School’s out – but not just for the holidays

The school holidays are in full swing, but for growing numbers of children in Wales, the holidays don’t make much difference.

The Bevan Foundation contributes a monthly column to Wales’ leading, independent business news website, Business News Wales. The website has more than 250,000 monthly visitors across all sectors of the Welsh economy, enabling the Bevan Foundation to reach deep into the business community.

This month, our Director, Victoria Winckler, looks at the growing number of children in Wales who are missing school. There are a variety of reasons for pupil absence, including permanent exclusion, sickness, or being educated at home as a parental choice. Together they amount to thousands of pupils not getting a full education. Welsh Government figures show that overall, nearly a third of pupils – some 150,000 children in total – missed at least one in ten school sessions in the most recent school year. 

Does it matter? Yes, Victoria argues, because children who miss out on school tend to do less well in exams and they also tend to have lower levels of wellbeing. There are also groups of children who are more likely to be absent from school. Victoria stresses that unless and until schools are places where learners of all ages want to be, where they can learn and develop as rounded human beings, children will not thrive and achieve their full potential.

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