Commenting as Estyn releases a new report showing that attendance at secondary school has declined since the pandemic and not recovered, Laura Doel, National Secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru, said:

“It is true that attendance has not fully recovered since the pandemic. There are many complex reasons for this, including continued illness, changing parental attitudes, increased issues with mental health and anxiety, and the appalling impact of rising poverty levels due to the cost-of-living crisis.

“As this report points out, some of this schools can – and are – attempting to tackle, but much of it is beyond schools’ expertise or ability to control. Access to mental health support, for example, is extremely limited following over a decade of neglect and under-funding of public services as a result of UK Government austerity. Continued cuts to core budgets for schools mean that posts like family liaison officers are under threat if they haven’t been cut already. Schools used to be able to rely far more on a wide range of services there to help support families and children that simply don’t exist in the same way.

“If the Welsh Government is serious about solving attendance issues – and is certainly is vital that children are in school as much as possible – then serious investment into a multi-agency approach is required. As Estyn points out, Local Authorities and Welsh Government have a big part to play in solving this problem – schools can’t be left alone to try and fix it.”