'Hopelessness' blamed as 1,328 Hull schoolchildren regularly skip class
ABSENCE in Hull's schools is being fuelled by a lack of job prospects for demoralised youths conditioned to failure, a union leader has claimed.
Secondary school pupils in Hull are missing from class more than anyone in the country, according to new figures.
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Demoralised? Hull has the highest rate of unauthorised absence from schools in the country.
And Mike Whale, branch secretary of the NUT, has blamed national league tables such as these for creating a culture of institutionalised failure in the city.
He warned a shortage of jobs for school-leavers was breeding a sense of hopelessness among disengaged youths.
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Mr Whale said: "The Government should drop the league tables and this constant target-setting.
"You are institutionalised to failure and that seeps through if you are constantly at the bottom of the league tables.
"They demoralise people, they turn students off education and they stigmatise teachers."
Latest figures show the city had 1,328 pupils regularly skipping school, or 10.4 per cent.
Mr Whale claimed many youths feel demoralised by a lack of job prospects and cannot see the point in attending school.
He said: "Hull is a low-wage city and a city of mass unemployment. There's a lot of very demoralised people out there.
"There's a feeling of hopelessness among the layer of students who look around Hull and see mass unemployment.
"Even if they get qualifications they think there is not going to be a job for them. They are asking the question, 'What is the point?'"
Hull's £400m Building Schools for the Future programme has seen multi- million-pound schools springing up across the city.
Figures from those already opened show attendance to be rising.
Officials at Hull City Council say the figure for unauthorised absence is high in the city because of a zero- tolerance policy to skipping school.
If headteachers think a parent is keeping a child from school when they could be in lessons, they will mark it as unauthorised absence.
Hull City Council says this means the authorised absence rate in Hull is much lower, with the consequence being the figures show more pupils are skipping school.
The unauthorised absence rates for primary schools in Hull showed the city 15th from the bottom.
Mr Whale said: "If you exist in a general background of mum and dad don't go to work, if they have been long-term unemployed, they maybe don't get up until mid- morning and there is maybe no one to get them to school.
"I am not saying that's always the case, a lot of unemployed people are determined their kids will get an education.
"It affects different students in different ways. Some are spurred on – if they are going to get a job, they are going to work especially hard."
Vanessa Harvey-Samuel, city manager for learning and skills, insisted figures had improved with the city placed 143 out of 152 nationally for persistent absence.
She said: "Both primary and secondary overall and persistent absence rates have improved and the local authority, schools and parents continue to work together to continue this positive progression.
"Over the past six years, we have been seeing far greater improvements than the national average.
"Our secondary school persistent absence has improved 2.7 percentage points, which is almost three times better than nationally."
But she accepted persistent absence from Hull's secondary schools continued to be a serious issue.
She said: "The development of academies and the new school buildings, which were part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, are encouraging more pupils to stay in school and these new schools and academies are showing significant improvements in attendance.
"In all Hull schools, attendance is a priority. Many offer exciting and innovative incentives for those children who attend regularly and employ dedicated staff assigned to support those families who struggle to maintain their child's regular attendance in school."
In the East Riding, secondaries were ranked 110th for persistent absence, with 1,570 regularly skipping classes.
Primaries were ranked 28th and special schools third best for their low levels of persistent absence.
Mike Furbank, head of achievement and inclusion, said: "Secondary schools still have a high level of persistent absence, although the measure has been redefined and it means more children have been brought into the scope of the measure."
18 Comments
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by bazza_12
Friday, March 22 2013, 7:08AM
“HullLad. I don't think anyone should go to university who hasn't reached the academic or vocational standard to do so. If they reach that standard they should be given the opportunity to study their first degree absolutely free. After that they should pay. This is no more than the opportunity I and thousands before me received. Sadly after my year the government pulled the rug out and started charging people for privilege to learn. Education should not be a luxury. When you have bright students turning down opportunity because of finances there is a serious problem also when you have bright students coming out of university £20-£30k in debt.. what kind of message does that send out? The government's current message of "pay off the deficit.. and don't borrow more money.." is completely at odds with it's student loan policy..”
by bazza_12
Friday, March 22 2013, 7:00AM
“Hull Lad.. 1. I never said poor parenting was THE cause of truancy! please go back and read my comment. 2. "I doubt many children see the benefits of school, I don't believe I truly did way back then" Exactly!! Glad we agree!!”
by hull_lad_84
Friday, March 22 2013, 1:15AM
“Bazza just to clarify I don't agree with your point that poor parenting is not the major cause of truancy. It is the major cause as kids are not in possession of the value of hindsight, nor are they a responsible adult. Where I do agree with you is the need for some parents to re-engage in education for their children's sake.
