School holiday flexibility call
A COUNCILLOR has called for more flexibility around when pupils can take holidays in order to improve school attendance.
Gareth Jones said Rhondda Cynon Taf council should take action on the issue because parents’ working patterns are changing.
Since 2016, attendance rates in Rhondda Cynon Taf have started to decline with primary attendance, including special schools, dropping from 94.6% in 2015/16 to 94.2% in 2017/18.
Secondary attendance has fallen from 93.9% to 92.9% over the same period.
Unauthorised absence had also increased during this period, especially in secondary schools where it has risen from 1.8% to 2.3%.
This has prompted the council to introduce a school attendance strategy.
Cllr Jones asked officers at a recent children and young people scrutiny committee: “Would it be possible to try and look at the way people take time off school? People’s working lives have changed drastically.”
He said that often parents’ time off doesn’t marry up with when their children’s holidays are, and he asked if they could be more flexible.
“I fully understand there are times where it is impossible. But there maybe times during the year where certain weeks could be allowed for the child to use flexibly.
“If that suggestion was implemented would that increase attendance?”
He mentioned a trial in Swansea where they closed a school for a week in June, resulting in attendance during the year drastically increasing.
Daniel Williams, the head of attendance and well-being service, said this was because they have moved all inset days into one week.
Gaynor Davies, the council’s director of education, said: “We set term dates as a region a couple of years in advance. Our priority is to improve school attendance. There is a strong correlation between attendance and outcomes.
“I do believe we need to encourage stronger school attendance.”
Cllr Jones said: “With the way working patterns are changing I think we are being dinosaurs by sticking to one size fits all. I think it would be nice to look at flexibility. We could be leaders rather than followers.”
The chair of the committee Cllr Shelley Rees-Owen said it would be useful for the committee to have evidence on this and Cllr Margaret Griffiths said they have to begin to think about other ways of improving attendance.