With the Bank Holiday over, this is the time when many families look ahead to the start of a new school year, perhaps with a degree of trepidation.

With some amazement, parents may find how quickly children have grown so that last term’s shoes and clothes no longer fit.

For many this will only add to their anxiety as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, and to bite hard.

I know that quite a few schools and organisations are operating schemes which aim to re-use uniforms, avoiding at least some of the extra costs. This seems to be an excellent idea.

Our four Monmouthshire comprehensive schools have just seen "results day" following the return to traditional external exams, rather than teacher assessment.

It marks more normal times, following the immense disruption of the pandemic which adversely affected many students. Pupils deserve huge congratulations for their adaptability and now for their exam successes which reflect their commitment and dedication. Well done.

At the same time, it would be wrong not to recognise that some young people are not fulfilling their true potential. This is often because they have not yet got back into the pattern of daily attendance at school.

My council is working hard to get attendance back to pre-pandemic levels.

We have strengthened our Inclusion Service and the welfare team so attendance will be a strong focus.

Evidence shows that it is our most disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils who are the most likely to miss school and we commit ourselves to giving the best possible support to getting all children into school every day. We want every pupil to achieve the very best of which they are capable.

Of course, the hard work of our pupils is only part of the reason why our children do so well.

The dedication and commitment of our headteachers and their staff is another vital element in success, and I truly recognise the dedication, professionalism and sheer hard work which a teacher’s role embodies from reception right through to further education.

In Monmouthshire we are doing our very best to maintain services and support our schools, but with budget shortfalls and the unfairness of the block grant system in Wales, it is a very hard task and I applaud the team for their resourcefulness and perseverance.