What is to blame for rising absenteeism in Inverness schools? Highland Council puts action plan in place as attendance falls and charities cite mental health concern
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Absenteeism at Inverness secondary schools has risen across the board since Covid-19 struck – and remains higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Figures obtained from Highland Council through Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation show falling attendance rates at all five city schools between 2019 and 2022.
With concern growing over mental health issues and the negative impact of absenteeism on young people's educational prospects, the council has tasked head teachers with drawing up action plans to redress the situation.
At Inverness High School, which embraces the city’s least prosperous catchment area, an average of almost one in five pupils was missing classes by late last year.
The trend was mirrored at Charleston Academy, Culloden Academy, Millburn Academy and Inverness Royal Academy, with school attendance across the city as a whole down by almost 2.5 per cent.
When the periods September to November 2019 and September to November 2022 were compared, the worst affected schools – Charleston and Inverness High – both showed an increase in absenteeism of 3.5 per cent, with attendance dropping to 84.2 per cent and 81.3 per cent of pupils respectively.
Culloden, IRA and Millburn had all dropped below 90 per cent attendance by the three months of 2022, with respective falls of 2.4, 3.3 and 1 per cent.
By late last year no secondary school in Inverness could boast better than a one in 10 absenteeism rate at any given time.
A council spokeswoman said: “Since the pandemic, head teachers have identified increased patterns of absence as a consequence of Covid-19 and are putting in place strategies to address intermittent and long-term absence.”
The council's education chairman John Finlayson did not respond to requests for comment.
In September last year, however, Cllr Finlayson said: “Supporting mental health and wellbeing in our schools has never been more needed as our children and young people, parents and carers, experience some of the most challenging of times.
“The holistic and collaborative approach we are promoting requires the wellbeing of children and young people to be woven across all curricular areas, reinforcing positive relationships, gratitude, resilience, inclusion, acceptance of diversity and healthy lifestyles.
“For those who experience emotional distress, there is now in place a robust and integrated whole system approach.”
In the 12 months up to June 2022, Highland Council says 143 mental health and wellbeing-related training sessions were delivered to 2652 professionals, parents and young people.
During the pandemic, pupils were forced to cope with a sudden change in lifestyles, with home learning and isolation from friends and classmates during extended lockdowns.
Returning to normal classes has proven more challenging for some than others.
Inverness Royal Academy rector Nigel Engstrand recently announced he was "resetting" existing behaviour policy to improve standards in the school.
Among the areas of concern was school attendance levels, with Mr Engstrand explaining how standards had slipped since the pandemic.
In a letter to parents and carers, he said: "On the return to learning after Covid lockdown, many of our established basic expectations were relaxed due to the difficult and ever-changing nature of that time.
"However, two years on, we need our young people to get back to the basic expectations when it comes to school and their education. You are no doubt aware of the occurrence of antisocial behaviour in our school toilets, but other areas also need improvement; namely attendance, punctuality, the use of mobile phones and school uniform."
Helen Forrest, chief executive of the charity Children’s Health Scotland, said: “Without doubt, Covid-19 has had an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland. Their lives changed overnight.
“Across Scotland, GPs are giving more mental health prescriptions than ever before, but we know that, inherently, children and young people are resilient.
“Positive reinforcement of their unique abilities needs to be encouraged, rather than finding fault in attendance rates at school.”
It is estimated that one in six UK children has a mental health condition, with many receiving no support.
A spokesman from Enquire, the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning, said: “Families and carers regularly seek advice from us about children with anxiety and mental health issues who are struggling to attend school.
“In the last year, around one in three enquiries to our helpline were directly related to school attendance.”
Patrick McGlinchey, executive director of the charity Connect – formerly the Scottish Parent Teacher Council – said: “It is crucial there are two-way lines of communication between families and schools, with the child’s needs at the heart of it.
“All children have a right to education and a right to get the support they need.
“Often, if they’re not attending school there are reasons and barriers there. If the school is not looking to support them and remove those barriers, there is an argument to say those children are losing their right to education.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in school refusers since schools went back to something resembling normal.
“It is just really important to take a holistic approach to work with families and approach this with kindness as well.”
