Doncaster school branded 'snoops' for checks on absent pupils' bins

By Victoria Scheer

BBC News

A secondary school said it was monitoring bin and car movements as part of house visits intended to “call out” unauthorised pupil absences.

Astrea Academy Woodfields in Doncaster said the visits were conducted out of safety concerns for absent children.

The school’s principal, David Scales, said checks included looking at driveways, boiler flues and lights.

The National Education Union (NEU) has criticised the measures and branded them “invasive snooping tactics”.

Woodfields is part of the Astrea Academy Trust which looks after 17 schools across South Yorkshire and is attended by over 720 students.

Last Wednesday, Mr Scales posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, saying parents would call the school to say their child was sick but attendance visits revealed that no one was home and a fine was issued.

Mr Scales told the BBC staff would check for post on doorsteps, bins on bin days, whether cars were in the driveways or if steam was being released from the boiler flue.

“We do this because we care and because we want our students to be in school,” Mr Scales said.

The NEU’s Doncaster branch and district secretary Fiona Campbell accused Woodfields of publicly shaming families and undermining positive relationships with parents and students.

“Lots of schools locally are experiencing difficulties with challenging attendance figures,” she said.

“Other schools though are not resorting to invasive snooping tactics, and many recognise the difficulties parents might face in trying to arrange valuable family time together.”

According to the Astrea Academy Trust, 92 students at Woodfields have had at least one day of unauthorised holiday this school year and 58 of these absences were discovered through house visits.

Mr Scales said on some occasions parents had also “impersonated” a doctor’s surgery to justify their child’s absence.

He said: “We’ve been very open with our families that as well as celebrating good attendance, we will call out unauthorised absence.

“We talk about these examples to highlight the extent of the challenge – and to make clear that this simply is not acceptable.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said it promoted a “support-first approach” and backed schools and local authorities that worked with families to improve attendance.

“Where appropriate, this could include home visits and door-knocking services,” the spokesperson added.

It comes after the government announced fines for unauthorised school absences would rise across England.

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