Absent - getting children back into school

Available for over a year

Every weekday Emma Dryden starts her morning by drawing up a list of names and address. Then she makes phone calls, and eventually goes out knocking on doors. She works at the Unity City Academy in Middlesbrough as an attendance officer, chasing up year 10 pupils who have failed to make it into school. Part of the role is working out what the problem is, be it social anxiety, financial issues, or any number of problems at home. Often, she's dealing with families who have had poor school attendance for generations. It's a job that takes tact, kindness, and she also needs to be tough too. Many big secondary schools in challenging areas have people who do this work. But now, coming out of the pandemic there's even more concern about children who are persistently or severely absent from school. For 5 Minutes On - the BBC's Education Editor, Branwen Jeffreys, has got permission to go out with these attendance officers for the first time, to see first hand the challenges they face. Image Credit: Johnny Greig/ Getty