BASW UK responds to data on children missing from school

BASW UK has expressed concern about the impact of repeated absence of children from school as statistics from the Department for Education (DfE) show that 22.3% of pupils in England were persistently absent, which equates to 1.8 million children. This is a large increase on pre-pandemic figures where 10.9% of children were persistently absent in 2018/29.

Rachel De Sousa, The Children’s Commissioner has rightly said that some children skip school while there are others that are missing due to anxiety or have educational needs which makes being at home easier. Vulnerable children are particularly at risk

Last year BASW responded to poor school attendance figures by calling for social workers in integrated teams to be attached to schools. Social workers are trained to work closely with children and families to provide support that they need with issues such as bullying, mental health, or unmet needs.

If children are not going to school and are not being home schooled, this harms their learning and will therefore have an impact on their academic outcomes. There are also safeguarding concerns about where children are and how they are spending their time if they are not in school.

Alongside persistent absences from school, the recent revelation about unsafe school buildings has led to chaos across England as schools rush to secure structural surveys and secure alternative classrooms. This will mean even more time away from learning.

Speaking in response to this new data, BASW UK’s Chair, Julia Ross said:

“It is understandable that it would take some time to get children back into the classroom after the pandemic, but this is yet another year where the figures are unacceptable.

“The UK Government needs to make a plan on how to respond this comprehensively and urgently to avoid more harm taking place to vulnerable children.

“The Government should listen to BASW’s calls for social workers to be involved in schools as part of integrated teams then they would be much better placed to help support children back into education.

“The more school that children miss, the further they will fall behind and the harder it will be to get them to go back. Alongside the safeguarding concerns of not knowing where children are or about their wellbeing, it is clear that the Government must get a grip of this issue.”