Much has been written about the school attendance crisis since we emerged from two years of national lockdowns. The prevailing cause, according to the higher-ups in policy or practice, is shifting attitudes and the prevalence of working from home. It’s a deceptively simple and convincing narrative but one which lacks understanding, context or qualitative input from families (and indeed children) themselves. So, what is going on and why? The fire was already burning Firstly, context.