03/01/2007
Parents warned in truancy crackdown
More than half of all Liverpool children caught skipping school in a Christmas truancy crackdown were with a parent.
Liverpool's truancy team carried out more sweeps than ever this Christmas as the council steps up its campaign to get kids back in school. And parents are being reminded of their responsibilities with the message: "Every lesson counts."
The city council's Truancy Watch team and Merseyside Police worked with neighbouring authorities, and spoke to 363 young people over the course of three weeks. Of these, 287 did not have a valid reason for not being in school, and 152 of them were with their mum and/or dad or another adult.
The figures are an increase on Christmas 2005, when 253 pupils were found to be truanting. The figure of 53 percent of pupils being with a parent or guardian is also up on last year's figure of 38 percent.
Principal Education Officer, Ron Collinson, says the work of the truancy team is becoming more effective and far-reaching every year. But he warned that parents must play their part in making sure their children attend school.
Ron said: "We are making real progress in the war on truancy. It's becoming more and more difficult for truants to slip through the net, because we are carrying out a lot more effective and cohesive anti-truancy work.
"But it's vital that parents play their part. Every parent we stopped who was with their child was given a leaflet and information about the negative impact of not sending their children to school. A key priority for us is to get the message across to parents that taking their child out of school without permission is not acceptable."
A base was set up at St Johns Shopping Centre, and management at the centre worked closely with the truancy officers in the planning and delivery of sweeps. Some also took place at locations outside the city centre.
36 patrols were carried out - 18 of these in the city centre - and six of the sweeps were joint working days with Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens, Wirral, Isle of Man, Merseyside Police and British transport Police.
During the sweeps, 61 unaccompanied children who did not have a valid reason for not being at school were taken back to school by the truancy team.
Around one in four of the children stopped was from either Knowsley, Wirral or Sefton - a figure comparable to last year.
Liverpool City Council's executive member for children's services, Councillor Paul Clein, said: "We are making great progress in combating truancy, but there is still much to be done. The huge number of patrols and the number of children stopped this Christmas sends out the clearest message yet to pupils and parents that Liverpool children will simply not get away with truanting.
"Parents need to realise that any absence disrupts a child's learning and lots of absences seriously affect a child's attainments and ultimately their life opportunities. Every single day in school counts."
ENDS
For further information, please contact Damian Richards-Clarke on 0151 225 2464 or 07736 216434
For the latest news from Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008, visit www.liverpool.gov.uk or www.liverpool08.com
TRUANCY FACTS
. The Truancy Watch initiative was set up by Liverpool City Council's education service in 2002 as one of the first dedicated truancy sweep teams in the country.
. The team carries out truancy sweeps across Liverpool on each school day of the year and has been hailed as a national model of best practice.
. This year, more than 1,500 children were stopped during truancy sweeps across Liverpool.
. A wide range of initiatives are in place to maintain high rates of attendance in Liverpool. They include; radio and poster campaigns; whole school attendance monitoring programmes; and confidential telephone lines for members of the public to report pupils who are out of school.
. This year's Christmas truancy sweep ran from Monday 13 November to Friday 1 December.
. Of the 287 children found to be truanting in this year's sweep, 207 were secondary school pupils and 87 were primary school pupils. There were 180 boys and 107 girls.
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