“I won’t be the only headteacher who has been told by social services or the police that attendance is a school matter and not a safeguarding issue.”
For headteachers such as Emma Meadus, the elephant in the attendance debate has been around for far too long – while there are obvious links between the social and welfare needs of pupils and their absence, often persistent, from school, the safeguarding aspect of attendance is often not sufficiently recognised.
As such, attendance officers can find themselves working in limbo, stuck between social services and education.
The challenge facing us is stark. Attendance figures for the last academic year show that 17.2% of primary pupils were persistently absent, meaning they missed more than 10% of sessions (the rate for secondary schools is 28.3%). Meanwhile, overall absence stands at 7.5% (falling to 6% for primary schools), but absence rates rise to 11.4% for disadvantaged pupils, 13.3% for pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans, 11.1% for those with SEN (DfE, 2023).
Register now, read forever
Thank you for visiting Headteacher Update and reading some of our content for professionals in primary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.
What's included:
-
Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcasts
-
New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday
Already have an account? Sign in here