According to a report by the National Foundation for Educational Research, thousands of pupils in England’s inner cities skip school for up to two weeks every year, and hundreds of students are truant for the equivalent of a whole term or more. The report also found that boys who skipped lessons fell further behind with their school grades than girls. 

There are a variety of reasons why children in inner city schools may be truanting. Students in these schools often face language acquisition problems, inadequate housing, poor nutrition, lack of parental support and enormous pressures from negative social influences such as gang violence and drug use, and yet, many of these children succeed. Their individual determination to improve their lives, and the dedication of hard-working teachers, must be credited.

My guest this week is Theresa Allotey. Theresa is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Westminster Academy and serves on the board of Stratford School Academy as a Director and Trustee. She deliberately chose to work with inner schools to help address the challenges and issues related to disadvantaged students in the education system.

Theresa shares her experiences and the great work she is doing including her work as founder of Meliora High School which is a not-for-profit company whose mission is to reduce the numbers of persistent absentees and students missing in education across North London, borough by borough.