We're winning war on truants (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

We're winning war on truants

THE number of children skipping school in Swindon has plummeted in the past six years. Official records show that the town has defied the national trend for a big rise in truancy.

And while other education authorities struggled with increases of more than 200 per cent, Swindon not only stopped a rise in illegal absences but successfully pushed levels down.

Figures released by the Depart-ment for Education and Skills show that last year 3,022 youngsters in the town were guilty of at least one unauthorised absence down from almost 5,000 in 1997-8.

That is a 38 per cent drop in truancy, a far better performance than the 16 per cent rise suffered across the country.

It also means that Swindon is one of a handful of areas to have beaten targets to cut the number of school avoiders. Coun Garry Perkins (Con, Shaw and Nine Elms), Swindon Council's lead member for education, said that teaching staff and council officers had been working together to make school as appealing as possible.

He said: "It's good to applaud the fact that there's been some success for Swindon schools and it's all about working with students who may fall into the truancy category to give them alternatives.

"There are many vocational courses for those who do not fancy taking the traditional English, maths and French.

"People's whole futures are linked to getting an education and the majority of students in Swindon are realising they need an education."

In September the DfES released figures showing that one in eight students missed school in the past year.

This, however, was much better than the rest of the country, which averaged out at 18 per cent.

Swindon police also regularly go out with council staff on truancy sweeps.

At the end of November a week-long sweep saw 69 children who were suspected of playing hookey stopped in the street, at leisure centres and in shopping centres.

Fifty-three were with parents and 16 were alone. Half of those stopped with their parents had a good reason for being out, and eight of those out alone were out of school for a legitimate reason.

Parents can face a court appearance within 12 weeks of a child missing school and can be fined up to £2,500 or given a three-month prison sentence.

And families have been warned that booking holidays in term-time without permission could see them given penalty fines of up to £100.