Children’s Commissioner for England praises Oldham for raising school attendance rates

The Children’s Commissioner for England praised the ‘trailblazing’ work in Oldham to raise school attendance during a visit to the town.

Dame Rachel de Souza, whose role is to promote and protect the rights of children, was given a tour of The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy, which opened last April, by proud Headteacher Allison Ash and her Year 9 pupils.

Dame Rachel talked to pupils about their favourite subjects and met staff from departments including art, German, maths, science and religious studies.

Dame Rachel said: “It’s a brand-new school full of students bubbling with enthusiasm. These young people are running to school because their education is so good, and I’m very pleased to be here in Oldham today.

Dame Rachel met pupils and staff

“One of my Youth Ambassadors is from Oldham and told me I had to come. Oldham is trailblazing in helping kids get back to school after lockdown and the council is doing some amazing work, so I’ve come to talk to the councillors today to see how they’re making a difference to young people’s lives.”

Mrs Ash said: “We’re celebrating everything around attendance here at Brian Clarke. We feel that we’re doing a great job for the local community for our young people and it’s wonderful to be able to showcase that.”

Dame Rachel then attended a reception in the Oldham Council Mayor’s Parlour to celebrate the successful work across the borough in improving rates of attendance through data analysis, communications and multi-agency partnership work following the Covid pandemic.

She met with Oldham Council Leader Cllr Arooj Shah, the Mayor of Oldham Zahid Chauhan OBE, Cllr Mohon Ali, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and Cllr Shaid Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People to discuss the Brian Clarke Academy as a valuable addition to the borough, the council’s pride in raising attendance and pupil outcomes and commitment to supporting improvement.

Attendance rates in primary schools have risen from 93.5 per cent in 2022/23 to 94.3 per cent in 2023/24. In secondary schools, the attendance rate has risen to 91.7 per cent from 90.5 per cent the previous year.

The persistent absence rate has fallen from 19.2 to 16.7 per cent in primary schools and from 25.6 to 23.5 per cent in secondary schools.

Dame Rachel with the Mayor of Oldham Zahid Chauhan OBE and Oldham Council Leader Cllr Arooj Shah

In response to her commitment to children and young people Cllr Shah has recently been appointed Lead Member for Children and Young People at the Local Government Association (LGA). Reflecting on these new responsibilities, Cllr Shah said: “I’m very proud to have taken up this role in the LGA. It shows Oldham’s promise to give children the best start in life is being noticed. Our town has many challenges. But we, despite those challenges, are really ambitious for our borough and really ambitious for the people who live in the borough.

“What we do have is some passionate, committed individuals that are keen to drive ambition and get the best for our young people.

“I’m proud to say we’re the first local authority across Greater Manchester that introduced the twice a year penalties if you take your children out of school. We don’t do that because we want to be seen as being tough, it’s about getting parents to understand the importance of education and attendance in schools.

“When I think about my own childhood and I think about my own life at school I was one of seven, my dad worked in a mill, and my mum was a homemaker. Things haven’t changed for people, but the one thing they understood was the importance of education.”

She added: “The most important thing I remember is that for a lot of my friends and a lot of people, I went to school with, the only safe place that they had and felt cared about was the school setting.

“The teachers were amazing. I know their names now and they shaped my life.”