Siobhan Robertson
Schools in England are in the spotlight as families facing systemic barriers to attendance and concerns for their children’s well-being worry about how they will be affected by the rise in non-attendance fines.
Since the beginning of 2022, there has been ongoing work towards the Conservatives ‘Levelling Up’ plans for education. A school attendance consultation was launched in January 2022; the Children’s Commissioner’s Attendance Audit was published in March, and the Schools Bill followed in May.
“The circumstances leading to a family facing fines for absences are based on a postcode lottery”
All of this attention on non-attendance has Local Authorities focusing on whether children are making it to school each morning. Currently, parents/carers can be fined £60 each for non-attendance, rising to £120 if not paid within 21 days.
The circumstances leading to a family facing fines for absences are based on a postcode lottery, with some local authorities issuing no fines in 2020/21, while others issued over 1,500. The Department of Education intends to tackle this inconsistency with the Schools Bill.
Yet, rather than following Scotland’s lead and removing fines for everyone, the Schools Bill continues to include non-attendance fines as a deterrent against ‘avoidable’ school absences.
Are fines going to help children attend school?
Squarepeg and Not Fine in School are raising awareness about school attendance barriers. In 2020 they created a survey to gather information from families who face these issues.
Out of 706 respondents, 444 had been threatened with fines. 71 of those threats were mentioned to children. 98% of the families who were fined stated that it did not help them or their child improve their attendance, and 53% felt that forcing their children to attend school made things worse.
Respondents indicated that anxiety disorders, sensory difficulties, social difficulties and school culture were among the highest influencers of non-attendance. The initial interventions offered by most schools were timetable adaptations, permission to leave the class, and access to a quiet room. Although most respondents felt that they were more unhelpful than helpful.
“If you want to understand the crisis in the demand for CAMHS and social care, look to the relentless focus on attendance and attainment” – Ellie Costello
Should school attendance be prioritised over children’s health and well-being?
The last paragraph of the Children’s Commissioner’s Attendance Audit states that attendance should be everybody’s priority. The Conservative government is focused on getting children to school and giving them a good education, with PM Boris Johnson telling parents that “their child’s education is at the very heart of this government’s agenda”.
However, Squarepeg’s more recent survey, held in February 2022, found that out of almost 2000 respondents 94% felt that attending school has harmed their child’s mental health. All of them reported attendance difficulties.
When young people are struggling with their mental health so much they feel unable to attend school, there should be support, not fines. We need schools to be compassionate, where no young person feels alone with their mental health. https://t.co/KmrD0ZOemh
— YoungMinds (@YoungMindsUK) June 8, 2022
Ellie Costello, Director at Squarepeg, has stressed the correlation between a child’s wellbeing and their school attendance: “We must work together when a child is unable to access school – it’s a parents’ worst nightmare when their child’s mental health is so poor, they are unable to function let alone attend school, but often parents have been coerced and threatened into enforcing attendance, which only makes things worse.”
“The intense scrutiny and surveillance of families is a pressure cooker set for disaster. If you want to understand the crisis in the demand for CAMHS and social care, look to the relentless focus on attendance and attainment.”
Parents who are looking for support can turn to Squarepeg and Not Fine in School’s websites. Not Fine in School also has a Facebook group with 27.7k members sharing their experiences.
Featured image courtesy of Ambermb on Pixabay. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Siobhan R
Siobhan is a Scottish Freelance Journalist and one of Empoword’s Social Media Managers. Siobhan writes about a range of social justice issues, with a particular focus on domestic abuse, addiction and disability. Through writing, she aims to help people understand each other's experiences, sharing the difficulties they are living through and exploring what can be done to make a difference.