School Attendance in Rhondda Cynon Taf Increases Slightly, Still Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

School attendance in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) has increased slightly over the last two years but still remains well below pre pandemic levels, a council report has said.
The report for the education and inclusion scrutiny committee on Wednesday, September 11 said that for the 2023/24 academic year, RCT secondary attendance figures submitted to Welsh Government are at 86.9% which represents a rise of 1.1% on the figure for the 2022/2023 academic year of 85.8%.
It also said that 13 of the 17 mainstream secondary phases improved their attendance between 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The report clarified that each academic year, official attendance data for secondary phase has a cut-off point at the end of the first summer half term at the end of May and that this is due to the impact on attendance of exams in May and June.
It said that Welsh Government unverified data indicates that average secondary attendance for all Wales was 87.6% which means that RCT is 0.7% below the all-Wales average.
It also shows that all-Wales secondary attendance increased by 0.3% between 2022/23 and 2023/24 and so the RCT increase of 1.1%, although coming from a lower baseline, demonstrates a stronger than average trajectory for secondary attendance, the council committee report says.
The committee report highlighted the significant impact that the pandemic
had on attendance levels which was demonstrated nationally as well as
within RCT.
But it said that the last two academic years have seen a period
of growth in attendance for nearly all demographics displayed but
attendance does remain well below pre-pandemic levels particularly at
secondary phase.
Primary attendance for 2023/24 is approximately 91.7% and the report said this is approximate as there are some missing marks when calculating the figures for this report adding that schools usually have the first couple of weeks of the new academic year to ensure these are corrected before submission to Welsh Government.
This attendance figure for primary schools represents a 0.7%
increase on the 91% recorded for 2022/23.
The report added: “There remains variability across RCT schools with the lowest performing schools recording attendance at 87.5% whilst the highest recorded attendance for primary phase recorded at 95.4%. Primary data
comparisons with all Wales figures are not possible at this time as no
information has been released by Welsh Government.”
The report said that free school meal attendance at both primary and
secondary saw an increase at a higher pace than non free school meals
attendance between 2022/23 and 2023/24 but the free school meals gap remains much wider than pre-pandemic levels.
The report said previous attendance reports are usually produced
late in the financial year and therefore the attendance data contained in
this report will be limited to RCT data only, unless unverified data has
been published and that this would be highlighted.
The report concluded by saying: “Improving school attendance remains a priority for the local authority and its schools and formed part of one of the recommendations by Estyn following last year’s LA (local authority) inspection.
“Whilst the pandemic had a considerable impact on attendance, we have now seen two consecutive years of improvements at both primary and secondary
phase, and we are hopeful the strategy and focus on attendance will
support continued improvement in the coming years.
“Attendance has a range of important factors including learners reaching
their potential, schools being able to effectively safeguard learners and
social benefits for children and young people. We will continue to liaise
with all stakeholders to ensure that attendance remains a priority at
local, regional, and national level.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​