The problem of children not turning up for school is always getting mentioned in school log books or diaries.
Many Victorian schools had an official "Attendance Officer" who was supposed to make parents send their children to school, but very few of them were any good at this.
The head teacher at Bwlch-y-Sarnau School went around knocking on doors in April, 1877, to see if he could do any better !

This entry from the school Log Book says:
"I visited the houses through the neighbourhood this week and found twenty children which do not go to any school, although they are in the proper age to attend..."
Many entries in the log books began with remarks like "Very small attendance this week". This teacher had earlier written the comment that "We shall not do any good with the School until we have Compulsory attendance".
There are more diary entries about absent children on the next page...

More children who weren't at school...