Section 1: Distinctive Strengths of the Initiative: New contributions

1. Connecting Strengths of School, Family and Community and Implementation of Recommendations of the Evaluation of the Report of the InitiativeDr Paul DownesDirector, Educational Disadvantage CentreSenior Lecturer in Education (Psychology)St. Patrick’s CollegeDrumcondraMonday 26th March 2012

2. Section 1: Distinctive Strengths of the Initiative: New contributions Section 2: EU Policy framework for early school leaving prevention Section 3: Policy gaps nationally for attendance issues

3. Systems change is usually slow! Foster-Fishman & Behrens (2007); Tseng et al. (2002); Tseng & Seidman (2007) Section 1: Distinctive Strengths of the Initiative: New contributions

4. BKA (2012) Evaluation of Ballymun School Attendance Community Action Initiative • Over the course of the two years of the initiative, there were 1.3% less children (34 less children) falling into this category. In other words, the initiative was successful in almost halving the number of children in this chronic non-attendance group, with 44.7% less in this group in year 2 compared with the baseline group (BKA 2012).

5. The major success was in the school with the lowest baseline figure, which achieved a two year change of 4.8%, which amounts to in excess of two and a half more days attendance per year on average per child (BKA 2012).

6. Previously it was almost one in three children in Ballymun with poor school attendance, now it is closer to one in four, and the initiative is likely to continue to decrease this in the years to come, with the supports in place, as the decreases have not yet levelled off (BKA 2012).

7. It is noted however that improvement in attendance from year 1 to year 2 in the case of children from Traveller backgrounds was very high (3.9 percentage points) (BKA 2012).

8. There was considerable progress between years 1 and 2 of the initiative relating to boys from Traveller backgrounds with the poor attendance rate reducing from 58.3% to 34.9%, which was lower than the rate for boys from overseas backgrounds for that year (BKA 2012).

9. Distinctive Strengths of the Initiative: New contributions Developing the Bystander Effect for bullying for a Bystander Effect on school attendance McLaughlin, Arnold & Boyd (2005); Manning, Levine & Collins (2007); Steuve et al. (2006)

10. One of the challenges mentioned was the reintegration of children who have missed significant amounts of school. They can sometimes find that the other children in the class have established friendship groups and they can feel excluded. This can then negatively impact their experience of school and their willingness to return. The role of teachers in identifying and supporting these children is seen as critical (BKA 2012).

11. This sense of belonging was important and the children highlighted difficulties in ‘fitting in’ if school absence is regular (BKA 2012). Some of the catchy communication messages displayed on the initiative’s posters had very high positive impact with children, particularly ‘Hip, hip, hooray...’ (BKA 2012).

12. Distinctive Strengths of the Initiative: New contributions A rethinking of public space: From diametric to concentric public space

13. Public Spaces Professor Roger Hart (2006) has observed: “it’s more important than ever that there are spaces where children can come together with other children in an open and free way, rather than in a programmed way”. He argues that too much of children’s time is “programmed” whether spent in crèches, music lessons or sports classes “they’re not playing with their peers out on the street and therefore not building a democratic culture”. (Roger Hart was speaking at the annual lecture of the Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin 26th October 2006. Professor Hart is the Co-Director of the Children's Environments Research Group, Center for Human Environments and the Environmental Psychology Program, City University of New York.)

14. As those most at risk of early school leaving may lead particularly unstructured lives, there is a need for services that provide not simply “programmed space” and “programmed” time (Hart 2006). This need for more “drop-in” spaces is even greater due to the distinct lack of public space available for people in local area32. This is a public planning issue, namely, to increase the range of public space available in the area, for example, for a shopping centre, bowling alley, and cinema – in other words space that local youth can access without significant planning in advance. (See also Downes and Maunsell 2007)

15. A spatial system shift from diametric relation of assumed separation to concentric relation of assumed connection. (Downes 2003); (Downes 2009)

16. Parents’ assessments of the poster campaign were mixed, with not all parents comfortable with what they regarded as an association of Ballymun and poverty conveyed in the image on the ‘Ask Why!’ poster, and not all in favour of acting on the message of the ‘Ask WHY!’ poster. Discussion highlighted that only a small minority would take any proactive steps if they saw a young person out of school on a school day. However they also acknowledged that the posters can be positive in triggering discussion and debate about the issues of attendance which they wouldn’t have engaged in previously (BKA 2012).

