Linda Rundle Senior Adviser The National Strategies

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Parenting support to promote school attendance

• Linda Rundle Senior Adviser The National
  Strategies
• Jim Mc Gilvery County Attendance Manager
  Hampshire

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By the end of the session participants will have
had

• an opportunity to hear the national view on
  supporting parents to promote attendance,
• heard how one Childrens Services has addressed
  the issue and
• had an opportunity to share effective practice
• reflect on future opportunities to engage in
  parenting support for attendance

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Why is attendance important ?

• Core to life opportunities
• Safeguarding and well being
• Direct link to
• Attainment
• Qualifications
• Earnings

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Absence in England
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Working with children and families

• Between 1st January and 4th April 2008
• Local authorities worked with 17,875 cases for
  pupil absence and worked with parents
• 106 local authorities worked with 5,506 parents
  through parenting contracts
• 44 local authorities worked with 167parents
  through a formal parenting order

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HAMPSHIRE

• One of the largest local authorities in the
  country,
• Hampshire Childrens Services Department was
• formed in August 2006 with the merging of the
• Education Department and Social Services (child
• care) Department. A very large shire county,
• Hampshire comprises rural and urban
• populations, some of which are quite affluent and
• some of which are both economically and socially
• deprived.

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Statistics

• Number of Schools
• Primary 428 (c. 85,000 pupils on roll)
• Secondary 71 (c. 70,000 pupils on roll)
• Special 26 (c. 2,000 pupils on roll)
• Off Site Units 11
• Absence levels (2006/07)
• Primary 4.92 (national average 5.18)
• Secondary 8.02 (national average 7.86)

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Requests for help

• Between 3,500 4,000 referrals with concerns
  about a pupils attendance are made to locality
  teams per annum
• Most are resolved by supporting the family and
  without having to resort to legal action
• During 2007/08
• 80 parental prosecutions were completed
• 77 parents received a Penalty Notice
• 12 parenting orders were made following parental
  prosecution

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Resolving Concerns

• schools initially attempt to resolve this
  themselves by offering advice and support to the
  pupil/family
• If the concerns continue, schools are asked to
  consult the pre Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
  checklist and if appropriate complete a CAF. This
  will help them assess how best the pupil/family
  can be supported

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Resolving concerns

• The completion of a CAF will also help the school
  identify any other services which may be able to
  help support the pupil/family
• Only when a parent has failed to cooperate with
  the school or has refused to consent to the
  completion of a CAF, can the school refer the
  matter to the locality team (the education
  welfare officer) for their direct intervention
• The locality team will always attempt to resolve
  the problem by offering the family advice and
  support without immediately resorting to legal
  action. Legal sanctions will usually only be
  taken against a parent if the parent has
  refused/failed to cooperate and/or as a last
  resort.

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Parenting Support Classes (1)

• Parents may be given the opportunity to receive
  support in the form of guidance/counselling
  either via voluntary attendance at a parenting
  skills course or on a 11 basis. This can be
  provided by the parent support team (PST) and
  locality team staff e.g. education welfare
  officers.
• The PST is currently involved in the appointment
  of parent support advisors who will work closely
  with schools in providing parents with
  information, advice and support on attendance and
  other matters which affect a pupils learning.

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Parenting Support Classes (2)

• This support will normally cover some/most of the
  following areas
• listening skills
• communication skills
• coping with challenging behaviour
• compromising
• strategies for imposing sanctions/rewards
• understanding behaviour
• discipline and boundaries
• dealing with anger and conflict
• sharing ideas with other parents
• how to change things

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Parenting Contracts

• If a pupil fails to attend school, a local
  authority (LA) or school governing body may offer
  the parent a Parenting Contract (PC). A PC is a
  formal written agreement between a parent and
  either a LA or a governing body. It will contain
  statements by the parent and either the LA or the
  governing body representative detailing specific
  actions which each party will take to help ensure
  an improvement in the pupils attendance. Agreeing
  to a PC is voluntary on the part of a parent and
  there is equally no obligation for an LA or
  governing body to offer a PC.
• NB In 75 cases where a PC was agreed to by the
  parent, the matter was resolved without the LA
  having to take legal action against the parent.

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Education Supervision Orders

• On the application of any local (education)
  authority (LA), a family proceedings court may,
  under the Children Act 1989, s36, make an
  education supervision order (ESO) in respect of a
  child of compulsory school age who is not being
  properly educated. The making of an ESO can help
  the supervising officer support the parent to
  ensure the child receives a suitable education.

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Family Group Conferences

• Family Group Conferences (FGCs) are a key part of
  the Family Support Strategy in Hampshire. Their
  aim is to support schools, parents and children
  in developing plans and strategies to manage a
  pupils behaviour, including poor school
  attendance. FGCs provide children and their
  families with the opportunity to participate in
  key decisions which affect the childs future.

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Your turn

• How could / do you use your expertise and work to
  support parents/ carers to improve attendance ?