Archive

They believe in starting young In the Royal Borough of Kingston, they believe in starting young. Truancy levels in the borough are not high, but by tackling potential difficulties at primary level or even in the early years, professionals hope to reduce the risk of exclusion and non-attendance later on. Involving parents at all stages is seen as crucial.

"Our aim is to support parents' relationship with school and make them feel that school has something to offer them. We want parents to feel comfortable making their views known," said parent partnership officer Nikki Anghileri. "Truancy can be related to things such as bullying, friendship problems, transition, or disaffection with school. Parents can also sanction non-attendance and collude with the child. We aim to make parents and children feel that school is a good and non threatening place, where difficulties can be resolved." 

A multi-agency team has pioneered a series of parent workshops in Kingston schools, where parents can discuss their anxieties openly with professionals and try to work out solutions. The workshops aim to cover special educational needs and anything that could lead to difficulties with learning or behaviour.  

Pioneered in one primary school and now running in another two, they last for six sessions and include 8-15 parents in each group, with a crche provided by social services. Nikki Anghileri, an educational psychologist, an education welfare officer, a social services representative and teachers are all involved, with one professional as a point of contact in each school. More workshops are also planned in another 10 schools over the next year and a half.

Schools differ in the way they recruit parents, but try to target those whose children are having difficulties or who are at risk of developing behaviour or attendance problems later on. Topics are partly decided by parents, and have so far included challenging behaviour, sibling rivalry, children's isolation, bullying, and friendship problems.

"It's clear that parents can sometimes be much more concerned about their children's social problems at school, rather than how they are doing in maths or reading," said Nikki. "If a child comes home and says they had no one to talk to in the playground today, parents will be worried. Children often remember those aspects of school the most."

Anghileri emphasises that it's not a top-down approach. "Parents have a say in their children's education," she said. "We don't lecture them about what they should be doing or what they are doing wrong. We all come up with ideas together and try to work out ways of dealing with issues. Parents have plans to go away with at the end of each session, such as to use books for helping raise children's self esteem. They are also given contact numbers for the Parent Partnership Service and a school contact and are told they can call at any time." 

Anghileri says feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with parents rating things like relevance and helpfulness very high, and all saying they would attend again. 

Many parents welcome the rare opportunity to talk, said Diana Percival, Kingston's education welfare team manager, who also takes part in the workshops. "Parents often feel isolated and anxious. The workshops help them to realise that it's not just happening to them, that support is available, and that they can share their concerns with other parents.

"As professionals we have also all learned a great deal. We have developed much more appreciation of each others' services and our different approaches. We have also been able to see things from the parents' perspective and have gained an understanding of some of the difficulties and frustrations they face."

Truancy factfile

• Parents are legally required to ensure that their children receive a suitable education at school or elsewhere.
• Schools have to take attendance registers twice a day. Authorised absence is absence with permission from the school, such as illness or special leave. Unauthorised absence is without permission, such as truancy, unexplained or unjustified absence.
• Research has shown a strong link between attendance and attainment for individual pupils, and between truancy and street crime/antisocial behaviour.
• On average, around 450,000 children are absent from school every day.In the last year, total absences and authorised absences in all schools in England have decreased, but unauthorised absences have increased slightly.Authorised absences, for things like holidays and dental appointments during school time, account for nine out of ten school days missed.
• Government figures suggest that a hard core of secondary school pupils (2%) is responsible for almost half of the unauthorised absence from schools across the country.
• Government targets aim to reduce school absence by 8% between 2003 and 2008.
• The drive to improve school attendance has included tougher targets for LEAs, more regular collection of data, support for LEAs with the biggest problems, bi-annual truancy sweeps, behaviour improvement programmes in some schools, and a fast track to prosecution scheme, which sets a time limit for improved attendance.
• In extreme cases, truancy can result in parents' prosecution, and even a jail sentence. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 has also allowed tougher sanctions against parents. Voluntary Parenting Contracts provide support such as counselling or parenting classes for parents who face problems with their child's school attendance or behaviour. Parenting orders, with hefty fines, are issued through a magistrates court for parents unwilling to improve their child's behaviour. Penalty notices of up to £100 are available as an alternative to prosecution for parents who do not take responsibility for securing their child's regular attendance at school.
• Government targets aim to reduce school absence by 8% between 2003 and 2008.

Useful sites:

• Guidance on legislation is available from www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance/prosecutions/index.cfm and at www.parentcentre.gov.uk
• The Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) has a useful booklet on school attendance for parents, at
  www.ace-ed.org.uk/advice/MyChild/SchoolAttendance.html
• There is more information on truancy and attendance at www.teachernet.gov.uk www.dfes.gov.uk/behaviourandattendance and from the Tackling it Together site at www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance