A County Durham head teacher has warned children their future prospects will be impacted if they fail to show up for school, after a significant number of pupils were absent earlier this week.

Andy Byers, head teacher at Framwellgate School in Durham, said 10 per cent of students were absent on Wednesday (January 17) including 17 per cent of Year 11 students, who are in the “most important examination year of their lives”. 

In a letter to parents and carers, he said such statistics are sadly now considered normal but stressed the importance of attendance to give children the best education possible. 

“Missing two weeks for a family holiday taken in term time will mean that your child has missed 50 hours of learning new things which they will never be taught again but will face questions on in an exam in the future,” the letter read. 

The Northern Echo: County Durham and Newcastle have the highest numbers of severe absentees across the 12 local authorities in the North East and the Tees ValleyCounty Durham and Newcastle have the highest numbers of severe absentees across the 12 local authorities in the North East and the Tees Valley (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

“Having broken attendance (a day off every week or fortnight, on random days) means that students will miss five hours of new learning each time but will struggle to understand the work they do the following week because lessons are taught in sequences which rely on prior knowledge.”

The head teacher’s comments come after figures from the Department for Education (DfE) show that 7,197 pupils across the North East were classed as severely absent in 2022/23, more than double the 3,245 recorded in 2018/19.

County Durham and Newcastle have the highest numbers of severe absentees across the 12 local authorities in the North East and the Tees Valley, each with more than 1,000 children missing more than half of lessons in 2022/23.

Analysis by Labour shows 1,852 children are set to miss half their time at school in County Durham by 2026 if rates of children skipping school continue.

Between 2016 and 2022, the number of children missing half their lessons tripled across England with an increase of 377 per cent in County Durham and is set to continue rising unless urgent action is taken, Labour warned.

Mr Byers warned there is a significant correlation between absence and exam results. He added: “Put simply, students who miss school regularly, reduce their lifetime earning potential because they achieve worse exam results than their peers, and develop poor habits to take into the workplace where high levels of absence, poor punctuality, or an indifferent attitude to responsibility can result in dismissal.

“You may think I am over-dramatizing, but my experience tells me that this is a real concern and the Government agrees because they have highlighted the issue in recent weeks. Please can I ask that if your child is absent from school regularly (students should have full attendance most weeks) you seek to address this and ask us for support if you are struggling with your child.”

A child is deemed persistently absent if they miss up to 10 per cent of lessons, and severely absent if they miss up to 50 per cent of lessons. Over the course of a year missing ten per cent of lessons would equate to four weeks’ worth of schooling, while missing half is the equivalent of missing four months of school.

The local concern comes after Bridget Phillipson, the MP for Houghton and Sunderland South and Shadow Education Secretary, outlined her party’s plan to tackle the issue. 

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Labour would introduce a national register of children who are not in school, use artificial intelligence to spot absence trends, put dedicated mental health counsellors into every secondary school, and provide free breakfast clubs for every primary school pupil in England.

The plan follows on from a Government announcement to create 18 new “attendance hubs” to help tackle the problem of persistent absentees. 

The DfE said that the hubs, of which there are now 32 nationally, are run by schools with excellent attendance rates and share practical ideas with other primary, secondary, alternative provision and special schools that need help.