A SECONDARY school is using the latest technology to stop pupils bunking.
Forest Hill Secondary School, in Dacres Road, is combating absenteeism with a state-of-the-art telecommunications service.
The school uses Truancy Call, an automatic communications system run by a Birmingham company, to contact parents on the first day their child is marked absent at registration where no explanation has been provided.
Using the system has helped the school achieve a pupil attendance rate of 92 per cent. The school has also employed a full-time education welfare officer to address any issues that surround long-term absenteeism and truancy.
And the officer can use the attendance reports to assist in taking legal action against parents of persistent truants.
Assistant headteacher Steve Brady said: "Time away from school impacts significantly on a child's education and it is vital everything possible is done to ensure pupils turn up to class."
April 29, 2003 09:30
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