Is your point about restricting money regarding university tuition fees? One sure fire way of not making it to university is through poor or no A level grades. The reason I ask is I known for a fact all young people have ample opportunity to attend either further education through college or a vocational course as my company assists a local college in this.”
by ColonelKurtz
Friday, March 22 2013, 1:01AM
“Why waste time, effort and money on the 10.4%? Just focus on the 89.6% who do attend school and want to learn.”
by hull_lad_84
Friday, March 22 2013, 12:35AM
“Bazza - what utter rubbish. I doubt many children see the benefits of school, I don't believe I truly did way back then, but my parents ensured I did my home work and attended. I respected my parents and got my O levels, did an apprenticeship, joined the forces, retired to a new career with a decent pension. All was only acheiveable through education and hard work, not something I realised as a naive fourteen year old. What do you mean by restricting money? Without my degree in Engineering and experience gained from p clipping hundreds of miles of cabling I would have indeed restricted the money I have earned. I don't resent people who work hard and make money. People on this site **** off the wealthy as if they are all born with money. Guess what I am moderately wealthy due to graft at school and in my working life. Any failures in life have been my own doing, not due to government cuts. I am a child of the seventies and we didn't have a lot but we had self respect.
Some of today's generation believe no job paying under 25k (clearly I don't live in Hull anymore) is not worth getting out of bed for, despite having no skills and limited educational ability. My point is if an NUT member tries to excuse truancy level due to the local economic situation what chance do the children have. The only way for Hull to get out of this mess is to re-educate some parents and all of its children to a higher standard. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to get the link between the state of the local economy and its poor academic record.
My wife went to Hull uni and is friends with an ex teacher that worked in a Hull primary school. She joined the Met Police for an easier life and she's based in Brixton.......that says it all.”
by bt13jz
Friday, March 22 2013, 12:15AM
“********* spell checker”
by bt13jz
Friday, March 22 2013, 12:14AM
“Sorry please remove the no above - if you colleagues had tried harder mr whale I would not be part of hulls disengaged your”
by bt13jz
Friday, March 22 2013, 12:11AM
“I have heard kids say whats the point Im not going to get a job but I seriously doubt any have said whats the point my school is low on the league tables.
The hidden agenda here is that the NUT want the league tables scrapping and want to be on a system where no teachers are not appraised on stats.
If you can't look at stats how do you monitor performance and remove the deadwood?
There is absolutely no evidence or fact in this story - its pure fiction”
by bazza_12
Thursday, March 21 2013, 10:32PM
“angrywm.. glad you base your evidence on one 11 year old..
As I said on a previous version of this story, people should ask themselves, why are children not in class? Yes, some of it is down to parenting, but most of it is down to the children not seeing any worth in actually being there. In that situation you need a whole new way of looking at the problem.. restricting money will only breed resentment, providing opportunity will develop skills. This isn't just about reaching the children, but also about re-engaging the parents too.”
by hull_lad_84
Thursday, March 21 2013, 6:06PM
“Typical stupidity of union leaders. I served in both Afghanistan and Kenya during my Armed Forces career and saw kids with nothing but the rags they stood in, beaming with pride and wonderment at being allowed to study in school. Why? The answer is a welfare state that some individuals see as a lifestyle choice. There is no safety net in Kenya and the kids I saw knew that without education the consequence was REAL poverty and not the so called poverty you get in the UK. This county needs some tough love I am afraid. The headline should read. "Hull employers despair at hopeless quality of potential recruits".
As a senior manager I have seen some amazing young talented individuals in my field, Engineering, but they are the exception and no longer the norm!
If a product leaves my manufacturing facility faulty it is ultimately MY responsibility although the individuals involved in the process have a remit to do their bit. If they don't do their bit it's up to me to ensure they do. Is this any different for a kid in school and the relationship between Teacher, Parent and Pupil?”