Are school days the best days of our lives? That’s what I was told when I was at school! I did manage perfect attendance one year.

However, I see there are concerns about school absence rates locally. Ipswich has been chosen as an area to receive support from a £15million scheme to increase school attendance.

The school absence rate for England for the autumn and spring terms of 2023-24 was down on the same period the year before, but still much higher than pre-pandemic.

The figure is now 6.9%, down from 7.3% the previous year. That figure covers primary schools, secondary schools and special schools. Pre-pandemic, figures were below 5%.

Current figures also show that one in five pupils were persistent absentees, meaning they missed 10% or more of school sessions.

This is a major concern as good school attendance is crucial for children's education and future job prospects.

Labour’s Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson visited Chantry Academy in Ipswich recently to announce a major expansion of school attendance support.

The government scheme will target 10,000 more children across 10 new areas, including Ipswich.

An investment of £15m to tackle poor school attendance is an important step in getting to grips with the problem.

The scheme will support children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), mental health issues or other complex learning needs.

I was proud to see Bridget Phillipson highlighting the fantastic work that has been done at Chantry Academy.

Their work over the last year has seen attendance levels climb above the national average.

The scheme will support children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), mental health issues or other complex learning needs.

There’s a range of factors that impact on attendance. Often, it’s what’s going on at home, perhaps mental health issues that children and young people are facing within their wider family.

We know the pandemic disrupted children’s education, though problems were there before the pandemic. It’s important that pupils are supported into regular patterns of being in school.

At my son’s school, they already have a real focus on attendance. Part of this is an attendance reward scheme for the whole class.

If class has over 96% attendance for a given week, the pupils get a sticker. After four stickers, they can have “Golden Time”, something we didn’t have in my youth, allowing fun activities such as games, playing outdoors or using the computers.

Crucially, the school has a pastoral officer and a family liaison officer, also focussed on attendance.

As part of the pastoral offer, they are able to give some children the support to work through problems if they are going through a period of difficulty within their life. This could be related to something at home, a bereavement, anxiety or trauma.

The Family Liaison Officer understands that there are sometimes situations where a listening ear or additional support is needed.

Both practical and emotional support is available to individuals and families in relation to parenting strategies, financial concerns, sleep, anxiety and pointing to additional support services.

Families are helped to ensure their children are at school during the week.

This can include sorting clothing, food, social work and tackling the stigma around claiming free school meals. Chaotic families find themselves unable to walk small children to school. There is a Hardship Fund which can cover things like school trips.

This helps teachers focus on teaching and learning rather than being a social worker.

Bridget Phillipson, Education Secretary: "If we are going to break down the barriers to opportunity for children in Ipswich and across the country, we must first break down the barriers to school attendance."

Looks like Ipswich schools are heading for the top of the class.

This opinion column was written by Neil MacDonald, leader of Ipswich Borough Council.