Absenteeism falls at county schools
School attendance rates in Warwickshire are better than the national average. With potential employers examining school attendance as part of their selection criteria, Warwickshire County Council education chiefs at are particularly pleased with this result.
Government figures published yesterday (25 August) reveal the number of half day sessions missed by pupils during this year’s spring term at state-funded primary and secondary schools in England.
Warwickshire’s figures compare favourably at both education stages. Nationally 5.22 per cent of sessions were missed by primary aged pupils compared to 4.94 per cent in Warwickshire, similarly the county logged a 6.58 per cent absence rate for secondary pupils compared to 6.73 nationally.
Whilst absence at primary school has gone up by 0.06 per cent on 2008/09, the rate of unauthorised absence has dropped by 0.03 per cent. At the secondary phase this year’s absence rate is down by almost half a percentage point on last year’s data.
For 2009/10 illness was cited as the reason for most absence in the county and accounted for 65 percent of all absence, unauthorised absence or ‘truancy’ accounted for 10 per cent of all absence.
Holidays taken during term time accounted for 7 percent of all absence although this figure was slightly higher at 10 per cent when looking at primary school absence only.
Principal Educational Social Worker Viv Sales said: “Overall, we are delighted that attendance continues to improve and we continue to do all we can to promote the importance of attending school regularly, as it makes all the difference in terms of overall achievement in a child’s school career.
“This is especially true at a time when there are fewer jobs around, and prospective employers will take note not only of exam success but also attendance when they are considering candidates.”
For help and advice about attendance matters visit the county council’s Education Social Work Service website http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/esw on 01926 414888.