Thousands of children in Buckinghamshire are regularly missing school, new data shows

New Government data shows that thousands of children are regularly missing lessons in Buckinghamshire.

Figures from the Department for Education show that 9,586 students in the county were classed as ‘persistently absent.

Nationally, the same findings reveal that more than 890,000 regularly missed lessons in secondary school alone.

Minerva’s Virtual Academy (MVA) has launched the Class of 10,000 campaign, which aims to get 10,000 children currently missing out on full time education back into learning.

By teaming up with not-for-profit organisations Square Peg and Not Fine in School the institution hopes to highlight some of the issues which are keeping young people out of the classroom, and some of the solutions available to families and local authorities.

Persistently absent students are those how miss over 10 per cent of their lessons.

Hugh Viney founded MVA during the COVID-19 pandemic. And he stated the shutdown of schools over the period had brought many issues faced by children into sharp focus.

“There are 1.67 million children and young people who are facing barriers to attendance at school, with reasons ranging from anxiety and mental health difficulties, through to complex additional needs,” he said.

“Mainstream schools aren’t suitable for every pupil. Many young people thrive in a traditional school environment but, for a significant proportion, a bricks and mortar setting simply cannot meet their needs. There are many reasons why pupils may not feel able to attend school, not least because of issues around anxiety or low mood. Homeschooling during the pandemic highlighted this issue.

“That is what has driven us to start this campaign. We know from experience that online schooling can help many of these children, but the government and many local education authorities are reluctant to go down that route. We want to try and help 10,000 children back into education - that is just 1% of the estimated number of children who are currently missing out.”

The Department for Education recently issued new guidance on remote learning which says it “should not be viewed as an equal alternative to attendance in school” and should only be considered as a “last resort”.