When I was a young, idealistic teacher, I vividly remember feeling like I was handing ‘my’ pupils over to their families for the holidays. As a parent now, that feeling of responsibility has been flipped on its head. As crucially important as school is, children spend only 15% of their time there, with 85% spent at home or in communities.
For children living in the most deprived areas, this split is more extreme. There is a strong association between socioeconomic background and school absenteeism, meaning that the children who already experience educational disadvantage are spending less time at school than their more affluent peers. With almost one in four children in Scotland officially recognised as living in poverty, and increasing concerns about the number of children who haven’t returned to school since lockdowns, the need for those of us who are working with children to take whole school approaches – that work with the full system around the child – is crucial if we are to have an impact.
