Emilie Silverwood-Cope: Are schools doing enough to support girls?
A Cambridgeshire school, Neale-Wade Academy, came under fire for a new policy that required parents to prove pupils were too ill to attend school due to their period.
The policy also prohibited the use of terms such as ‘unwell’, ‘poorly’, or ‘ill’ to explain absences. Parents face fines if they don’t comply with school attendance policies, and it’s fair to say their response was robust.
This story travelled quickly from the school’s Facebook page to the BBC newsdesk and back again to social media. This policy was then widely criticised by charities, parents and high-profile celebrities. The school rolled back, apologised and I assume are now quietly re-looking at their sickness policy.
How did they even get into this self-inflicted mess? At a guess, I’d say the increasing problem of absenteeism is behind this policy. Absenteeism has been described as an ‘epidemic’ and data shows it is still 150 per cent higher than it was pre-lockdown. In a ‘stick over carrot’ move, fines are being increased and the rhetoric from the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, is tough. The narrative is that parents are being too lenient or maybe can’t even be trusted. Thanks to the ‘punish the parent’ strategy, councils raised £19million in absence fines in 2022 to 2023, which was double the previous year.
I can imagine the senior leadership team at this school looking at its policy and deciding they should also follow the stick over the carrot approach. Where they went wrong was showing a serious lack of understanding about the kinds of symptoms and pains some girls experience, and the lack of NHS support available to them.
A Plan International UK survey found that 64 per cent of menstruating girls in the UK miss part of a school day due to their period and 13 per cent have missed a whole day. As well as severe cramps (which can leave girls unable to stand up) symptoms include migraines, gastric issues and vomiting. Conditions like endometriosis, which will affect 5-10 per cent of girls, cause excruciating pain. The average amount of time a diagnosis for this condition takes is about six years.
It’s not just pain girls experience but also shame and stigma. One in six girls have reported being teased at school. Has everyone forgotten what it was like being a teenager? Feeling awkward and embarrassed is part of the deal, surely teachers can see how these conversations make school life tougher. Period poverty is so widespread that sanitary products are requested at food banks and homeless shelters. The UK government introduced a free period product scheme yet fewer than half of the schools eligible for it have applied.
Before schools start threatening parents with fines and demanding proof via GP, are they doing enough to support girls? Do the girls have secure, private facilities? Are girls given access to free products if they need them? Has the school created a non-judgemental culture so girls can attend school without any extra anxiety? Is there a designated teacher a girl can talk to? If they have to miss half a day, what is in place to make sure their education doesn’t suffer?
How about the NHS? If its website is anything to go by, there’s room for improvement here. On the NHS check list of ‘Is my child well enough to attend school?’ periods do not even get a mention. Remarkably, something that impacts 50 per cent of our pupils isn’t covered.
We do need our daughters in school though. We do need to find a way that they are not disadvantaged and their education is never impacted. Better awareness and open conversations are needed, so in one way this dumped policy was a resounding success.
Read more Parenting Truths from Emilie Silverwood-Cope every month in the Cambridge Independent.
