Improving pupil attendance is a responsibility that headteachers should try to “live up to”, the education secretary has urged.
Calling for more progress on absences, Bridget Phillipson said pupil attendance records are, in many cases, “under the control of school leaders”.
Government figures, published in March, revealed that the number of pupils classed as “severely absent” in England reached a record high last year.
In a speech to more than 200 education leaders at a conference in Birmingham, Ms Phillipson highlighted the variations in pupil absences.
The education secretary said: “Parents have the responsibility to send their children to school. Of course they do.
“But what schools do matters too. We can see it in the data.
“Because within local authorities or trusts, there are similar schools facing similar challenges, but with very different records on attendance.
“Some doing really well. But in others we need to see more progress.
A ‘chunk’ of attendance is responsibility of leaders
“About two-thirds of the difference can be explained by things like where the schools are and the communities they serve. And I’m sure a bit reflects the complexities of schooling that we just can’t measure.
“But there is a chunk - a big chunk - that is under the control of school leaders.
“The data is clear: your leadership matters.”
Speaking as students across the country are sitting their GCSE and A-level exams, Ms Phillipson said there will be children who will feel “the sting of disappointment” when results day comes around in August.
She said: “Children who were held back from doing their best because they just weren’t in school enough this year, or last year, or the years before that.
“Because those missed days - they may have felt harmless at the time, but they add up.
“And children carry that extra weight with them into the exam room, and on into life beyond school.
“The truth is that this is happening to far too many children.”
AI tool to support attendance
Last month, the Department for Education (DfE) launched an AI-powered tool enabling schools to access attendance reports, in an effort to cut down the number of days children miss school.
Addressing school leaders on Wednesday, the education secretary added: “You can make a big difference on attendance; you can make a big difference in the lives of those absent children.
“And as far as I’m concerned, that’s not just an opportunity; it’s a responsibility - one that I sincerely hope you can live up to.”
She said: “Attendance is a generational challenge.
“This will take grit, it will take graft, and it will take persistence - not for weeks or months, but for years.”
