Low truancy figures for Kirklees

Apr 6 2009 By John Avison

WE used to call it bunking off.

It was called truancy by the authorities and there were truancy officers to track down pupil offenders.

Now it’s called unauthorised absence or UA and it is a national and growing problem.

UA for schools in England and Wales has risen from 0.73% in 2000/01 to 1.01% in 2007/08.

However, Kirklees has bucked the trend. UA in our area has fallen from 0.89% to 0.86% during the same period.

This doesn’t mean that there isn’t an issue with pupil absence. We have to bear in mind that with a population of nearly 58,000 children in Kirklees schools, an 0.86% absence rate on any one day translates as 500 kids on the loose.

“Unauthorised absence is reported by school, rather than area,” said an education spokesman.

“We cannot, therefore, state “blackspots” as such. There are, however, schools where improving school attendance is a challenge.

“These schools, although not exclusively, tend to be in the less affluent areas of Kirklees where children, young people and their families face many challenges – as do the schools which serve them.

“Nevertheless, we do not accept this as a reason or excuse – and neither do our schools – as to why every child should not attend every day.

“Pupils are absent from school for a number of reasons, but these broadly fall into three categories.

“Pupils may be encountering “self-based” problems such as medical issues, poor social skills, drug/substance abuse, lack of confidence or peer group pressure.