Hampshire County Council urges parents and carers to prioritise regular school attendance

PARENTS and carers are being urged by Hampshire County Council to prioritise regular school attendance in the new academic year.

While rates of attendance have continued to improve in the county, they remain below the levels typically seen before the covid-19 pandemic – alongside other local authority areas across the country.

Latest figures show that 93.4% of all possible sessions, recorded at daily registers in both the morning and afternoon, were attended by Hampshire pupils in the 2023/24 school year. This is compared to 95.5% in 2018/19 – the last full school year before the pandemic.

The county council says it is “promising” however, that Hampshire maintained its historic trend above the national school attendance rate, which was 92.8% in 2023/24.

HCC’s cabinet member for education, Cllr Steve Forster, said: “It’s positive to see that school attendance has been improving in Hampshire and I want to thank our families and school staff for their hard work in helping us to move things in the right direction. However, we still have further to go to get back to where we were before the pandemic.

“As we head into a new academic year, I know that our incredible school staff will continue to support children to experience the educational, social, emotional and mental benefits of being consistently in school.

“Likewise, our families continue to play a valuable role in prioritising attendance and helping children to foster a positive relationship with school. A concerted effort across both school and home will give children the strongest possible chances to thrive in school, both emotionally and academically.

“This will be especially important in the first few days back at school, which we know are crucial in setting the tone for the rest of the year.”

For advice and guidance visit www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning