Phillipson says ‘we all need to do more’ to improve attendance and behaviour

The Education Secretary has said parents must also do more to get children into class and behaving as the Government rolls out measures to support schools with attendance and behaviour.

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced around 600,000 pupils in 800 schools will have access to support from heads who have successfully taken action on attendance and behaviour.

Bridget Phillipson said: “I am calling on parents, schools and families to join us in playing their part to get children in class and ready to learn for the start of the new school term.

“We have already made progress with five million more days in school this year, and are backing parents and supporting schools through our Plan for Change.

“But we all need to do more, and when it comes to getting kids in and behaving – this includes mums, dads and carers too.”

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, she added that there was a particular concern about white working-class children.

She said that “for far too many white working-class children, opportunity is out of reach” with statistics showing “one in 10 white children on free school meals were suspended last year, with suspension rates five times higher than their peers”.

The same group have among the highest overall absence rates, she added.

“These children are swimming upstream against a staggering, entrenched class divide that sees them disproportionately kicked out of education or not attending in the first place,” she said.

The Education Secretary insisted that “it is only this Government that has the courage to upend a system that has resolutely failed white working-class children”.

The DfE’s schools white paper, expected to be published in the autumn, will also set out further plans to tackle behaviour.

The DfE has announced on Sunday an initial wave of 21 schools that will serve as attendance and behaviour hubs. Hub schools will share strategies from school leaders who have experience in improving attendance and behaviour.

The DfE said the hubs will support 800 schools attended by around 600,000 pupils. It added the whole programme is expected to support 5,000 schools, including intensive support for 500.

Data shows seven out of every 30 classroom minutes are lost to disruption, the DfE said.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “We welcome the Education Secretary’s call for parents to join a united effort to promote good attendance and behaviour.

“It is only through working collectively – families and school together – that we will get to grips with these issues.”

He added, however, that ASCL would like to see “much more action from the Government” to support schools and colleges.

“It is extremely difficult to put in place the pastoral systems necessary to support children and young people given the chronic underfunding of the education system,” Mr Di’Iasio said.

A survey by the NASUWT teaching union earlier this year found four in five (81%) of more than 5,800 members felt the number of pupils exhibiting violent and abusive behaviour at school has increased.

Government figures released in July showed suspensions and exclusions rose to a record high in 2023/24.

The latest DfE figures show that while the overall absence rate was lower in autumn 2024/25 than it was the previous year, the number of pupils severely absent increased from 142,000 in autumn 2023/24 to 148,000 in autumn 2024/25.

CEO of charity Parentkind Jason Elsom said: “Parents play a vital role in assuring that their children attend school and establish expectations for their children’s behaviour.

“Getting it right with parents is a big part of the answer.”

Parentkind’s survey of more than 5,000 parents in 2024 found 15% of parents reported their child feels unsafe at school.

The DfE has also announced two attendance and behaviour ambassadors to support the programme: Tom Bennett, who has previously advised the DfE on behaviour, and former pupil referral unit headteacher Jayne Lowe.

Mr Bennett said: “Every child deserves a school that is safe and calm, where they can be treated with dignity – and so do all school staff.

“We’re drawing on the professional experience of some of the best schools in England that have successfully created exactly that.”

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: “Behaviour and attendance are two of the biggest challenges facing schools and it’s about time the Government acted.

“Labour had the chance to take action in their Schools Bill, but they failed. There isn’t a single mention of discipline in the entire Bill. They have chosen to dismantle the very system that has driven up standards for decades.”

Published: 31/08/2025 by Radio NewsHub