School absences are a sign the curriculum could be failing children

As a retired child psychotherapist, I am only too aware of the impact of mental health issues on school attendance. I was, however, surprised at the emphasis placed on this in your article (Record numbers of pupils in England absent for long periods, DfE data shows, 21 March). It was correct to point out the link between qualifying for free school meals and non-attendance, but both the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders and the shadow schools minister placed an emphasis on mental health as being a key in reducing absences.

What was not mentioned was the impact on attendance of the national curriculum and other school pressures. For a number of children, the curriculum is unsuited to their needs and they see it as meaningless. Prior to training as a child psychotherapist, I was a teacher and was very aware of the number of children who stopped attending as they moved into years 10 and 11. The sense was that they were voting with their feet.

The article stated that concerns over absence are “prompted by evidence that pupils who are repeatedly absent get lower exam grades”. I wonder if an emphasis on the whole child by the Department for Education, rather than a focus on exams or a rigid curriculum, might reduce non-attendance. There are many committed teachers who would like to see change.

Children who are not succeeding in school will generally blame themselves, and perhaps the desire to escape the pressure is unsurprising.
Chris Parker
Wirksworth, Derbyshire

• Your report on the rising number of young people who are absent from education for prolonged periods of time will rightly alarm many. However, I wonder if a factor not reported here is worth consideration: that young people may not feel that education is sufficiently relevant or interesting. For them, perhaps, education as it is currently constituted has no value?
Simon Gibbs
Emeritus professor of inclusive educational psychology and philosophy, Newcastle University

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