As we have seen, getting children to attend school was a big problem for all schools in Victorian times.
There were all sorts of reasons for not turning up at school including helping out on the farm, starting work at an early age, illness, and going off to local shows and fairs.
This diary entry from 1890, like the one on the last page, also shows that many teachers had a very poor opinion of attendance officers. They were often criticised by teachers ! The children were probably glad that they were useless though !

This comes from the Llangurig School diary for 1890 :
"During the week a good quantity of oranges given by Mrs Verney has been distributed to the delight of the scholars. Oranges get children to school better than any attendance officer, but the effect is only transient. Hearty cheers were given for Mrs Verney for her kindness".

The teacher says that handing out oranges brings the children to school pretty well, but it doesn't last long ! It was probably much the same at Christmas time in 1882, as seen on the next page...

When all the children come to school...