The government should create a school absence code specifically for mental health and review the adequacy of health services struggling with soaring waiting lists, MPs have said. The has also urged the government to make its daily attendance data collection mandatory for schools as soon as possible as part of a raft of recommendations to tackle soaring absence rates (full list below). Data from last autumn showed 7.5 per cent of possible sessions were missed that term, and that 24.2 per cent of pupils were “persistently” absent, missing 10 per cent or more sessions. In pre-pandemic 2019, overall absence was 4.9 per cent and persistent absence was 13.1 per cent. Robin Walker MP The committee found 鈥済rowing demand for mental health services and special educational needs support, as well as cost-of-living pressures and other issues, have compounded a problem that worsened following the covid lockdowns but remains present鈥. MPs found mental health-related absences were 鈥渘ot commonly authorised by schools, sometimes due to requirements to provide medical evidence which can often lead to fines or prosecution for families鈥. They said introducing an authorised mental health absence code for schools to report 鈥渃ould eliminate the need for medical evidence in cases of known and established mental health difficulties and reduce the need for intervention via prosecution鈥. The government should therefore introduce such a code and 鈥渟et clear thresholds for its use鈥. However, schools minister Nick Gibb already poured cold water on the idea during a hearing of the inquiry. 鈥淭he more complicated you make filling in these codes for schools, it鈥檚 a burden on schools, they have many other things to do. But also you can damage the accuracy of it if you start demanding more precision than the schools actually have,” he said at the time. Review struggling CAMHS services The report pointed to 鈥渙verwhelming evidence indicating a radical increase in mental health difficulties amongst school pupils since the Covid-19 pandemic鈥. And child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are not keeping up with demand. Schools pick up the pieces as suicidal kids turned away from CAMHS Data shows just 19 per cent of children and young people referred to CAMHS in 2021-22 entered treatment within four weeks. MPs said the DfE should lead a 鈥渃ross-government assessment of the scale of mental health difficulties amongst pupils, and review the current provision of support available in schools and outside of them鈥. Findings should be reported by next summer. They said there 鈥渢hen needs to be significant joint working across the government to ensure CAMHS provision is adequate to meet the needs of school age children, in line with the Department鈥檚 previous commitment to a 4-week waiting time鈥. Former schools minister Robin Walker, who now chairs the education committee, said the increase in children suffering from mental health problems was 鈥渄eeply troubling and it is evident that our health service can鈥檛 meet this growing demand, leaving schools to fill the gaps鈥. 鈥淎 major cross-government review of how to overcome this challenge is needed and greater resources both inside and outside schools will be required.鈥 Make attendance data collection mandatory The report acknowledged improving attendance had been a 鈥減riority鈥 for ministers. One intervention has been the pilot of a daily attendance data collection, which scrapes schools鈥 registered to give ministers real-time intel. Four in five schools now take part. MPs recommended the department make use of the dashboard mandatory 鈥渁s soon as possible鈥. However, this should be 鈥渟ubject to a successful evaluation of the pilot and addressing any remaining concerns about data management鈥. Ministers and officials have already hinted that this will happen, as they want the collection to replace existing datasets, but have not given a timeframe. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders鈥 union, warned of a 鈥減erfect storm in which more families need support at a time when the government has failed to invest anything like the amount needed in community services like CAMHS and children鈥檚 social care鈥. 鈥淪chools are seeing the impact of this not only through pupil absence, but also in the issues they identify among children who are in school – yet they alone are not equipped to tackle the often deep-rooted causes and are constrained by staffing pressures and the impact of years of funding cuts.鈥 Walker added that MPs want “quick action … so that we can start to turn the tide on absence”. A DfE spokesperson said they remained “focused on ensuring no child falls through the cracks”. 鈥淲e recently announced an expansion to our attendance hubs and mentors programme and we are also working closely with schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities to identify pupils in need of additional support.” Other recommendations include鈥 Introduce a register of children not in school to be fully operational for the 2024-25 academic year Implement statutory guidance on attendance to be applicable from September 2024 after revising it in consultation with stakeholders Conduct an audit of support provided by local authorities to tackle persistent absence Make an assessment of the impact of providing funding for education welfare officers through schools, compared to centrally funding such roles Instruct schools and local authorities to explore methods of support for pupils and families before the use of fines or prosecution Revise guidance to include a national framework for fines and prosecution, to ensure consistency between local authority use Roll out attendance interventions nationally, starting with attendance mentors Assess the eligibility criteria for free school meals and adjust it if necessary, ensuring all children in poverty are in receipt Require local authorities to report on school attendance levels for pupils who have attended a breakfast club or holiday clu Implement an enrichment guarantee for pupils in school including the use of sport, music, drama and art Make attendance and engagement key metrics of educational outcomes for SEND pupils in specialist settings, taking specific barriers into account Scrutinise use of alternative provision and discourage its use as a means to manage behaviour Launch a targeted public information campaign to guide parents on when and when not children who are unwell should attend school
10 April 2024 […] and school staff are not trained to deal with the levels of mental health issues we are facing. Coming up with a code for school registers might help in identifying the numbers we face however it鈥檚 not a solution. Schools need specific, […]