Jo Frost Instagram – “Look we have to stop talking about school attendance as if it exists in a vacuum. Parents aren’t keeping children home because they’re soft, they’re doing it because our systems are stretched. Mental health waits are far too long,schools are under-resourced,teachers with no support and families are financially exhausted. This is what happens when you strip the bone bare.
I witness these situations from parents every day helping them in my own private consultation practice and it has got worse every year for families, you can not band aid these isdues. When the system is thin, parents become the safety net.That’s the harsh reality.
We should absolutely promote attendance and resilience but we can’t demand resilience from children without giving stability to families first. If a child is in genuine emotional distress, a parent stepping in isn’t indulgence it’s a failure of the system to meet that child sooner.
The political conversation needs to shift from blame to support. If the Educational department want consistent attendance, then they need to provide national consistent grass roots family support: easier access to mental health services, teachers with manageable class sizes and funding for programs and extra staff, Also parents who are not working themselves into the ground just to keep the lights on. Fix that and attendance improves naturally” – Jo | Posted on 22/Nov/2025 13:03:24
