All school Log Books from the Victorian period contain lots of entries giving a variety of reasons for school holidays and for children being absent.
Hay-making (as in the example on the next page) and sheep-shearing are always mentioned in country districts, but there are plenty others.
This is a typical example from Ynscedwyn School:

"School was closed today on account of Barnum and Bailey's Show at Swansea."
Barnum and Bailey was a famous travelling circus of the time, and this entry was from 1899.

An earlier entry from 1876 said "This afternoon there was a small school owing to the expected arrival of a circus at Ystalyfera. I was not sorry when I learnt afterwards that it did not arrive".
The children were probaby sorry, though ! There are more missing children on the next page ...

More escapes from school...