A CRACKDOWN on bogus pupil sick notes was partly blamed for a rise in truancy across Mersey schools.
New government statistics covering the autumn and spring terms of 2008-2009 showed an overall rise in unauthorised absence among the region’s schools, compared with the same period the previous year.
Primary school children taken out of class without permission or kept off without a valid reason has gone up at every local authority in the region.
Only Wirral saw a slight fall at secondary school level.
The latest figures reflected the national picture, where unauthorised absence has reached a record high.
Last night, head teachers said a refusal to authorise pupils’ time off for holidays during term time was partly behind the growth in unauthorised absence, rather than more children skipping lessons.
But another reason cited for the rise in the region was head teachers scrutinising pupil sick notes.
This is because some parents are using them as a smokescreen to disguise the fact they are taking children out of school for reasons ranging from a day’s shopping to needing a helping hand around the home.
Most schools now have dedicated attendance teams, and, when they are suspicious, further inquiries are made to establish exactly why the child is not in class.
At The Oldershaw School, in Wallasey, head teacher Steven Peach has on occasions visited families in person to remind them a pupil is likely to drop a GCSE grade if they dip below 90% attendance.
He said: “On occasions we will get letters from parents saying their child is ill when in fact it is a case of condoned absence.
“It is a grey area – is it truancy or just absence? But we feel it is unauthorised.”
He said initiatives such as his school’s use of two home-link workers, who visit and help families overcome attendance difficulties, was paying dividends.
Mr Peach said: “I occasionally do the visits myself because it sends out a powerful message.”
Ian Andain, head teacher at Broadgreen International School and chairman of Liverpool Schools Forum, agreed a tough stance on term-time holidays was behind the increase.
On the issue of bogus letters, he added: “Where there is suspicion, we will make further inquiries.
“They are normally referred to the council’s education welfare service and will be marked as unauthorised absence.”
