Pupils missing school on Fridays as parents are at home, MPs told

Some pupils person missed schoolhouse connected Fridays since the pandemic due to the fact that their parents are astatine home, England's children's commissioner has said.

Dame Rachel de Souza told MPs determination was "a immense amount" of lack connected Fridays - erstwhile "mum and dada are astatine home" - that "wasn't determination before".

The authorities has not yet responded to Dame Rachel's comments.

Pupils number arsenic persistently absent if they miss 10% oregon much of schoolhouse sessions, which would magnitude to 7 days successful the autumn term.

Dame Rachel told the Commons Education Select Committee connected Tuesday that 818,000 of the 1.6 cardinal children who were persistently absent crossed the autumn and outpouring presumption successful 2021/22 were disconnected schoolhouse for reasons different than illness.

And immoderate pupils are missing schoolhouse connected Fridays much than connected different days of the week, she said - a inclination that did not beryllium earlier the pandemic - citing analysis of attendance data from autumn 2021, covering 32,000 children from 3 multi-academy trusts.

Dame Rachel said conversations with families suggested 1 crushed for little schoolhouse attendance was that distant learning during lockdown had led to an cognition of "Well, wherefore can't we conscionable person online learning?"

She added: "Parents are astatine location connected Fridays. We've had grounds from kids: 'Well, you know, mum and dada are astatine location - enactment astatine home'."

A 4th (25.1%) of pupils were persistently absent past term, compared with 13.1% successful the autumn word of 2019.

In effect to those astir caller figures, the authorities said the lack complaint was driven by illness, with precocious levels of flu and different viruses circulating.