Wokingham

A clampdown on truancy in the Wokingham district, which has seen education welfare officers and police offices visiting houses where it was thought local pupils were at home instead of being at school, has been hailed a success and it is hoped it will make pupils think twice about skipping class in future!

In the first truancy sweep of 2006, Wokingham District Council’s education welfare officers targeted homes in the Winnersh and Wokingham area. They also visited well-known truancy spots such as shopping centres and railway stations.

And as a result, the Wokingham team visited 20 homes and returned seven pupils to school. A further 13 young people were identified as being truant from school and their parents will now receive a letter explaining that their child was absent from school without authorisation. The parents will also receive a warning that unless attendance is improved, a penalty notice may be issued.

In addition to the Wokingham home visits, a further five children were identified in the sweep. The teams challenged pupils they found out of school and of these, two were with their parents or another family member. Parents or family members were spoken to by education welfare officers to establish why the child was out of school.

During a sweep every school-aged young person is stopped and their details taken. During the past twelve months, 25 young people have been stopped and the majority of them were with an adult. All of these did not have a justified reason for being absent from school.

Barry Smith, Wokingham education welfare officer, said: “This has been the most successful truancy sweep conducted and we will be repeating it in the near future. Whilst we do have good attendance figures in the district we still have too many youngsters absent from school without permission. Although there may be genuine reasons why a child is out of school, often when they are approached they are with their parents or another family member.

“We want to send a clear message to parents that it is not acceptable. Truancy affects the quality of any child's education and can harm their future opportunities. The district council has many measures in place to tackle truancy and non-attendance, but we also need the help of parents and we ask that they work with us.”

David Hawthorne, corporate head of Wokingham children’s services (education), said: “The truancy sweeps are a way of reducing truancy and anti-social behaviour as well as raising awareness of the importance of school attendance.

"They enable us to gather information about truants in the district, what school they attend, and why they are not in school, so appropriate action can be taken and children with any problems can be given further help to improve their school attendance."

Truancy sweeps are now a regular feature in the Wokingham district and the education welfare service aims to reduce unauthorised absence by tackling truancy head on. The sweeps are carried out in partnership with Thames Valley Police. Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the police have powers to pick up children playing truant. Children will not be arrested but returned to school.

Wokingham District Council