Looking at the official records today, it is the almost casual way in which many children and parents treated school attendance in Victorian times that seems amazing. There is a good example of this in the diary of Garth School for 1877...

This entry from the school Log Book reads -
10th August - "Admitted one boy this week. Attendance slightly better than last week. Removed one boy's name (Thomas Jones) from register - he only attended one day, being curious as to the interior of a Schoolroom".
There are lots (and lots, and lots...) of reasons (or excuses !) for children being away from school in the Log Books. This is also from Garth School...

This is from the later date of 1889 -
20th December - "Attendance reduced - Xmas poultry markets held at Builth no doubt the cause, children help in plucking geese"...
This was a slightly unusual cause of absence, but there were many kinds of seasonal jobs which took children away from school. Parents often encouraged their children to take on these tasks because although they were only paid a few pennies it still made a difference to the income of very poor families.
There are more examples on the next page...

We're much too busy at home...