Adoption UK has released its Breaking the barriers to attendance at school report which aims to let adopted and kinship children take their seat in the classroom. 

You can read Breaking the Barriers to attendance at school, here.

Executive summary of the report:

The UK is facing a national attendance crisis in schools. Almost one quarter of pupils were persistently absent during the 2022 autumn term1 . The UK is not alone. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising school absence is a “worldwide problem”.

 While the pandemic has affected attendance overall, there are groups of children who have historically faced significant barriers to attendance which have been exacerbated by the pandemic and its continuing legacy. This group includes those living in poverty, with special educational needs and children in the care of the state. However, this report is about a group of children who are equally vulnerable but have received little attention in the debate on school attendance. These are children who were previously cared for by the state – adopted children and those in kinship care. There are almost as many in this group as there are children currently in the care of the state, and up to half struggle to attend school or access lessons. 

For many previously looked after children, school is a very hard place to be. Most adopted and kinship children have experienced significant trauma and adverse early experiences and all have experienced the disruption and loss of leaving their birth parents and moving to a new family. There is a growing body of neuroscientific research showing the damage these experiences can do to children’s development, including their executive functioning skills, their ability to navigate relationships and the development of a sense of safety – all of which are essential for learning. Compounding this, chaotic early lives and moves around the care system result in their learning and developmental needs being overlooked leading to delayed diagnosis and support. Seven out of ten adoptive parents say it feels like a battle to access the support their children need in school.

Many of these children experience considerable social, emotional and mental health challenges. Two in five adopted children missed school due to concerns about their mental health or wellbeing in 2022. One in six missed five or more days for this reason.