Reports of a 20 per cent increase in Friday absences and a 25 per cent increase in term-time holidays compared to pre-Covid levels demonstrate a worrying shift in school attendance. To counter this and mitigate the negative effects on pupil learning, the Department for Education has issued new guidance and increased fines for unauthorised absences in a move that could escalated tensions between parents and schools.
Although fines are issued by the local council, the school often bears the brunt of parent frustrations and complaints. In heightened situations, it’s vital that schools seek to use the new guidance to minimise the friction – but how can this be done?
The first step is for schools to work with parents and hold open, honest conversations that seek to understand the reasons behind absences, particularly in cases of repeated infractions. For example, absences could be caused by cases of prolonged illness or a mental health issue, with research showing deteriorating mental health amongst secondary school pupils.
Highlighting the resources the school has in place to aid pupils struggling with physical or mental health problems could empower them to cope with their issues at school, thereby increasing attendance. Schools should also be open to making reasonable adjustments and work together with pupils and their families to facilitate a positive, collaborative relationship.
The cost-of-living crisis has also heavily affected family lifestyles. These circumstances should be considered when enforcing policies to ensure that families can have open conversations with school staff. Signposting to financial services and being visible about services such as free school meals or uniform support can also help to support low-income families.
When beginning a dialogue to increase attendance, it’s important that emotive issues like health or finances are dealt with sensitively. The focus should always be on the parents, pupils and the school working together to find a solution.
Promoting and incentivising good attendance in the right ways is also key to achieving this. It will help to facilitate a positive conversation and contribute to a culture of high attendance through positive re-enforcement.
It is vital that schools keep abreast of changes
If persistent absences continue after these conversations and solutions have been trialled, other routes may need to be explored. Schools may wish to consider implementing parenting contracts which, while voluntary, can help to provide individual support for pupils with severe absences before moving to legal prosecutions.
However, schools must remain vigilant to avoid making exceptions, as this could impede consistent enforcement of policies and lead to wider parental complaints.
Once other routes have been exhausted, schools should issue penalty notices in line with the National Framework or, for more severe cases, attendance prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court. From 19 August 2024, amendments to the Education (Penalty Notices) Regulations will increase the unauthorised absence penalty notice amount from £60 to £80, increasing to £160 if not paid within 21 days.
These routes should be reserved only for the most severe cases in which communication with parents and pupils has completely broken down and other strategies have failed.
To assist in this area, schools should understand the new statutory guidance, Working together to improve school attendance, which will be in place from 19 August this year. This is a useful resource that clearly outlines when a school should escalate cases of persistent, unauthorised absences.
Typically, when schools are advocating for fines or prosecution for persistent, unauthorised absences, they can expect parents to complain directly or to an independent body like Ofsted.
In order to effectively deal with complaints, it’s important schools clearly document each stage of the process and are able to demonstrate the number of absences alongside these steps and their attempts to resolve the issue with the family before escalating the case. This clear documentation will not only help should the case be escalated, it may also prevent a legal claim.
With a host of new regulations and tools coming in, it is vital that schools keep abreast of changes and ensure they are following new guidelines.
For example, The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations set to come into effect this August will require schools to keep electronic admission of attendance. These regulations specify mandatory attendance codes to be utilised by schools to increase legal accountability and prevent cases that require further attention from being missed.
The Department for Education has also launched a new data tool to help schools enforce policies, making it easier to identify trends across year groups and act quickly to provide support. This will enable schools to keep more accurate records of absences, quickly identify cases and allow for fast intervention. It will also allow schools to more effectively respond to complaints with accurate, documented evidence behind every case escalation.
In the case of absences, striking the right balance of empathy and policy enforcement will always be a challenge. Establishing and maintaining positive and collaborative relationships with families, seeking third-party advice where appropriate and working together to find solutions before escalating cases will make this often difficult process smoother.
