A school has been accused of unfairly banning children from their prom in a “carrot and stick” approach over class attendance that has reportedly left dozens unable to go.
Kepier Academy in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, told students last year that if they failed to hit attendance targets for each term they would not be eligible for the leavers’ party in June.
The criteria was 96 per cent attendance from September to January, 97 per cent from February to mid-March and 100 per cent from mid-March to April. It also included requirements on behaviour and homework.
The school, run by the Eden Learning Trust, is the latest to stop pupils attending proms due to absence from school, with leaders across the country attempting to tackle the issue.
Latest figures show there was a 7.1 per cent absence rate across schools in England in 2023/24 – much higher than the pre-pandemic rate of 4.7 per cent in 2018/19.
And despite support for Kepier Academy’s approach by the Association of School and College Leaders, some parents have reacted with anger. The BBC report at least 30 teenagers have been told they cannot attend the prom on 26 June.
Some have even attempted to set up an alternative event to allow the children to celebrate the end-of-school moment – but a lack of interest has seen the idea dropped.
One mother told The Independent her son was ruled out from the prom earlier in the school year because of the “really strict” criteria.
She said: “Sometime poor attendance can’t be helped. In my son’s case he’s actually under a consultant at the hospital and was undergoing tests and missing school due to sickness.
“Once he was punished [told he cannot go to the prom] for that his behaviour just became worse as he thought there was no point.”
Another mother told the BBC that her daughter had been banned from going because she had difficulty keeping up with homework after struggling with mental health.
She said: “My daughter came home from school crying her eyes out feeling she wasn’t worthy. It broke her heart.”
Another parent said: “I think it’s disgraceful with… children who want to go to prom and can’t.”
The measure to improve school attendance has been used by schools across the country for years.
Earlier this month, education secretary Bridget Phillipson called on headteachers to take responsibility on improving school attendance.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We support school leaders in the actions they take to promote good attendance.
“There is strong and consistent evidence that poor attendance leads to lost learning and has a clear negative impact on academic achievement and long-term outcomes.
“Schools are required to promote regular attendance through accountability measures and statutory duties, and they work incredibly hard to do so. We would like to see more support from the government through the provision of more attendance officers to work with families to remove barriers to regular attendance.”
Eden Learning Trust has been contacted for comment.
