North East schools failing to tackle truancy

Jun 19 2009 by Nicola Juncar, The Journal

NEW pupil attendance figures show most of our region’s schools are failing to tackle truancy.

According to Government data released yesterday, almost every North East authority has seen the rate of pupil absence rise.

The statistics, from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, show 371,230 half days were lost in the North East due to unauthorised absence during the 2008 autumn term.

This is up from 321,640 half days lost during the 2007 autumn term. Newcastle is the worst performing authority on Tyneside with a its unauthorised absence at 1.49% of school sessions – an increase from 1.07% in 2007.

Gillian Sanders, attendance initiatives officer for Newcastle City Council, said: “Missing just a small amount of school means missing out on valuable learning time. Children can easily fall behind very quickly if they don’t attend school regularly.

“We have a number of initiatives and incentive schemes to encourage good attendance and these are very popular.”

Gateshead’s figure has risen from 0.63% to 0.77%, with North Tyneside’s up from 0.64% to 0.73% and Sunderland’s rising from 0.73% to 0.88%.

Durham’s figure is lower than most other North East authorities.

However, its percentage of pupil absences has risen from 0.50% to 0.58%.

A spokeswoman for Durham County Council said: “Secondary school attendance has improved year on year for nine years at 92.67% and primary school attendance is one of the highest it has ever been at 94.71%.

“In County Durham, schools and services work hard together to consistently improve these outcomes.”

South Tyneside, Northumberland and Stockton are the only authorities to have seen their figures drop.

Northumberland’s figure has fallen from 0.54% to 0.43%; South Tyneside’s from 0.80% to 0.74% and Stockton’s from 0.76% to 0.71%.

In the North East, Middlesbrough is the worst performing after pupil absences rose from 1.19% to 1.86%.

Despite our authorities seeing truancy figures rise, they are better than the rest of the country.

The overall figure for the North East is 0.85%, compared with 0.98% nationally.