You're absolutely right, Dai, to point to a trend not just in Swansea but across Wales, that there is a great propensity to absenteeism in schools that work with our most disadvantaged and deprived communities. Understanding the needs of individual learners and providing the right support at the right time to ensure that they access school can make all the difference. As you quite rightly outline, it is that regular attendance at school that will have a dramatic effect on the ability of that child to gain the most out of education and fulfil their potential.

Just one way in which we are looking to support this, the newest element of our pupil development grant, the access element, has been introduced to directly support parents and carers with some of the costs of the school day, which could be a reason why sometimes children don't feel able to go to school, whether that's because they haven't got the correct uniform or they haven't got the correct kit, the correct school equipment, that could be a real barrier to them going in.

We've also worked with Children in Wales to produce guides for schools around being cognisant of how decisions a school can make can influence a child coming to school. So, for instance, whilst there are lots of opportunities to be had from celebrating World Book Day, the pressure on a parent to provide a costume for that child may mean that's a day that the child does not go into school. So, being aware of some of these decisions, and how the school organises itself, can make a significant difference. That's not to say that schools can't be creative. I recently visited a school in the Ogmore constituency that plays a full part in World Book Day—they just have a wardrobe full of costumes that children can come into school and choose from so they don't feel the need to be excluded from those activities. So, we do need schools, local authorities, as well as Welsh Government, to be cognisant of those barriers and work collectively to break those barriers down.