School Attendance Drop Post-Covid In County

School attendance in Pembrokeshire is still a cause for concern, having dropped post-Covid, members of the county council heard.

At the May meeting of full council, Councillor Huw Murphy asked: “Can the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding please explain her comments at the Corporate O&S on March 23, that her biggest safeguarding concern is attendance in our schools when, at the Social Care O&S meeting of January 12, information was presented which shows child care assessment team referrals are rising, that the number of young persons on the child protection register has risen and the number of initial child protection conferences following a S47 enquiry has increased significantly.

“Can the Cabinet member reassure myself as Safeguarding Champion and Pembrokeshire residents that she will focus her attention on where genuine risk exists for our most vulnerable young people and work with Social Services to achieve this goal?”

Responding, Cabinet Member for Social Care & Safeguarding Cllr Tessa Hodgson said she was “well aware” of the rising number of referrals, adding that pressures on services were “well documented,” but had had assurances from officers that the council was providing “an appropriate and timely service”.

Referring to her response to the previous O&S question, raised by Cllr Simon Hancock, that school attendance was her main concern, she said: “I stand by my answer regarding school attendance,” adding updated figures had made her even more concerned.

Members were told pre-covid attendance figures of 95 per cent, which had now dropped to 89 per cent, and even lower in some schools.

“Having had their education so badly affected due to school closures during Covid many children have simply not engaged with schools.”

She said that, for some children, school was their only safe environment, and raised fears that youngsters out of school were more vulnerable to risk, stressing: “School attendance is a genuine risk to safeguarding.”