17. If this initiative was at a national level it would not be singling out a particular area as having a problem – it would go beyond a deficit view of an area

18. Distinctive Strengths of the Initiative: New contributions • Local person as attendance promoter: Nonjudgmental approach • Progress with a range of absenteeism, including chronic • Illness guidelines • Posters • Common policy across schools • Collaboration of community and statutory sectors: Combined approach • Collaboration across principals network • Informal education as a feature of a community education approach: As part of a community education vision for nonformal and formal education

19. Principals of schools involved in the initiative spoke about how children now have a different attitude towards school attendance and how “they are putting pressure on their parents to bring them to school every day and on time so that their class can win”. The children interviewed were very aware of the initiative and were fully engaged in the processes to support attendance (BKA 2012).

20. Parents of children who have certificates for attendance noted their pride. This was very evident amongst Traveller parents who displayed the certificates in their home (BKA 2012).

21. Informal education as a feature of a community education approach: As part ofa community education vision for nonformal and formal education • Consciousness Raising: to realise full potential; self-discovery; personal and collective development • Citizenship: to grow in self-confidence, social awareness and social responsibility and to take a proactive role in shaping the overall direction at societal and community decision-making. • Cohesion: to enhance social capital and empower those particularly disadvantaged. • Cultural Development: the role of adult education in enriching the cultural fabric of society. • Community Development: the role of adult education in the development of community with a collective sense of purpose (DES 2000)

22. "transformation is only relevant if it is carried out with the people not for them" (Freire 1970 p.43) Parents were to be at the heart of a new emancipatory way forward (Mulkerrins 2007).

23. Section 2: EU Policy framework for Early School Leaving prevention

24. Council of the European Union COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on policies to reduce early school leaving. Brussels, 7 June 2011

25. Enhancing the involvement of parents, reinforcing their cooperation with the school and creating partnerships between schools and parents can increase learning motivation among pupils (EU 2011) INTERVENTION POLICIES (EU 2011)

26. Developing schools into learning communities based on a common vision for school development shared by all stakeholders, using the experience and knowledge of all, and providing an open-minded, inspiring and comfortable environment to encourage young people to continue in education and training. Developing early-warning systems for pupils at risk, which can help to take effective measures before problems become manifest, pupils start to alienate from school, play truant or drop out (EU 2011).

27. Networking with parents and other actors outside school, such as local community services, organisations representing migrants or minorities, sports and culture associations, or employers and civil society organisations, which allows for holistic solutions to help pupils at risk and eases the access to external support such as psychologists, social and youth workers, cultural and community services. This can be facilitated by mediators from the local community who are able to support communication and to reduce distrust (EU 2011).

28. Section 3: Policy gaps nationally for attendance issues • Alternatives to suspension and sending home early • Community mental health teams • Bullying prevention – including indirect bullying • School climate: Teacher conflict resolution skills • Outreach gaps for Travellers • Outreach gaps for family support • New school buildings: Canteens in schools • New school buildings: Space sensitive to children's needs

29. ALL THESE ISSUES REQUIRE THE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH TEAMS AS PART OF AN ATTENDANCE AND EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING PREVENTION INITIATIVE – AN UNPRECEDENTED HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY IS BEING MISSED!!

30. Alternatives to suspension and sending home early Community mental health teams Bullying prevention – including indirect bullying School climate: Teacher conflict resolution skills Outreach gaps for Travellers Outreach gaps for family support

31. Alternatives to suspension Downes (2011): Lithuania: “According to management and the teacher interviewed approximately 10 percent of students are expelled from school in each year. The reasons are usually behaviour problems, bullying, harassment, aggressiveness i.e. non-academic reasons prevail. The teacher mentioned that there were no expelled students for not attending classes. The statistics, according to the management can be collected, but this will not solve the problem” (Taljunaite et al 2010) The Irish post-primary figure of 5% for suspension, applied to the total population of 332,407 students equates to well over 16,000 students suspended from post-primary schools in 2005/6 (ERC/NEWB 2010).

32. Downes (2011): Russia: A multidisciplinary team plays a key role in devising alternative strategies to suspension in this example from a Russian school: “The school doesn’t practice expulsion or suspension of students. Instead, the psychological support service team regularly conducts preventive meetings and conversations with students who have discipline or study problems. Each school has a Preventive Council aimed at dealing with ‘problem’ students…The psychologist and social teacher conduct conversations and meetings with adult students in case their discipline or studying practices are improper. Use of preventive measures as an alternative to expulsion shows that the school staff aims to keep as many students at risk of early leaving at school as possible, which proves how much they are indeed interested in students and care for them” (Kozlovskiy, Khokhlova & Veits, 2010).

33. Many teachers acknowledged that the big impact has been the sense of loyalty that children now feel towards their class attendance record. This was expressed by teachers, principals and other support services to schools on several occasions (BKA 2012).

