Special needs organisation leading the way for UK-wide child attendance strikes – and is asking families in Mansfield and Ashfield to get on board

Derby-based Sunshine Support wants those who are able to, to make a stand against an education system that founder Chrissa Wadlow says is “not fit for purpose”.

It comes in the wake of a decision by the majority of teachers who are a part of the National Education Union – the biggest teachers’ union in the UK - to opt for industrial action over pay.Chrissa, who comes from a neurodivergent family and was diagnosed with ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, herself last year, said, while she is fully behind teachers striking, children need to have their voices heard, too.

Chrissa said: “We are fully in support of the NEU’s decision to strike to improve working conditions and funding for teachers. If teachers are content and have their needs met then there is a better chance our children’s needs are met, too.

“Teachers are having their voice heard and we stand by them. It’s also time our children had their voices heard; they want to learn, too.”

A report published last year by Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England, found tens of thousands of children believed to be missing out on education.

In the ‘Back Into School: New Insights Into School Absences – evidence from three multi-academy trusts’ report, Dame Rachel found “there is not even the data to show how many children are missing from education altogether”.

The report did say, though, that “in autumn 2021 there were 1.7 million children persistently absent from school” and “98,000 children severely absent, meaning they missed at least 35 days of school in a term”.

Vulnerable children were more likely to be absent nationally: 33.6 per cent of pupils receiving free school meals were persistently absent in autumn 2021, compared with 20 per cent of pupils not in receipt of FSM.

Chrissa said: “Children who struggle to attend school are either being forced into environments that are not meeting their needs – under the threat to prosecute their parents – or they’re not being educated at all.

“We need to make our children visible. We need to bring about change.

“The education system for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities is underfunded.

“We want to abolish the archaic punitive punishments of fines and prosecutions for school attendance that drops below 95 per cent.

“When education is accessible, inclusive and suitable children will learn.

The focus needs to shift to become accessible education, moving away from the aim of 100 per cent attendance at a ‘one-size-fits-all’ education provision that is often alluded to by government officials.”

Similar organisations to Sunshine Support have given the protests their backing.

Tamara McCabe-Blom, from Powys, Wales, was one of the first to show her support.Tamara, a parent/carer to two neurodiverse children, who has been supported by Sunshine Support, said: “I will be protesting here in Powys and raising awareness of the strikes among families I know, who may want to join in. It’s important that our children’s voices are heard.”

The protests will take place on September 29, 2023.

Chrissa said: “While children and young people are absolutely welcome in person, we appreciate not all can attend.

“So we are making the protests as accessible as possible and are proposing a personalised cardboard cutout of each child is used by their parent/adults in a peaceful protest in front of their local authorities and Parliament.”

Further details can be found at schoolavoidance.co.uk