Asking “Why?”: The Missing Piece in the Attendance Puzzle

Attendance has become yet another data stream placed under the microscope. In my time working in mainstream education, it was constantly pushed as an area to improve – and rightly so. But what always struck me was the limited time, if any, dedicated to understanding why attendance was an issue in the first place.

I’ve also seen mainstream settings quietly lower their “minimum expected attendance” figures just to meet criteria. And let’s be honest: how is that helping anyone? It isn’t. It’s simply shifting the goalposts so the numbers look nicer on a spreadsheet.

The fundamental flaw is this: schools often approach attendance by trying to improve the numbers, not by understanding the human reasons behind them. Attendance – or non-attendance – is a choice. Nobody can convince me otherwise. Young people choose to attend or not attend. But instead of immediately responding with consequences, punishments or threats, we should be asking a simple question: why?

I’ll never forget a parent telling me that, as punishment for their son’s poor attendance, the school placed him in isolation for an entire week. Because nothing motivates a reluctant student like loneliness and exclusion – right? (That’s sarcasm, in case it wasn’t obvious.)

The parent went on to explain that her son refused to attend school on Wednesdays and Fridays because he had English. He’d argue every morning about going in. When he was eventually dropped off, he would get out of the car, walk towards the school… and then head to a park, where he sat alone all day.

Here’s what was really happening:

• He is dyslexic.

• The class is large.

• The teacher isn’t supported.

• And he simply can’t.

Not “won’t”.

Not “refuses out of defiance”.

He can’t.

This is precisely why I beg mainstream educators: stop obsessing over the data analysis. Yes, identify students who need attention, but don’t follow it with the usual, “If you don’t attend, then this will happen.” Instead, ask, “Why are you not coming in? What can we do to help?”

I’m not naïve. Some young people genuinely do not want to go to school, and there’s very little anyone can do to change that. But I’ve also seen many “I hate school” attitudes turn into “School ain’t that bad” simply because someone bothered to ask the question that actually matters:

Why?

It’s time to stop punishing the symptom and start understanding the cause.