School unhappiness doubles between primary and secondary school from 12 % to 25 % of pupils, according to parents
• According to parents, almost three times as many secondary school children who aren’ t happy at school say this is because they don ' t feel what they are learning is relevant to their future, compared to primary school children( 31 % vs 11 %)
School life
• For parents of children with special educational needs who say they are unhappy at school, the main reasons are that their special needs are not being met( 56 %), they struggle with learning( 43 %) and they struggle to make friends( 43 %), whilst parents of children without special educational needs who say their child doesn ' t enjoy school are most likely to say this is because they find lessons uninteresting( 46 %)
• Social isolation is a greater challenge amongst children in primary schools( 35 % of those who are unhappy, equivalent to 177,000 primary school children), whereas children in secondary schools are more likely to find lessons uninteresting( 46 %, or 510,000 secondary school children)
Photography: Shutterstock / DraganaGordic
School unhappiness doubles between primary and secondary school from 12 % to 25 % of pupils, according to parents
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