Councillor questions validity of pupil's 'anxiety' claims as school absences remain high in Buckinghamshire

Councillor Lesley Clarke said: “The anxiety issue – particularly primary school children – they need to realise that anxiety is normal or being anxious is normal and it is not a mental health issue.

“We heard of a six-year-old saying that they were suffering from anxiety. I don’t think that that child would understand what anxiety was – possibly hearing a parent say it. That is the sort of thing that is the problem.”

The councillor addressed Buckinghamshire Council at a meeting this week as she outlined the findings from the cross-party review of school attendance she led in Spring.

The group interviewed council officers and staff at eleven primary, secondary and special schools in Bucks, which Councillor Clarke said were ‘working hard’ to address absences.

A total of 15,825 pupils in Bucks – 21 per cent – missed at least 10 per cent of school in 2022/23, which marks a slight drop on the previous year but is still double the number before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bucks, which is roughly in line with the national average, also saw 1,350 pupils absent for 50 per cent of lessons in 2022/23, compared to 525 in 2018/19.

Councillor Clarke also told the meeting her group heard that children ‘held a funeral’ for a young boy who had missed school.

She said: “He thought that was great. You have to question, what was the mindset of that young man?”