England High absenteeism rates in schools all over the UK have been linked to what the government and a British education charity call “insecure, unsuitable, and poor-quality housing in Briton.”
According to reports, 19% of the children SHS works with this academic year cite their accommodations as a major barrier to attending school, according to School-Home Support (SHS), a nonprofit organization that supports students in Britain in removing obstacles to their education.
The number has increased by 73 percent from last year’s 11 percent, which it was. The study is being conducted as concerns about higher absentee rates in many English schools since the COVID-19 pandemic grow.
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According to the most recent data from the Department for Education (DfE), absences in the spring term of this year were still 50% higher than they were prior to the pandemic, and in 2021–22, more than one in five secondary students were “persistently absent,” missing 10% or more of classes.
According to SHS, confidence and self-esteem and feelings and behavior are the two other major factors that have an impact on students’ ability to attend school, with each being mentioned by 25% and 27% of respondents, respectively.
The 383 young people with whom the charity worked in the fall of 2022–2023 and the spring of 2023–2024 are the source of the data.
Children whose families may have been forced to relocate into temporary housing or an emergency refuge for their own safety and who subsequently find themselves far from school are among the respondents to the study.
According to the SHS, a lack of study or homework space in housing that is subpar makes it difficult for students to be involved in their studies.
Jaine Stannard, chief executive officer of SHS, urged funding schools so they could offer pastoral and academic catch-up support to students who were having trouble focusing.
“If you are staying in temporary housing far from school or have spent the previous night in a car, that needs to be the priority conversation,” Stannard insisted. There are no quick fixes. We can avoid problems from getting worse by addressing the root causes of poor attendance as soon as possible,” she emphasized.
