Almost a quarter of Bristol pupils are regularly absent, Ofsted warns.

According to Ofsted, almost a quarter of children in Bristol are chronically absent from school.

Figures published on Thursday showed that 23.5% of students miss at least 10% of school hours, which experts believe is a legacy of the Covid lockdown.

James McNally, Ofsted’s regional director for the South West, said the rise in the number of children experiencing poor mental health was also one of the reasons for large numbers of pupils not attending school regularly.

A Bristol City Council spokesman said: “We recognize that improving attendance is a priority for both educational achievement and keeping children safe.”

Bristol has the sixth highest rate of persistent absenteeism in the country.

This year’s figures show a decline of 23.5 percent compared to last year’s figure of 27.4 percent.

The national average number of children going missing every fortnight or more was 19% last school year.

Before the pandemic in 2018/2019, the figure was just 11 percent.

Figures for Somerset and North Somerset were also above average, at 21% and 20% respectively during the previous academic year.

Speaking to BBC West, Mr McNally warned that chronic absenteeism not only deprives children of a good education but also the opportunity to develop social skills.

He said the lockdown had damaged the “sense of social contract” that children should go to school every single day they are good enough to do so.

“Not being in school means they’re not getting access to good quality education,” he said.

“The other aspect they’re missing out on is personal development — their ability to socialize, make friends, work with people and understand how to be resilient.”

Mr McNeely added that regular absences lead to “increased risk” as teachers are unable to monitor children’s welfare.

He said multi-partnership working between schools, parents and health and social care professionals was the best way to get children back into school, but many local authorities were struggling to meet demand.

Bristol City Council said it was working with trusts and schools to improve the situation and recently held the Bristol Attendance Conference, attended by 130 schools, which was “an important step in tackling this problem”. step”.

“In building on this momentum, we will maintain our focus on leveraging data, sharing best practices, and strengthening partnerships.

“Our commitment remains unwavering to support high levels of attendance in all schools and we are ensuring timely support and meaningful engagement to meet the needs of families.”

The increase in the number of children diagnosed with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) was also creating a problem for schools which often did not have the resources to support them.

Elsewhere in the region, it emerged that parts of Somerset have a severe shortage of early years childcare places such as nurseries and childminders.

It had just 20.2 full-time places in regulated settings per 100 eligible children, compared with 30 and 31 places in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire respectively.

Mr McNally said the fact that Somerset is so rural made it difficult for providers to set up in the right places.

It also makes it difficult for them to recruit and retrain high-quality staff.

“We know that the best start in life for children is about being safe, being happy and establishing a truly positive experience of learning and development,” she said.

Somerset Council lead member for children, families and education, Heather Shearer, said the council was working hard to create childcare places.

“We want to target our efforts in areas where we know there is a need,” he said.

The council is supporting primary schools to open nursery classes under the government’s school-based nursery scheme and offering capital grants to private providers.

“It may be a cliché but children are our future,” Ms Shearer said.