Ofsted highlight attendance concerns in annual report

Sir Martyn Oliver has used his first annual report as Ofsted’s chief inspector to highlight concerns about the ‘vicious circle’ of school attendance, and the numbers of children being opted out of ‘orthodox patterns’ of education.

The report is also the first since single word grade judgements were scrapped in September this year. As a result, this year’s report does not contain the usual breakdown and analysis of the different grade profiles achieved by schools – although last month Ofsted published figures which showed that at the point headline grades were discontinued, 90 per cent of schools were rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.

The report notes that, despite some recent improvement, school absence rates remain higher than they were prior to the pandemic. It argues that the number of pupils who are severely or persistently absent – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds - is ‘particularly alarming’. Warning of a ‘vicious circle’, the report states: ‘Missing education makes it harder to catch up and progress. This can easily dishearten children, and lead to further and more entrenched absences.’

As well as outright absence, the report also focuses on the rising number of pupils on part-time timetables, which has reached an estimated 34,000 children. The report notes, ‘The use of part-time timetables has previously been an accepted tactic to help children back into school after illness, or a period of school refusal – a short-term measure with a clear goal. The spread of part-time timetables suggests they are becoming more readily used, which cannot be good.’

Also highlighted in the report are a growing number of children who receive a mix of online and in-person education, a model increasingly used for children with SEND,  behaviour or health needs. The suggestion is also made that some schools are allowing ‘flexi-schooling’ – where parents home educate their child/ren for part of the week, with the rest spent at school. Ofsted argue that while the numbers being educated via these models aren’t huge, taken together with the rising number of pupils being home educated full-time, and those attending illegal, unregistered schools  ‘they represent a very significant number of children who have, one way or another, been opted out of more orthodox patterns of education’.

Responding to the report Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, commented: ‘This report lays out many of the challenges being faced by school leaders on a daily basis, including absence rates which remain higher than before the pandemic. This is largely being driven by high rates of mental health issues such as severe anxiety, a rising number of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and a system which has not received the investment required in order to provide timely support’. She added: ‘Where hybrid models are being adopted, this is often in cases where children have not been attending school at all and forms part of a pathway back to full-time education. As we move forwards towards a different system of inspection, it’s vital the new model does a better job of accounting for contextual factors and provides a more rounded picture of a school’s performance.’