34. This loyalty presupposes a basic liking and engagement of the pupils to school! It requires a positive school climate

35. Other parents spoke of the negative ‘rut’ that can arise when a child becomes unhappy at school, either resulting from bullying, from difficulties in the child/teacher relationship or their ability to keep up with class work. The negative impact of undiagnosed learning difficulties or mental health issues were also highlighted through interviews (BKA 2012).

36. The negative impact of bullying on school attendance at both primary and post primary level was expressed as a potential challenge to attendance. Also at post primary level, complex issues for some chronic non-attenders from very marginalised backgrounds were mentioned, including cycles of low self esteem, alcohol and drug misuse and mental health difficulties (BKA 2012).

37. Late bed times appears to be one of the major challenges with fostering consistent school attendance at primary level (and possibly also at post primary level). There were significant numbers of children interviewed aged eight years of age and older who stated in focus groups that they regularly stayed up until after midnight on school nights, watching TV, playing games. Many share bedrooms with older siblings. This late bedtime was validated separately with classroom teachers. It allows an approximate average of seven hours sleep, which is low. It is well known from numerous international research studies and also from teachers’ direct classroom experience, that children who consistently get less than the required amount of sleep experience concentration (BKA 2012).

38. A further block to consistent school attendance at the post primary level is the experience of bullying in school. Fear of or avoidance of bullying was mentioned in the interviews with young people as a reason why they miss school (BKA 2012).

39. Bullying - the schools and the community need to consider the level of peer bullying in schools and resulting impact on school attendance (BKA 2012).

40. Ballymun Whitehall Area Partnership should work with stakeholders to consider the impact of cuts in public expenditure on progress relating to improving educational outcomes, and in particular to explore mechanisms to reinstate a Visiting Teacher for Traveller role within Ballymun on the basis of the high proportion of Travellers in the area, successes in school retention to date and the extreme level of disadvantage in Ballymun (BKA 2012).

41. NEED TO MOVE BEYOND TERRITORIALITY – MINISTRIES OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND CHILDREN TO HAVE FIRM STRATEGIC LINKS FOR THE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH TEAMS

42. A further concern was that “the law only covers you from the age of 6 and the pattern of non-attendance is established from Junior Infants. The Education Welfare Officer cannot intervene realistically until First Class” (Downes & Maunsell 2007).

43. RECOMMENDATION DEVELOPMENT OF KEY STRENGTHS FROM BALLYMUN ATTENDANCE INITIATIVE NATIONALLY, AS PART OF AN INTEGRATED STRATEGY WITH: A) COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH TEAMS AS PART OF AN EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING PREVENTION STRATEGY B) A COMMUNITY EDUCATION VISION ENCOMPASSING COMMUNITY INFORMAL, NONFORMAL AND FORMAL EDUCATION NATIONALLY

44. BKA (2012) Evaluation of Ballymun School Attendance Community Action Initiative. On behalf of the Ballymun Whitehall Partnership Council of the European Union (2011). COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on policies to reduce early school leaving. Brussels: EU Foster-Fishman, P G & T R Behrens, (2007). Systems change reborn: rethinking our theories, methods, and efforts in human services reform and community-based change, American Journal of Community Psychology, (2007) 39:191–196 DES (2000). White Paper on Education. Dublin: Stationery Office Downes, P. (2003). Cross-cultural structures of concentric and diametric dualism in Levi-Strauss’ structural anthropology: Structures of relation underlying the self and ego relation ?, Journal of Analytical Psychology, 48, 47-81 Downes, P. (2009). Prevention of Bullying at a Systemic Level in Schools: Movement from Cognitive and Spatial Narratives of Diametric Opposition to Concentric Relation. In Shane R. Jimerson, Susan M. Swearer, and Dorothy L. Espelage (Eds.), The International Handbook of School Bullying, Section III., Research-Based Prevention and Intervention Downes, P. (2011). A Systems Level Focus on Access to Education for Traditionally Marginalised Groups in Europe: Comparing Strategies, Policy and Practice in Twelve European Countries. Report prepared as subproject 5 of European Commission Sixth Framework Project ‘Towards a lifelong learning society: The contribution of the education system’ (LLL2010). Dublin: Educational Disadvantage Centre Downes, P & Maunsell, C. (2007) Count Us In. Tackling early school leaving in South West Inner City Dublin: An Integrated Response.SICCDA and South Inner City Dublin Drugs Task Force Freire, P. (1970) Cultural Action for Freedom, USA: Penguin Books.

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