Decision details

The Chairman of the Children, Families & Education Select Committee introduced the Committee’s review report into persistent absenteeism, which was warmly welcomed by the Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

That:

1)    the Select Committee’s report and recommendations which seek to both support and provide further strategic direction on the Council’s aims to assist in enabling young people to attend school regularly, be welcomed; and

2)    their implementation be taken forward by Officers, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education, as set out in the report.

SELECT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

Parental Engagement and Support 

1.    Officers to continue to work with schools, nurseries and early years centres to educate and inform parents and carers about the positive benefits of school attendance, both academic and social, as a means of early intervention.

2.    Officers to investigate the use of the Learn Hillingdon service to educate and inform adult learners (who are parents) about the importance of school attendance.

3.    The Council to support schools to deliver welcome programmes for families new to the borough.

Mental Health & Wellbeing 

4.    The Council and schools to continue to work collaboratively, supporting those families with children and young people who are persistently absent due to poor mental health, and to signpost to alternative services such as CAMHS, KOOTH, Hillingdon Autistic Care & Support (HACS) and CNWL where appropriate.

School Environment & Culture 

5.    Council to encourage Attendance cluster groups to share good practice among schools on a range of topics such as EBSNA, anti-bullying and trauma-informed practice.

Data & Monitoring 

6.    Ask schools to explore how pupil attendance at after school clubs correlates with general pupil attendance within schools. What are the patterns and trends?

Collaboration & Community Involvement 

7.    Council to continue to raise awareness and highlight the positive benefits of school attendance, both academic and social, within local community and local partnership groups. To include a poster campaign in schools, libraries, Council venues and Hillingdon People.

Reasons for decision

The Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education responded to the report, noting that the Committee’s major review had commenced in 2024 in response to rising levels of persistent absenteeism and non-statutory school-aged children in Hillingdon, particularly following the COVID pandemic. Persistent absenteeism was described as a national issue that had been on the agenda for some time, and the Cabinet Member had welcomed this as a review topic. While Hillingdon’s rate of unauthorised absences was broadly in line with national figures, the rate of persistent absence was somewhat higher, which validated the importance of the review.

The Cabinet Member drew attention to recommendation three, clarifying that while officers would review whether any additional guidance could be provided by the Council to schools, that schools already organised their own welcome programmes for new families. The Council would assist where possible but could not direct schools to adopt their approach. The Cabinet Member also highlighted that the report reflected the challenges faced by families in the current climate and expressed thanks to the Select Committee for its thorough and in-depth work, as well as to the services who had adapted their working models in response to this.

The Leader of the Council commended the report as being of an excellent standard and highly comprehensive. Thanks were extended to the Chair of the Select Committee and all those involved in producing the report. The Leader remarked that the Committee had provided clear direction and that the next challenge would be for others to implement the recommendations. The Council would do everything possible to support this work and deliver improvements to help raise school attendance and outcomes for young people.

Cabinet, therefore, welcomed the recommendations from the committee and agreed to delegate their implementation appropriately.

Alternative options considered/ risk management

The Cabinet could have decided to reject some, or all, of the Committee’s recommendations or pursued alternative routes by which to progress the objectives of the review.