Parental involvement key to improving school attendance

Mark Mansfield

Parents being kept better informed about their children’s absences could be one of the most effective ways of improving school attendance, according to new research involving Swansea University.

A major review found there is no single solution to persistent absence, but interventions which engage parents and improve communication between schools and families produced the most consistently positive results.

Researchers examined 61 randomised controlled trials covering approaches including parental engagement, mentoring, behavioural programmes, social and emotional support, meal provision, extracurricular activities and incentive schemes.

The research was proposed by Professor Ann John of Swansea University and the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Dyfodol programme after the Welsh Government identified school attendance and absence as a priority.

The review, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, comes amid concern over persistent school absence, which increased considerably following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Researchers said absence can be linked to poorer educational, behavioural and health outcomes, while poverty, housing instability and physical and mental health problems can contribute to children missing school.

Professor John, senior author of the review, said: “Persistent absence impacts children’s life chances. It’s an issue that disproportionately affects disadvantaged children, compounding existing differences in how well pupils do at school. The start of a new school year brings renewed attention to how we can address it.

“Our findings strengthen the evidence that improving attendance requires approaches which respond to the complex causes of school absence, rather than relying on a single solution.

“Working closely with parents and providing consistent, individual mentoring type support can make a difference. The priority now is to build on this evidence and understand how these approaches can be used effectively across our schools.”

Among the measures found to have a positive impact were relatively simple steps such as sending parents information about absences by text message, email or letter, as well as attempts to build stronger relationships between families and schools.

Targeted support

There was also some evidence that social and emotional skills programmes, behavioural interventions and targeted support for pupils at greater risk of absence could improve attendance, although researchers said fewer trials had examined those approaches and the evidence was less certain.

Results for mentoring were mixed, while providing meals and using incentives or penalties did not produce consistent improvements in attendance.

Dr Jean Strelitz, of King’s College London and the Population Mental Health Consortium, said: “This review comes at a critical time, as school attendance hasn’t fully recovered since the pandemic. Persistent school absence presents a public health concern, as it is associated with poorer developmental and behavioural outcomes.

“We identified a large number of recent high-quality trials of school attendance interventions. In our meta-analysis, engaging with parents and improving communication to parents had consistent positive impacts on attendance across several studies.”

The researchers also identified gaps in understanding the relationship between attendance and children’s mental health.

Anxiety

Only seven of the 61 trials assessed mental health outcomes, with just one finding a reduction in anxiety.

Very few studies considered pupils experiencing neurodivergence or mental health difficulties, despite links between school absence, mental health and self-harm.

Researchers said future trials should therefore measure mental health, wellbeing and self-harm alongside changes in attendance.

Jessica Barrett, of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “Our findings show that there are many ways to improve attendance, reflecting the numerous reasons why children are absent.

“Schools can play an important role in addressing attendance by strengthening relationships with students, parents and guardians, and by tailoring support to individual needs.”

The trials included in the review were conducted in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US.

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