As reported by CYP Now, a recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report lauds England’s strategies to combat school absenteeism amid pandemic challenges, while urging global collaboration to tackle persisting issues
The Luxembourg parliament approved a bill in July 2023 to extend compulsory schooling from 16 to 18 years. This will come into force at the start of the 2026/2027 academic year.
In Romania the change came into effect in the 2021/2022 school year as part of a gradual increase of compulsory education.
However, the report also praises England’s use of “attendance advisers” in schools and local authorities and a national communications campaign aimed at reducing the numbers of children taking “preventable” days of absence.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “As the OECD makes clear, absenteeism is a global challenge caused by the pandemic.
“England is leading the world in our approach to helping children to return to school.
“Our plan is working and our approach has been recognised by the OECD who described it as a ‘comprehensive strategy to fight school absences.’ Our support-first ethos is backed by daily attendance data so we can address the root cause of absence – something that very few other countries in the world have access to.”
Children’s Commissioner for England Rachel de Souza said: “I am delighted that England is leading the way in implementing effective strategies which have resulted in improvements in overall absences, particularly on a term-by-term basis, but it is clear challenges still remain.
“Attendance is everyone’s business – we need to work together to tackle absence, with schools and education partners working jointly with health, social care and youth services. I also want to see a unique ID introduced for every child so that none falls through the gap in services.”
Data from the Department for Education shows that more than one in five children in England is persistently absent from school, meaning they miss more than 10 per cent of school days. This figure has doubled since the pandemic.
Meanwhile, a new resource co-designed by young people aims to reduce levels of exclusions through a focus on school behaviour policies.
The Children’s Society’s Disrupting Exploitation Programme, education charity The Difference, and members of The Difference’s youth advisory board jointly created the behaviour policy checklist.
Key aims include advising schools to make their behaviour policies more inclusive and include students’ voices.
“Behaviour policies set the tone and culture of a school, and outline the values and behaviours expected of students and staff,” it states.
Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, the checklist covers four themes for schools and staff to communicate with their students and show their behaviour policies reflect them.
These are: sanctions, uniform and identity, language and communication, and power.
The Difference’s youth advisory board carried out peer-consultations with other young people in London to explore their experiences of exclusions and sanction in schools as part of the checklist’s development.
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