It's estimated that as many as 3,000 children in Wales avoid school every day. What if you find out that one of them is yours?
It's always distressing to find out your child has been playing truant. But before you read the riot act, try to find out why they are so keen to avoid school. Are they:
- being bullied?
- feeling victimised by one of the teachers?
- finding the work too difficult?
You may well uncover an underlying problem which proves to be every bit as serious as the truancy. Whatever the root cause, never condone truancy. Not only will it obviously have an adverse effect on school work, but all the evidence suggests that truants, with long purposeless days to fill, often turn to vandalism and crime.
Playing your part
Most Welsh schools have excellent, and sometimes ingenious, strategies for coping with truancy - one comprehensive in North Wales, for example, sends a text message to the parent whenever a pupil has an unexplained absence. But no system will be truly effective unless parents play their part. So be meticulous about writing absence notes and don't hesitate to contact the school if you suspect your child is missing lessons. Make sure that the child realises that you and their teachers are keeping an eye on their attendance - children only truant when they think they won't be found out.
And take a look at the messages you put out to your children: Welsh Education Minister Jane Davidson, who has announced a crackdown on truancy in Wales, is particularly bothered about the number of parents who take family holidays in term time.
For further advice read the Government's guidelines on attendance.
Condoning truancy: a bad idea
A recent Government survey revealed that nearly 80% of truants stay off school with their parent's approval which, of course, is against the law.
It's such a major cause of concern that the Government is considering plans to reduce or even stop the child benefit paid to parents of regular truants.
What's more, it's estimated that 20% of criminal damage, 40% of street crime, 25% of burglaries, and over 30% of car thefts are carried out by 10-16 year-olds during school hours. Do you want your children involved in this?
The law
The DfES says to parents/guardians:
"By law, all children of compulsory school age (between 5 and 16) must get a proper full-time education. You are responsible for making sure this happens, either by registering the child at a school or by making other arrangements which provide an effective education. If your child is registered as a pupil at a particular school you must ensure that they attend regularly. Failure to do so could mean that the relevant local education authority takes legal action against you, which could result in you having to go to court to face a possible fine. Only schools can give permission for your child to be absent."
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