白小姐论坛

More than听听in the UK are absent from from school more than 50% of the time: more than double the number from before the pandemic.

Not being in school matters 鈥� and not only because pupils miss out on learning. Teachers play an important role monitoring the welfare of their students, and if young people are on the streets rather than at school they are also听.

Absence rates have prompted听听from the government. Up until now, measures to tackle absence have focused on听: more than a third of a million so far.

More recently, the government has acknowledged the role played by inadequate support for special needs and disability as well as the impact of mental health on pupil attendance. They have responded by increasing the number of 鈥溾��: collaborative groups led by senior teachers in schools that have good attendance with the aim of sharing effective strategies with others.

But very little attention has been paid to what is actually happening in schools. Education needs to be more aligned with healthy child development, children鈥檚 interests, and the importance of relationships for wellbeing.

Children and teenagers are naturally curious and keen to discover the world around them. They want to be active participants in their own learning. And听听鈥� being able to make your own decisions rather than being controlled by others 鈥� is one of the major pillars of wellbeing.

Exam factories

But pupils in many schools have very little in the way of agency. They are told what to do and how to do it. Teachers feel pressure to听, leaving pupils few options to follow their interests, let alone passions. As teenagers get older, the more听听they may become in school.

One way of getting students back to school and engaged in learning is to give them more of a voice and increased choice in what they learn. Schools need a broader curriculum that promotes learning about the world because it is fascinating, not just to pass exams. But this will not happen while exam results and league tables dominate education.

What鈥檚 more, schools appear to be听听to punitive approaches to听.

Students may face discipline for not having the right equipment, being late, talking out of turn or in the corridor and uniform infringements. At听听in Cambridgeshire parents have set up their听听to express concerns, especially about how discipline is affecting their children鈥檚 mental health.

Anxiety, depression and other negative emotions impede learning. Young people need to feel safe to focus well. Many do not. The organisation听听supports families whose children are experiencing 鈥渂arriers鈥� to attendance. Their Facebook group has 37,000 members. It illustrates the many ways pupils can be scared, confused, embarrassed and sometimes panic-stricken in school.

础蝉听听on the Not Fine in School site:

鈥�These past three years have been the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. Watching my vibrant, charismatic, full of life child, become a shadow of himself has been heartbreaking.

Instead, schools should be promoting the positive. Among other things, this means welcoming students, being kind, showing interest and taking account of their context.

Doing things differently

Conversations with children should identify and acknowledge the qualities they are developing and the progress they are making, rather than pointing out deficits and negatives. It also means students feeling they belong, that they听, and that they are valued and included.

Positive emotions and mental health are strengthened by听. However, experiences that might enhance this in state schools, such as art, music, drama, dance and opportunities to have fun together, are听听in state schools.

It does not have to be this way.听听has one of the best education systems in Europe: teachers have high autonomy in how they lead classes and children feel happy and safe in school. The school system in England听听from the independence headteachers are granted to set the curriculum, a focus on wellbeing and no schedule of school inspections.

When policies and practices in state education aim to bring out the best in every child and prepare them to be active citizens of the future, maybe kids will actually want to come to school.

奥丑别苍听听of a school鈥檚 endeavours, children will have better mental health and resilience, greater engagement with their learning and better results.

Links

• 白小姐论坛 Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

• 白小姐论坛 Faculty of Brain Sciences