Parents working from home affecting school attendance, says councillor

A councillor has blamed parents who work from home for continued poor attendance at Welsh schools.

Monmouthshire councillor Martyn Groucutt, said school attendance had not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

“Since the pandemic too many families have stopped sending their children to school regularly.”

The annual report from Monmouthshire County Council’s director of education for 2024/25 said overall attendance had “improved”.

The Welsh government issued new guidance two years ago amid concerns over school attendance.

Councillor Groucutt, who previously had responsibility for education in Monmouthshire, described school attendance as the “elephant in the room” at a council scrutiny meeting.

He said: “Parents are contacting schools saying ‘I work from home three days a week, why can’t my children do the same?’ It doesn’t work like that.”

He added that friends of his had also opted to home school their children, which he described as “very far” from easy.

“I’m not saying home education should never happen but the vast, vast majority of children need to be with their friends, peers and community learning,” he added.

The annual report for 2024/25 said primary school attendance in the county was “moving rapidly” towards pre-pandemic levels, but desired secondary school attendance as “slower to recover”.

Attendance for Monmouthshire primary pupils was 93.6%, compared to 92.2% across Wales.

Attendance for secondary school pupils was 88.2% which was slightly higher than the all-Wales figure 88.1%.

The Welsh Government said “good attendance” was usually at around 95%, adding that the percentage of secondary school-aged pupils missing more than 10% of sessions, five whole days, fell from 37.1% to 33% between 2023/24 and 2024/25.