Commenting on plans to share more widely daily school registers and to increase parental fines as part of the Government’s strategy to tackle school absences, Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“Schools put in a great many hours tackling absence and reaching out to parents in support.
“We know fining parents is not the answer.”
“Measures to tackle child poverty should be considered”
Last September a House of Commons Education Committee report on persistent absence noted:
“Given a major driver of low attendance is low income, it follows that measures to tackle child poverty should be considered in the Department’s approach to improving attendance.”
Shreeve: The carrot of prompt, professional support is better that the stick of fines
Mr Shreeve went on to add,
“There is a myriad of reasons behind persistent absent. Lack of timely access to support whenever needed is a major cause.
“Student needs are too often unmet. They need quicker access to mental health services. CAMHS support has been run down to woefully inadequate levels.
“Particularly after the pandemic, students need greater specialist support in schools alongside well-funded pastoral and special needs teams.
“If Government is serious about addressing the reasons behind absences, they need to ensure schools and parents get the help they require. The carrot of prompt, professional support is better than the stick of fines.”
