The Department for Education (DfE) has announced around 600,000 pupils in 800 schools will have access to support from heads who have successfully taken action on attendance and behaviour.

Bridget Phillipson said: “I am calling on parents, schools and families to join us in playing their part to get children in class and ready to learn for the start of the new school term.

“We have already made progress with five million more days in school this year, and are backing parents and supporting schools through our Plan for Change.

“But we all need to do more, and when it comes to getting kids in and behaving – this includes mums, dads and carers too.”

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, she added that there was a particular concern about white working-class children.

She said that “for far to

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