Memorandum submitted by the National Association
of Social Workers in Education (NASWE)
1. The National Association of Social Workers
in Education (NASWE) was founded in 1884 and is the only association
representing staff in the education welfare service (EWS) across
all grades. The association has no paid officers and is run by
its members for its members and has membership across the UK.
2. This NASWE submission to the House of Commons
Select Committee inquiry into behaviour and discipline in schools
will focus on one aspect of the inquiry, the links between behaviour
and attendance and may be summarised as follows:
— There are strong common causal factors
between poor attendance and disruptive behaviour
— That more than 90% of cases currently
coming to the attention of the EWS are resolved without the need
for enforcement action in the courts.
— Interventions should be based on a thorough
assessment of the causes of poor attendance and then effectively
targeted at children and young people for whom the impact on future
life chances will be greatest.
— That the Education Supervision Order
(ESO) is an under used tool that should be extended to cover poor
behaviour as well as attendance where this has been a serious
barrier to education.
— The threshold for statutory involvement
by an education welfare officer (EWO) has historically been relatively
low compared with other services such as social care or youth
offending. Deteriorating attendance, punctuality and behaviour
can be an early warning sign of difficulties in a family and present
a valuable opportunity for early intervention.
— Schools should not be expected to deal
with the impact of the raft of difficulties facing some families
without access to sufficient support from statutory services.
BACKGROUND
3. The EWS has existed in some form since the
inception of compulsory education. The school board (precursor
to the EWS) highlighted the range of barriers to school attendance;
poverty, mental and physical ill-health, domestic
violence, alcohol and drug misuse and child cruelty (Williams
et al 2001).
4. These barriers or indicators remain and young
people grow up to reinforce the cycle of deprivation and enduring
social exclusion. These indicators are equally applicable in predicting
poor behaviour.
5. A poor educational experience can be both
a cause and an effect of social exclusion. The work of the EWS
presents an early opportunity to provide help and support for
families at an early stage. See table 1.
Table 1.
THE LINKS BETWEEN POOR ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL
AND MULTIPLE DISADVANTAGE. (EXTRACT FROM EARLY INTERVENTION—A
NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR EDUCATION WELFARE, 2010, NASWE)
| Outcome | Evidence
| Source |
| Stay Safe | "In some cases, pupil absence from school can be an indicator of child protection issues. The report of the Victoria Climbié Inquiry highlighted a considerable number of concerns including the importance of social services investigating the day care arrangements of children not attending school. Schools that we visited considered that tracking the attendance of some pupils was crucial in maintaining a record of pupils at risk and in enabling schools and local authorities to identify possible problems".
| Extract from National Audit Office—Improving school attendance in England (2005). Stationery Office.
|
| Enjoy & Achieve | "Only 13% of persistent truants achieved 5 A*-C at GCSE compared with 67% of those who never truanted."
| Youth Cohort Study and longitudinal study of young people in England 2007.
|
| "Statistical analysis of school attendance records shows that as the level of absence increased attainment decreased. However there is considerable variation among schools and the findings of this research cannot take into account factors other than attendance on attainment. Explained absence is comparable in its effects with unexplained absence."
| Understanding truancy-Links between attendance truancy and performance.
Malcolm H, Thorpe G, Lowden, K (1996) SCRE.
|
| Be Healthy | Persistent truants are more likely to smoke, drink, take drugs, be sexually active, all factors that have clear long-term health risks.
| McAra, L (2004) Truancy, School Exclusion and Substance Misuse—quoted in NPC Report Misspent Youth
|
| There is a direct correlation between lower educational achievement and the incidence of health issues including obesity, depression, respiratory problems, lack of exercise.
| NPC Misspent Youth (2007)—Feinstein cited in DFES (2003) Education and Skills: The economic benefit.
|
| Make a Positive Contribution | "Excluded children and persistent truants risk underdeveloped social skills, which can prevent then from holding down jobs and forming relationships, they frequently struggle to make friends."
