Agenda item

To receive a report which informs the committee on the current position with regards to School attendance and engagement in education and the response taken to address matters when concern exists at individual pupil level in Denbighshire (copy attached).

10:40am – 11:10am

The Lead Member for Education, Children and Young People, accompanied by the Head of Education, presented the Promote School Attendance and Engagement in Education report (previously circulated).  The Education Social Work Team Leader/Safeguarding Officer, Principal Education Managers and the headteacher of Denbigh High School were also in attendance for the discussion. The report provided the current position regarding school attendance and engagement in education and outlined the process taken to address matters where concern existed at the individual pupil’s level of engagement with their education. It also provided the Committee with information on the measures utilised to support vulnerable pupils to re-engage with their education. It also provided an understanding of the regional and national context in addressing the current level of concern nationally.  School  attendance was a national priority and was also one of Estyn’s priorities.

Officers stated that school attendance rates in the 2018/19 pre-pandemic school year ended with primary schools achieving an overall figure of 94.8% and secondary schools at 93.7%. In the academic year September 2023 to June 2024, primary /secondary combined school attendance was 90.6%. This had increased from 89.2% over the same period in 2022/23 across Wales. In Denbighshire, the overall figure for primary / secondary combined for the academic year 2023 / 2024 was 89.9 %, 0.7 % less than the Wales average. Nationally, 10.3 % of pupils met the persistent absence threshold of 10% of sessions missed for the academic year, again an improvement from 12.9% over the same period in 2022/23. Denbighshire’s figure was 15.2% for the same period 2022/23.

Members were informed that Denbighshire County Council had received additional WG funding through the Local Authority Education Grant (LAEG) to address and support education and schools. The Education Service continued to develop cohesive community links across the authority in an attempt to address this trend, with a strong focus on community belonging and access to services. This approach was aimed at ensuring that children had access to their full-time education entitlement and access to broader and more expansive services than just education alone. As part of this, the Service had developed a pupil engagement strategy which drew upon the many services supporting this agenda and set a clear strategic direction for the Service.

Responding to members’ question the Lead Member, officers and Headteacher:

·       clarified that the “reduced timetable” policy in education referred to situations where schools or educational settings reduced the number of hours or days that a child or young person attended school, usually due to specific needs or behavioural issues. This practice was sometimes necessary to address a student’s challenges, the reduced timetable would only be used as a short-term, temporary solution to help a student reintegrate into full-time education. The Welsh Government did not endorse long-term or permanent use of reduced hours. The goal was to support the child while addressing underlying issues, such as behavioural challenges, anxiety, health issues, or special educational needs.

·         Provided assurances that one child's absence, be it authorised or unauthorised would not affect the education of other children. Nevertheless, teachers would assist and support students who had been ill and missed out on work; the level and extent of support provided would differ from student to student and dependent upon the student's needs. If the absence of students was due to long-term illness, schools would follow established codes and practices set out by WG. At LEA level, the information collated would be general data such as absence for illness/medical ground; however, at school level, the data would be collected based on the detail parents/guardians provided.

·         Reassurances were provided that unauthorised absences for family holidays purposes was not a widespread problem in Denbighshire. 

·         confirmed that there were links between low attendance and areas of deprivation.  The impact of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis had compounded the problem, the work to address these matters was complex and would take time to come to fruition.

·         advised that Fixed Term Penalties (FPNs) were a deterrent, and warning notices to parents/guardians regarding absence were effective. The systems available to them were effective, with school attendance rates increasing.  If financial penalties for unauthorised absence were not paid, the matter could end up in court.

·         The new Education, Schools and Children’s Services Attendance Policy for 2024/25 emphasised that pupil absence from schools would need to be taken as a whole council approach as factors outside education impacted  on attendance. For most other services, the pandemic was a historical matter, however, its legacy still had a significant impact on schools and education.

·         confirmed that the council's financial situation had a negative impact on the Education Service. The Education Social Worker Team had been reduced from twelve to four core members of staff, which made the workload difficult to sustain.  Whilst these core staff members were supported by three other staff, the funding for their roles was dependent upon grants from WG, which was reviewed annually in March.

·         Advised that there would always be a level of unauthorised absence in school, therefore it was important to utilise a multidisciplinary approach to try and breakdown barriers to pupil engagement.  There was an element of apathy amongst some pupils about what their future would look like, with a view to addressing this apathy and insecurity work needed to be undertaken with the commerce and business sectors to try and map out career pathways for young people.

·         assured members that no pupils should be missing school due to the Council’s School Transport Policy, as that policy was in line with the requirements of the WG’s Learner Travel Measure and stated that free transport would be provided to their nearest suitable school subject to the criteria set out in the Measure.  A copy of the policy was available on the Council’s website.

Following a comprehensive discussion, the Committee:

Resolved:  subject to the above observations –

(i)             to endorse the schools and the Local Education Authority’s efforts and approach to date to promote the importance of school attendance and engagement in education with both pupils and parents/guardians; and

(ii)           with a view to monitoring the effectiveness of the new template attendance policy for 2024/25 along with any other initiatives deployed on pupils’ school attendance and their engagement with education, to request that a further progress report be presented to members in twelve months’ time.