00:00For many families, school attendance is part of everyday routine, but new analysis from the Department for Education suggests there
00:07are certain occasions when some pupils may be more likely to miss the classroom.
00:13The department examined attendance patterns and found notable increases in absence rates around major events.
00:20One example was the Taylor Swift Era's tour performances at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium in June 2024.
00:27According to the Department for Education, absence rates among schoolgirls in the Liverpool Local Authority rose on the days of
00:34these concerts.
00:35We've been on the streets of Liverpool to ask if you think it's ever acceptable for pupils to miss school
00:40to attend a concert.
00:42Why home educate? So that question is probably going to come across a bit different for me.
00:48Look, I think it's important for all kids to get a wide range of different activities.
00:53I think once in a while it's fine.
00:55Yeah, I think it's all part of culture. It's all part of enjoying their life.
00:59I mean, they're not young for long, are they? So they should be allowed to just enjoy their life and
01:04have time out.
01:04The increase was particularly noticeable among Year 9 and 10 girls attending school on the Friday performance date.
01:11For Year 9 girls, the absence rate rose from 12.9% on the previous Friday to 14.9%
01:17on the day of the concert.
01:18Among Year 10 girls, the figure increased from 12.6% to 16.4% over the same period.
01:25Yeah, I think kids should definitely be able to have time out of school.
01:28There's so much pressure in school these days.
01:30I think it should just be a bit more lenient and less about the fines and more about the kids'
01:35mental health and well-being.
01:37I think special experiences are extremely important and I'm not a great fan of our education system.
01:45I think it needs major overhaul and proper funding. So I think when there are unique experiences outside school, we
01:55should grab them.
01:56I don't think we should probably be so harsh on kids that are missing for something like that.
02:00That's probably a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a lot of these kids and they will remember that forever.
02:06And if they get their moments with their friends, they get that celebration, then that's something that they, for that
02:12one day,
02:14they're going to get some enrichment out of that, which will actually probably help them at school as well.
02:18In fact, I think I might have once to go and see Michael Jackson when we went down to London.
02:22The original one was cancelled and it was rearranged, so I'm sure we would have left early enough to have
02:27to sleep in school a little bit.
02:28The report found another pattern as well.
02:30Children were more likely to be absent from school on their birthdays than on other school days.
02:35This effect was most noticeable among Year 8 pupils.
02:38Across the 2024 to 2025 academic year, the average absence rate for Year 8 pupils on their birthdays was 12
02:47.8%.
02:47On all other days, it stood at 8.3%.
02:50The Education Secretary, Bridget Philipson, said attendance had improved overall, with 5 million more days spent in classrooms last year.
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