| Absence from School: A study of its causes and effects in seven LEAs. Malcolm H, Wilson V, Davidson J, Kirk S. The SCRE Centre, University of Glasgow. DfES 2003 Research Report RR424.
|
| Truants are both more likely to commit crime and to become the victims of crime. Being in school reduces the opportunities for criminal behaviour. Poor attendance through exclusion or truancy increases the likelihood of getting poor qualifications and becoming unemployed, both well-known predictors of crime. 65% of teenagers who truant once a week or more self report offences compared to 30% of their peers.
| Stevens, A, Gladstone B (2000) Learning not Offending: Effective interventions to tackle youth transitions to crime in Europe. RPS Rainer
|
| Economic well-being | 75% of homeless teenagers had either been excluded from school or had been persistent truants.
| SEU Report Rough Sleeping 1998 (based on CentrePoint study.)
|
| 27% of persistent truants in year 11 end up NEET compared to just over 8% of all young people.
| Youth Cohort Study and longitudinal study of young people in England 2007.
|
IS ALL
ABSENCE THE
SAME?
6. NASWE is committed to the promotion of regular school
attendance for all children, and young people of compulsory school
age; however the extent, origin and impact of poor attendance
is not the same for all children. Truancy is a complex issue with
potentially multiple causes which are often dynamically interactive.
7. Low level absence is best dealt with by schools through
effective whole school policies including clear information to
students and parents, rapid follow up and attention to aspects
of the curriculum, effective teaching and learning and effective
anti bullying policies.
8. For some vulnerable young people the root causes of poor
attendance and behaviour may lie in difficulties at home, many
of which will be complex and concern parental needs that are unmet—these
are the children who should concern us most as it is likely that
they will have a range of other needs which will impact negatively
on many aspects of their lives (see table 1 on page 2). It is
unrealistic to expect schools to tackle these issues without adequate
support but it is essential that schools are kept fully involved.
Teachers have a unique relationship with children and their knowledge
is an important contribution to any assessment.
9. Many schools employ non-teaching staff to support school
attendance. Whilst we recognise the valuable role that they play
the statutory enforcements duties held by LAs are generally delegated
to the EWS who would still be required to intervene where the
schools efforts have failed.
10. This is a specialist task and schools should expect an
appropriate level of support from the local authority with sufficient
EWOs with appropriate skills to support them in educating vulnerable
children and young people.
11. The EWS is unregulated and whilst many officers are highly
skilled and highly regarded by schools there are no mechanisms
in place to ensure that this is always the case.
12. Recent data obtained by Children and Young People Now
magazine revealed that there are currently 2,214 EWOs in England.
EWO:Pupil ratios vary considerably across the country from 1:
500 to 1: 18,000. Latest DFE statistics tell us that there are
208,380 persistent absentees. The numbers of EWOs is likely to
decrease as spending constraints take effect. (CYPN 20th April
2010)
13. We recognise that demand will vary in different parts
of the country and would not necessarily want a nationally agreed
pupil : EWO ratio however it would be useful to have some guidance
on what would be an appropriate minimum level of staffing to meet
statutory duties.
RESPONSES TO
POOR ATTENDANCE
14. The current legislative framework on school attendance
is complex and its application variable and in some cases arbitrary.
It is a mixture of provisions located in criminal and child care
law which may be used singularly, consecutively or in some instances
concurrently.
15. Recent years have seen a significant increase in the
number of parents being prosecuted in the criminal courts because
of their child's poor attendance.
16. Figures show a parent is sent to prison every other week
in term time for failing to ensure their child goes to school.
(Guardian 2009). A jail sentence is a very costly intervention-
its efficacy is as yet unknown. The data we currently have in
relation to the effectiveness of these punitive approaches suggests
that they are not effective, either in improving attendance in
a sustained way or as an effective deterrent (Zhang 2004 &
2007).
17. Using enforcement measures is sometimes necessary—but
this relies on high-level assessment and intervention skills.
