Pupils: Absenteeism

(asked on 18th July 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to reduce rates of absence among pupils that are (a) eligible free school meals, (b) have special educational needs and (c) are of the Irish Heritage and Gypsy/Roma ethnic groups in each London Borough.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 24th July 2019

All children of compulsory school age, regardless of their circumstances, are entitled to a full-time education which is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have. All parents have a legal duty to ensure that if their child is of compulsory school age that they receive a full time education, either by attendance at school or otherwise.

Schools should continually monitor pupils’ absence. If a child’s absence reaches a level of concern, the school should raise this with the parents and the local authority in the best interest of the child’s education. School and local authorities should consider the individual circumstances of each case and take the appropriate course of action to ensure the child receives consistent education. This can include the use a range of parental responsibility measures to provide support or sanctions to parents when their child’s attendance at school becomes a problem.

Schools also receive pupil premium funding to support pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years, and have the flexibility to use it to improve attendance if this is deemed a priority.

The Department wants all children and young people, regardless of special educational need or disability, to receive the right support to succeed in their education. and as they move into adult life. In 2014, the Department introduced significant reforms to enable schools to put the right support in place for those pupils so that they can attend school.

The Department has established a new Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) stakeholder group, chaired by the noble Baroness Whitaker. This group aims to ensure that any efforts to improve the school system take into account GRT pupils’ needs.

Reticulating Splines