had to change to home learning.

“But ultimately, being at school in a proper learning environment with a high level of attendance is essential for pupils to get the most out of their school experience, including attainment, social and emotional wellbeing, as well as future prospects. “I’d like to thank council colleagues for their work in putting this important piece of work together which has been really valuable and I am looking forward to it being implemented to stress the message that attendance matters.”

Taking on board recommendations from the report, senior councillors have approved a six-point action plan to:

• Develop a borough-wide culture and expectation that attendance matters

• Deliver an Attendance Matters campaign every year

• Establish a multi-agency Behaviour and Attendance Matters Board and an annual Governors’ Forum Attendance item, with training and guidance

• Raise the profile of Careers Education and its ability to raise young people’s aspirations • Continue a focus on mental and emotional wellbeing

• Continue to monitor attendance through reports to Scrutiny