Strategies that rely on establishing systems and pre-determined
processes can be unhelpful when they are used to replace, rather
than support, skilled and professional judgements. Women (as single
parents) are 3 times more likely to face prosecution for failing
to ensure their child's regular attendance than men. (Kendall
et al 2004).
CASE STUDY
"TERRY"*
Terry is in year 10 and last year he completely stopped going
to school. His mother is the victim of serious domestic violence
from Terry's father who has also turned against Terry believing
he was siding with his mother. He has been sending abusive text
messages to his son. Terry is devastated by what has happened.
When the EWO first became involved Terry tried to smash up his
room and set fire to his school uniform. At this stage neither
Terry nor his mum felt able to speak about their situation.
Because of Terry's protracted absence the EWS arranged a formal
meeting to clarify the authority's intention to take enforcement
proceedings. This acted as a catalyst for the family and despite
proving very difficult to engage initially, Terry, with the help
of a skilled EWO began to speak about his difficulties. Terry
began to attend school again and despite some ongoing issues with
his attendance and behaviour he remains positive about his future.
The EWO working closely with the school has secured day release
at college and a work experience placement. This would have been
out of the question the previous year.
*Case studies in this submission have been previously used
in the NASWE document Early Intervention-A new Potential For
Education Welfare. They are real cases supplied by NASWE members.
WHAT KINDS
OF FAMILIES
DO EDUCATION
WELFARE OFFICERS
WORK WITH?
18. Long before the integration of education and children's
social services, the EWO worked across the two major systems.
EWOs do not have the luxury of declining to work with young people
and parents who may not want to co-operate.
19. NASWE commissioned Independent consultants who undertook
a matching needs and services audit to gain a picture of need
among EWS clients. Key findings from the audit may be summarised
as.
— All four agencies are working almost exclusively with
children at levels 2 and 3.
— 37% are judged to have reached the significant impairment
threshold
— More than a third of the children have emotional/mental
health problems
— 25% of their parents have mental health problems
— 22% of children have a parent who misuses drugs and/or
alcohol
20. It is clear that EWS in all four areas are working with
children with serious and complex needs and there is little difference
across the four samples:
21. The study showed that in 65% of cases needs were believed
to have been fully or partially met, largely by the EWS. Needs
were least likely to be met where it was in relation to parental
mental health, trauma, much improved care at home and/or problems
with adult/child relationships.
POOR ATTENDANCE
AND BEHAVIOUR—A
BAROMETER OF
FAMILY WELL-BEING.
22. Deteriorating attendance and behaviour at school are
indicative of deeper issues and are a good barometer of family
well-being. Truancy can be a complex behaviour; symptomatic of
a range of different factors within schools, communities and families,
which in many cases are dynamically interactive.
23. Whilst NASWE fully supports the notion of parental responsibility
the current legislation has its roots in an era when young people
left school at an earlier age. This "extension" of adolescence
is not without problems and it is no coincidence that the majority
of parental prosecutions concern the parents of teenagers. To
deny that young people can and will make decisions for themselves
is naive and an emphasis on an outdated notion of absolute parental
authority is unlikely to resolve the issue. It is our experience
that many young people who are persistently absent from school
are not necessarily beyond parental control in other domains of
their lives.
24. The EWS also works with young people who are very vulnerable
but do not yet meet thresholds for other statutory interventions,
this will include young people who are neglected, at risk of criminal
behaviour, harming themselves through reckless behaviour, early
parenthood, substance misuse and mental health difficulties (See
case study "Peter" on page 6). Where parents and young
people are unwilling to engage, the EWS may be the only agency
where thresholds for statutory intervention have been reached
and do not rely entirely on consensual engagement by the young
person or their parents.
25. It is vital that those implementing statutory interventions
have high level assessment skills in order to plan and deliver
appropriate and targeted interventions that have a greater chance
of success.
26. We believe the EWS role should be strengthened in this
area and that existing interventions, particularly in regard to
Education Supervision Orders (ESOs)[150]
should be broadened to include vulnerable young people whose education
is severely interrupted, whatever the reason.
