School Absence Is A Growing Problem

Government statistics from March 2024 show the overall absence rate at 7%, up from 4-5% pre-pandemic. Before the pandemic less than 1% of pupils were listed as severely absent (missing 50% of lessons or more), but sadly that rate now stands at 2.2%. To put that into perspective, that is over 157,000 pupils that were absent from school, more than they were present.

These absences will obviously have a drastic impact on attainment, the DfE have found that, ‘Generally, the higher the percentage of sessions missed across the key stage at KS2 and KS4, the lower the level of attainment at the end of the key stage.’ - source here.

School-Refusers

It is vital that we recognise this country-wide problem and have solutions in place to support children who are consistently absent from school. There are several reasons as to why a child may be refusing to go to school such as: anxiety and other mental health issues, behavioural or learning difficulties and bullying.

Students who are missing school regularly due to the above reasons may be labelled as school-refusers, also known as Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA), or anxiety-related absence.

It is unfair to expect children who are struggling with these issues to be forced into a school environment full time – this is why we are offering Hybrid Learning as a vital support system, so that school-refusers can stay registered at school, but access education online part-time, within the comfort of their home.

Hybrid Learning

Hybrid Learning is a combination of the conventional face-to-face learning that happens in the classroom, with online learning using a virtual classroom platform.

At Teach In Time, we have the knowledge and understanding to know that online learning can be an extremely positive experience for children and would work well for those students identified as a ‘school-refuser’. We can provide online lessons in English, Maths and Science from KS2 - KS4, taught by qualified teachers, to ensure the student is receiving the education they need to keep their attainment level up.

We understand that school-refusers taking part in Hybrid Learning would need to be monitored, and the ClassIn platform we use allows for just that. All lessons are recorded, school support teachers can sit in on lessons incognito, homework tasks are submitted/reviewed within the platform and each student receives personal feedback after every class.

The Benefits of Online Learning with Teach In Time

•  Students don’t need to travel (in some cases very long) distances to and from school.

• Learning platforms (we use ClassIn) enable students to still engage with interactive lessons 1:1 or in small group settings with peers.

• Homework is assigned and marked regularly.

• Our courses are bench-marked against the National Curriculum to fit in seamlessly with classroom learning.

• Students receive personal feedback after every class.

• The schools recruitment crisis has led to a shortage of specialist teachers (see here), but we have specialist teachers in Chemistry, English, Biology, Physics and Maths who have excellent experience of on-line teaching and knowledge of the National Curriculum!

Mini-Medics Mental Health Course

We are aware that school-refusal is often rooted in anxiety and other mental health issues. As well as offering online lessons, we can also deliver a Mini-Medics Mental Health course online, so students can be in the comfort of their own home. This course helps them to understand their feelings, learn how to open up about their emotions and know what to do if they have a worry.

The Cost

One of the Directors of Teach in Time, Rebecca, was a School Business Manager in Staffordshire, so we are acutely aware of the constraints of the school budget. At Teach in Time, we are passionate about making on-line learning affordable. We want to partner with schools and Local Authorities.

To enable on-line learning to be affordable by teaching in small groups, by partnering with schools, students can come together to learn online.

Please email [email protected] for further information or enquiries.