Campaigners launch crowdfunding drives, shining spotlights on school attendance pressures and the experience of Ofsted

Stressful scenarios within education could both benefit from greater scrutiny and discussion, the fundraisers argue.

Two crowdfunding campaigns, aiming to increase the discussion and scrutiny of issues which are both at the centre of the education news agenda, have launched in the past few days.

“Unauthorised Absence” is a screenplay about a mother and daughter’s desperation over the pressure the child faces over going to school, with the mother facing fines and even the warning of a possible prison sentence over the non-attendance. The screenplay is the product of the wider stress facing the system for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), which its writer said was “broken beyond anything I could imagine”.

Having secured the endorsement of professionals working in psychology, paediatrics, education, law and politics, to back the concept of the screenplay becoming a film, its creators are now aiming to raise more than £10,000 towards its filming. The writer, Jo Clayton, said she wanted the drama: “To do for the [school] attendance laws what Mr Bates vs the Post Office did for Post Office PR.”

Meanwhile, veteran education academic Peter Tymms is fronting an attempt to document the impact of Ofsted inspections, with a crowdfunding drive aiming to raise £26,000 for a three-year project.