Mersey schools among the worst for pupil truancy rates

Feb 27 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

SCHOOLS in Knowsley are among the worst in the country for the number of pupils skipping school.

Government figures released yesterday place Knowsley as the sixth worst authority for pupils missing over 20% of school.

Liverpool, St Helens, Wirral and Halton also have half-day absence figures above the national average of six-and-a-half days.

Only Sefton Council's figures came in below the national and North West average, recording a 1% drop in persistent absence since 2005/06.

The figures looked at primary and secondary schools, special schools, city technology colleges and academies.

They record authorised and unauthorised absences, classing persistent absenteeism as pupils who have missed more than 63 half-days, typically amounting to over 20% of the school term.

The minister for young people Kevin Brennan has challenged all local authorities to keep up the pressure and cut persistent absence by a third by 2011.

The worst authority area was the city of Kingston Upon Hull, with an overall absence rate of 8.22% of school time.

Manchester recorded the highest number of persistent truants missing 7.4% of school time compared with Knowsley's 6.3% and Liverpool's 6.1%.

But Ron Collinson, head of attendance at Liverpool City Council, said the figures may be misleading on first glance as Liverpool's figures had continued to fall.

He said: "Comparing Liverpool with other councils simply on set figures doesn't always give the correct picture.

"The 'unauthorised absence' figures are also misleading as we have seen an increase in figures because our teachers aren't agreeing to every absence.

"For example, we know our teachers don't agree to pupils taking holidays in term time so if their parents take them out of school this is marked as an unauthorised absence."

Cheshire, Halton, Liverpool, Sefton, Warrington and Wirral all recorded a reduction in the figures for secondary schools compared with 2005/06.

Cllr Peter Dowd, Sefton’s cabinet member for children’s services, said the council was modestly pleased with the figures.

"We work closely with local schools to help cut truancy and through our strategies including contracts with parents and pupils we have kept the figures down.

"It's also about making school more imaginative and engaging and we offer vocational options for pupils in the 14-19 age bracket to keep them in school."

laurasharpe