Truancy blitz to carry on (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Truancy blitz to carry on

WILTSHIRE police and education welfare officers from the county council are continuing with truancy sweeps.

Although the rate of unauthorised absence from school is below the national average in Wiltshire, the county will complete 20 truancy sweeps this academic year.

Schools Minister Derek Twigg warned truants and their parents that there was no excuse for deliberately missing out on education.

"Our message that every day in school counts is getting across," he said. "School attendance is at record levels with over 87,000 more pupils attending school each day than in 1997.

"The majority of parents are supporting schools in ensuring that their child attends regularly. However, a stubborn hardcore of two per cent of pupils remain determined to jeopardise their education and their futures through persistent truancy."

In Wiltshire unauthorised absence in secondary schools is 0.73 per cent and in primary schools is 0.31 per cent.

A county council spokesman said a truancy sweep was carried out in Devizes last month but the council had not got the results through yet.

The spokesman said more sweeps were planned in other towns.

The spokesman said: "For the past four years, overall school attendance in the county has been improving year on year and continues to be above the national average.

"In Wiltshire we fully recognise our duty to support parents to fulfil their responsibility to ensure the regular attendance of their children. Local support services are working closely with schools to help parents in their efforts towards removing the barriers to regular attendance that may be experienced by some pupils.

"However, we know that school days are still being lost because some parents are giving a low priority to their children's education at school.

"Where parentally condoned absence is identified as an issue, the county is embracing additional Government initiatives such as truancy watches and fixed penalty notices along with the continuing use of prosecution in court to help secure pupils' regular attendance at schools.

"Our aim is to ensure that pupil absence from school is kept to a minimum and that parents understand that every day missed matters. We want each pupil to achieve their full potential and the best chance they have of doing this is by attending school regularly."