The Childrenโs Commissioner has published new analysis estimating that around ๐ฐ๐ฎ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ญ๐ณ-๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ-๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ณ๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ, ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ โh๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ก๐๐๐ง๐โ.
And it raises a really important question. What happened before they got there?
Our research with 1,103 families found that nearly 8 in 10 children were already showing distress, anxiety or reluctance before their attendance became difficult.
School avoidance doesnโt suddenly begin when attendance drops below a certain percentage, and it certainly doesnโt magically disappear at 16.
The Commissioner is calling for young people to be identified and supported before they disengage. We couldnโt agree more. But we need to go further upstream and notice the children who are still attending, but already showing us that something isnโt right.
Because if we wait until theyโve stopped attending to get curious about why, weโve waited too long.