Case Study "Peter"
Peter attended and achieved well in primary school. His attendance
did not become and issue until he went to secondary school. His
mother has long term issues with drug addiction and poor mental
health and despite her best intentions is unable to be the parent
Peter needs. There was no recent social services' involvement
in respect of Peter. Some support was offered at a local Children's
Centre regarding his younger brother. Peter has been involved
in some extensive cannabis use, which is believed to have contributed
to his mental health difficulties. Peter's mother shared her growing
concern for her son's mental health with the EWO. Peter refused
to cooperate psychiatric outpatient appointments.
Unable to cope with Peters deteriorating mental health and consequent
challenging behaviour he went to live with this father who also
has ongoing mental health difficulties. This quickly broke down
and Peter assaulted his father. His mother did not wish him to
return home and he was effectively homeless. The EWO, fearing
for Peter's well-being both in terms of his education and mental
health applied for an ESO. This effectively put Peter and his
parents under the local authority's supervision for the remainder
of Peter's education. A condition of the ESO was for Peter to
attend his psychiatric out patient appointments. His mental health
had deteriorated to such an extent it was felt inappropriate for
him to return to school but he was provided with tuition.
When Peter was made homeless the EWO intervened on his behalf
and referred the matter to social services who accommodated him
in a local hostel with minimal support. The EWO was the only person
remaining in frequent and regular contact with Peter, his psychiatrist
and both his parents. With skilled negotiation she managed to
persuade his father not to press charges for the assault and facilitated
reconciliation. She also supported Peter to maintain contact with
his mother and younger brother. Peter got the psychiatric care
he needed, attended all of his tuition sessions and subsequently
moved on to further education and training. He now lives independently
in the local area and maintains a positive relationship with his
family and has his cannabis habit under control. Peter recently
told the EWO that without her intervention he would probably be
dead.
27. There is a huge untapped potential to meet that gap between
identified needs and children in need thresholds making a significant
contribution to early intervention. It is however, vital that
the primary focus of the EWO is on securing education.
28. In light of the above considerations we recommend that
that there is review of the EWS role with a view to:
— Greater clarity and understanding of the role and
its overall contribution to the welfare of children and young
people and its role in early intervention.
— Ensuring that the skills, knowledge and use of statutory
powers available to the EWO particularly Education Supervision
Orders can be fully exploited as part of a targeted early intervention
service
— Ensuring that EWOs have the skills to make high level
assessments of the causes of poor attendance and are able to better
target interventions.
— Ensuring that schools have sufficient EWO resources
to undertake statutory duties in relation to attendance.
REFERENCES
Guardian.co.uk Thursday 12th February 2009
Kendall S, White R, Kinder K, Halsey K, Bedford N (2004)
School Attendance and the prosecution of parents: effects &
effectiveness of parental prosecutions. Final report (LGA
Research report 2/04) NFER
NASWE (2010)
Early Intervention-A new Potential For Education Welfare
Pritchard, C & Williams R (2010)
Measuring Social Work. Professional Social Work, June 2010
RyanTunnardBrown (2008)
"An audit of the needs of 197 children in touch with education
welfare services in 4 local areas." NASWE
A. Susan Williams, Patrick Ivin & Caroline Morse (2001). The
Children of London-Attendance & Welfare at school 1870-1990.
Institute of Education
Zhang, M (2004) Time to change the truancy Laws? Compulsory
education: its origin and modern dilemma. Pastoral Care June
2004
Zhang, M (2007) School absenteeism and the implementation of
truancy related penalty notices. Pastoral Care 2007
150
An ESO is a provision under Section 36 of the Children Act 1989
that places a child of school age who is not attending school
regularly under the supervision of the local authority initially
for a period of 12 months. The purpose of the ESO is to work in
partnership with school child and family to strengthen parental
capacity and improve school attendance. During the life of the
ESO both parents and child may be given directions. The application
is heard in the family court. Back
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