More than a third of parents removed their child from school for holidays or family event in the last year, a new report suggests.
A research report, the second from the Public First-run Parent Voice Project, shines a light on parents’ views on various key policy topics including attendance, SEND provision and behaviour.
Funded by Parent Voice Project founder Fiona Forbes, it is based on a survey of more than 6,000 parents of children aged four to 19 in England, across both state and private schools.
Here are seven of the key findings…
1. Parents don’t see attendance as a major challenge
Attendance may be a key focus of national policy discussions, but polling showed parents don’t generally see it as a pressing issue.
Just 8 per cent selected poor attendance rates as one of the top challenges affecting children, far behind issues like underfunding, behaviour, problematic mobile phone and social media use and mental ill health.
2. High rates of term-time holidays
More than one-third (37 per cent) of parents reported taking their child out of school at least once in the last year for a holiday or family event.
This was most prevalent among parents of young children, with 44 per cent of four-year-olds reporting doing so, compared to 29 per cent of parents of 16-year-olds. However, the practice is “widespread across the parent population”.
Rising holiday costs coupled with “relatively modest” fines were among reasons given by parents, while others framed time away from school as educational.
Graduate parents and those from more affluent backgrounds were typically less likely to say it is acceptable for a child to miss school for a holiday.
3. Missing school normalised in some areas
The report also revealed wide regional variation in views about attendance enforcement.
Nearly 60 per cent of parents polled in the north east believed they should be able to take children out of school whenever they want, compared to 37 per cent in London.
4. Positive views on behaviour
Though parents ranked poor behaviour as one of the top school issues affecting children, this did not translate into dissatisfaction with behaviour at their child’s school.
Seventy-nine per cent of parents rated the standard of behaviour at their child’s school good or very good, and just 6 per cent rated it bad or very bad.
Parents rated behaviour more positively at primary level (85 per cent), more so than at secondary (70 per cent). Parents from wealthier backgrounds also had more positive perceptions of behaviour at their child’s school.
5. Parents doubt teachers over SEND
Although 50 per cent of parents said it was important for children with SEND to be educated in mainstream schools, only 52 per cent believed teachers are currently well equipped to deal with SEND.
This drops to just 38 per cent among parents of children who have SEND but no education, health and care plan(EHCP), which dictates the support offered.
6. Less satisfaction among parents of children with SEND
Parents of children with SEND but no EHCP had the lowest levels of satisfaction with their child’s education, the report found.
Just 57 per cent of this cohort rated quality of education at their child’s school as high or very high.
This compares to 68 per cent of parents whose children had SEND and an EHCP, and 71 per cent of parents of children without SEND.
Other findings suggested having an EHCP was strongly associated with improved parental experience of communication, clarity and timeliness.
“While families without an EHCP consistently report the poorest experiences, parents whose children have secured formal plans often report levels of satisfaction comparable to – and in some cases exceeding – those of parents of children without SEND,” said the report.
7. Regional differences in navigating SEND process
Nationally, 54 per cent of parents of children with SEND said they found the assessment process difficult or very difficult.
But just 40 per cent of parents of children with SEND in London found the process difficult, compared to 62 per cent of parents in the south east.
“This may link to variation in local authority processes, capacity, and communication,” said the report.
Parents of girls with SEND were also more likely to report difficulties than parents of boys (57 per cent compared with 51 per cent).
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