The school picking kids up from home to boost attendance

The number of children missing school in England is a crisis that needs to be tackled with bigger, bolder national measures, MPs say.

Twice as many pupils have been missing a significant amount of school as before the pandemic.

And the Education Select Committee says mental-health problems and cost-of-living pressures on families are among the complex reasons.

Parents and schools in Folkestone, Kent, where absence is higher than the national average, tell BBC News why they are struggling.

‘Mentally draining’

Kelsey and her two children, Leo and Roxanne, were evicted from their home last autumn.

The family was rehoused in a flat two bus rides and at least 40 minutes from their primary school – and as Kelsey tried to stabilise their life, her mental health deteriorated.

“It was hard, mentally draining, physically draining, like you don’t want to get out of bed,” she says.

“You feel like you’re not good enough for your children.”

Kelsey’s depression meant she was sometimes unable to get the children to school.