Cost of living and Covid: School's effort to re-engage pupils

School attendance in Wales has been hit hard by the pandemic with the number of pupils going to school below pre-Covid levels.

Education welfare officer Susan Lees said "being locked away in the house for so long" has had a huge impact on learners at Henry Tudor Primary School in Pembrokeshire.

Attendance is already down about 4% on pre-Covid levels.

But Covid is not the only thing that has had an impact. Cost of living pressures has taken its toll and pushed the school to help families with washing clothes, shower facility access and its own uniform shop.

James White, of Pembrokeshire county council, said that getting school attendances back to pre-pandemic levels would probably be a "two-to-three year journey".

16 December 2022