Some pupils’ struggles with the social side of school may be contributing to an “alarming” drop in attendance in Leeds, it’s been suggested.
A report published last week revealed the average attendance across local primary and secondary schools stands at 92.5 per cent, which is significantly down on the pre-pandemic benchmark of 95.2 per cent. Various factors have been cited as possible causes, including lingering Covid cases, struggles to recruit and retain staff and the cost-of-living crisis affecting children’s mental health.
Leeds City Council, which governs most local schools that are neither academies or free schools, said there was “work to be done” across the education sector to reverse the trend.
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The problem was discussed at a meeting of the council’s children and young people scrutiny board on Wednesday. Local Labour councillor and qualified teacher Jools Heselwood suggested a lot of pupils are unable to “cope with a full school environment”.
She said that issue had been raised with her by local residents and that support groups could be set up to help pupils and parents affected. She told the meeting: “I think it’s particularly in secondary schools where you’ve got a busy environment. They’re not going to schools because they can’t cope with that environment on that social level.
“These children are often perfectly capable of passing their exams and taking on the academic side of school, but they can’t cope with that environment. That’s something that’s been raised on the doorstep with me.”
Councillor Heselwood said children with autism and ADHD were among those affected by struggles with school’s social side. She said: “I think some of that non-attendance is children in that situation and it’s something we need to look at. But we also need to look at how we can support parents as well, because it can be quite isolating.”
Fellow Labour councillor Caroline Gruen described the non-attendance figures as a whole as “alarming”. The council’s chief officer for learning and improvement, Dave Clark, said school attendance would generally be expected to be at “96 per cent plus”.
He said: “There’s an issue with attendance nationally. I think there’s a lot of work that needs to be done right across the sector just to really engage (with those children).
“Those issues have been compounded by the pandemic, in terms of being out of school and out of routines. The mental health of young people we’ve mentioned and that’s a significant issue at the moment in Leeds and nationally.”
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