Truancy - Schools report less absenteeism after using automatic text and call system

Published: 4 June 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

A TEXT-a-truant service designed to catch teenagers bunking from school by sending messages to their parents has been credited with improving attendance at four Westminster schools.

The system, known as Truancy Call, automatically sends a text message or recorded voice mail to parents if their child is not present at morning registration.

Storing up to five numbers for each parent, it then continue to send messages on the hour until 8pm, until the child turns up or a reason is given for their absence.

Among the schools using the technology are Quintin Kynaston School in St John’s Wood and St Augustine’s CE High School in Kilburn where it has been hailed as a resounding success. Now it could be rolled out to all the borough’s secondaries.

“We are very pleased with it because it has freed up the school’s resources by making the process easier, said Sophie Welch, assistant head of St Augustine’s, where attendance figures have improved significantly this year.

She added: “It allows us to communicate with parents quickly and efficiently. At the touch of a button, we can quickly contact parents, saving the attendance officer having to call parents. The system prompts parents to contact the school with a reason for their child’s absence and it allows us to look at the bigger picture of attendance and focus on pastoral intervention.”

Parents can text back or leave a reason for their child’s absence into an answer machine to stop them clogging up school phone lines. 

New government figures released this week, reveal an average absence figure of 5.3 per cent for all schools across ­Westminster.

Stephen Clarke, managing director of Truancy Call, said: “If the government is to take real action against parents taking children out of school during term time and stop potentially vulnerable groups of young people from slipping through the net, local authorities need to have a coherent and systematic approach to monitoring and tracking pupils. 

“Parents are breaking the law if they fail to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school, so holiday applications need to be closely monitored. Taking children away from school during term time for whatever reason can disrupt their education, particularly at a crucial stage in their school career.”