One in five pupils in Camden are persistently absent \u2013 missing 10 per cent of sessions a year \u2013 according to Camden Learning, a school-led improvement organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Overprotective’ parents <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Across the capital, Camden ranks 29th out of 32 boroughs for worst primary attendance rates and 30th for secondary school absence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The council issued 602 fixed penalty notices for absence last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The borough also has the highest sickness absence rates in inner London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gareth Morris, headteacher at Netley Primary School, said that although parents were \u201cvery aspirational\u201d, they were \u201cvery overprotective as well\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a slight cold or it\u2019s a little bit wet outside, the parents are a little bit nervous about their children, so can be a little bit overcautious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe realised that actually, rather than going straight to the fixed penalty notices, we need some more support to understand the issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morris and his family support worker, Simone Sarosh-Cambridge, started to offer parents facing a fine for their child\u2019s poor attendance the chance to take part in their awareness course instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The four-hour sessions take place once a week, after school drop-off. They involve parents learning about the impact persistent absence can have on their child\u2019s chances of getting into university, and on their future wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parents are also shown a sequence of a train, where all children begin in the first carriage. Those who miss a day of school move back a carriage, until they are much further behind their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One parent, Rubena Islam, who took part in the course last year after her six-year-old son frequently missed school, said: \u201cIt was very simple, but very in depth\u2026 it was so easy to see in front of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cParents were a bit confused that, because every child has a different way of learning, different pace of learning, if they moved back so much, how are they going to catch up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another activity involves the parents doing a jigsaw puzzle, before realising that some of the pieces of the puzzle are missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis highlights the anxiety that their children feel when they are not able to succeed because they have missed learning,\u201d Morris said. Of the 12 parents offered the awareness course, eight took part. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those families have seen their child\u2019s attendance improve from below 90 per cent to above 95 per cent, Morris said. The other four families were issued with fines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through conversations during the sessions, parents also shared details of the barriers their children were facing to attend school, including issues around healthy diet, poverty and medical needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Netley Primary\u2019s initiative was held up as an example of best practice by Camden council earlier this month. It will also feature in a guide being drawn up by Camden Learning for schools across the borough, published in the new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris Roberts, senior advisor for safeguarding and inclusion at Camden Learning, said it was a \u201creally good idea\u201d but consideration of whether it was \u201cscalable\u201d was needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said family support workers like Sarosh-Cambridge, funded by the Reeves Foundation, were \u201cworth their weight in gold\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHaving the capacity within schools to build relationships with parents and build the relationships of trust \u2013 I think it\u2019s critical to generating that sense of belonging that children and families need to be able to make those movements on attendance,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-101257-821x1024.png\"){kind=spacer}
‘Very simple, but very in depth’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Family support workers ‘critical’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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