Some parents think their kids don't really need school anymore

Poor attendance is one of the biggest issues facing schools right now.

In response to growing absenteeism, the government announced last month that it's increasing fines for parents who keep their kids off without permission.

But fines have failed to help turn the tide so far and those working with families say it's unlikely to make any difference to unauthorised absence rates, which are spiralling out of control.

READ MORE: Anyone who thinks bigger fines is the answer to school attendance rates needs their head testing

Headteachers tell us they're facing an uphill battle to get kids in class. The fallout of the pandemic has seen parents allowing children to 'stay off at the slightest sign of not being 100%' and it's broken the 'unspoken social contract between home and school'.

At Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, Wigan, headteacher Paul Davies says the secondary is in the top 25% of similar schools nationally for attendance, but attendance 'is not as it was pre-pandemic'.

"Since returning from the pandemic, we have seen a significant rise in persistent absenteeism and outright school refusal from a significant minority of our students," he said. "It is very worrying. There are some students that teaching staff simply do not see enough of to teach effectively or with any consistency.

"We have also seen that the traditional, unspoken social contract between home and school has been broken and it is a huge concern."

And it's not just high schools where there's a problem, attendance rates in primaries have also fallen dramatically. It's one of the reasons Kings Road Primary School in Stretford, Trafford, has been graded as 'Good' rather than 'Outstanding', says head Darren Morgan.

Attendance there is currently