Guy Renner- Thompson has launched a new campaign designed to get school children back into the classrooms, with school attendance levels remaining stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels.
The council say the new campaign, aims to “highlight the importance” of attending school as much as possible to ensure children “achieve their full potential”.
Entitled ‘Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow, Attendance Matters’, officials hope to raise awareness of how every day in school matters, and claim regular attendance plays a “vital role” in helping learners achieve more during their school years.
The issue is not just confined to Northumberland; in October, figures from the Department for Education (DfE) found that pupil absences across the country were 60 per cent higher than before Covid.
Data also showed that one in 50 pupils in state schools in England were absent without permission in the first month of the current academic year.
While attendance in Northumberland remains below pre-Covid levels, the council say new initiatives such as the campaign are having a “positive impact”.
Overall absences in the county are better than regional and national averages in the county’s secondary and special schools, while persistent absence rates are better than regional and national averages in the primary and secondary schools.
Councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet member for Young People, explained the importance of pupils coming to school.
He said: “We all want our children and young people to have the best start in life and school attendance is vital for this and making sure they get the most out of their time at school. It’s not just about what they learn in the classroom, it’s also about all the extracurricular activities that are available to help develop skills such as teamwork, creativity, independence and self-confidence.
“If a child or young person is in school – it also importantly means they are safe and are getting the support they need. We don’t just want to get our attendance back to pre-pandemic levels – we want it to be better than that – and that’s what this campaign aims to achieve.
“We understand that some children and young people face challenges with school attendance, particularly post-pandemic, and we want to assure families that support is available.”
