SOME time over the next few days, we will receive a press release from Thurrock Council regarding the two “truant” court cases at Grays Magistrates Court.
It will no doubt have the perfunctory description of the case and then attached will be the quote from the relevant councillor that will tell you that the council is getting tough and dealing with cases robustly.
What you don’t see is what actually happens in a case, the caseload, the work from all sides and the complexities. It would be easy to think that all cases were simply centred on a lazy mum who would rather spend their time swilling lager at 9.30 in the morning, watching Mr Kyle.Infact, on the evidence of what transpired in court seven this morning, life is a very complicated business indeed.
Although the court forgot to impose an anonymity order (Section 39) we have decided to remove all names and schools.
Truant No 1 had only attended 29 out of the 129 sessions recorded by the council. Parent No 1 appealed that she had often walked him to the Bus-Stop but somewhere between there and the school he went walkabout.
She said: “It is the school’s job to keep him in school”
The mother outlined that her son was being bullied at school by gangs. The court heard that meetings were planned and missed. In many ways there was a drop down menu of needs, excuses, omissions and problems.
But then the story turned. The young man had enrolled for a bricklaying course and had a 100% attendance record. He loved it, they loved him and there was, as it says on the headline: Hope.
The mother received a 12-month conditional discharge and paid costs of £30.
Truant No 2 was only five years of age but in their short time at school had only attended for 30 out of 190 days. There followed an avalanche of missed meetings, excused through illness but unsubstantiated as were the child’s absence.
The court heard that there had been a considerable amount of chaos and violence in the mother’s life. The father was estranged and had to have his visits supervised. The relationship had been marked by incidence of domestic violence.
Yet again, there had been a dramatic change-around in circumstances. The five-year-old now had 85% attendance and had received a certificate of achievement from the school.
The mother had been given great assistance from the council and Women’s Aid. With her parents, tearful at the back of the court as she received a two year conditional discharge, once again, you felt, there is hope.
Conclusion
Bleedin’ heart liberal? Maybe. How much did this all cost. Good question but somewhere along the way, cycles have to be cut off and that makes long term economic sense. Yes,on a school day you will see kids walking along with their parents but there are other cases, as we have seen, which are much more complicated. One day, one student may graduate and will thank all the agencies who have them a hand when they were in a dark dark place.
Sounds like in both cases there were some underlying issues that caused the truancy and it is these issues that are not getting picked up at schools, there is very little pastoral care in the education system as schools are now focused on results and tables rather than the childs needs.
Some children are just not visual & auditory learners and may respond better to tactile learning methods also within Thurrock there si a high percentage of pupils that have EAL (English as Additional Language) which can slow down the learning of other children in the classroom which then breeds boredom and disruption.
You will never completley eradicate truancy but the whole Education System needs to change so that teachers can focus on teaching rather than targets and tables