School Truancy Goes High Tech
Castle View School, a comprehensive school situated on Canvey Island, Essex, claims it has successfully reduced its truancy rates to 0.5% - this includes parent approved truancy - the total opposite of the recently published governing figures for 2006-2007, which, it is stated, show that truancy rates in England are worse than ever.
Castle View reduced its truancy statistics from 2% ten years ago using a combination of strategies - the presence of a dedicated Attendance Officer working within the school, computerised lesson resignation and a text messaging solution linked to its electronic ‘registers’. Non-attendance notification can be automatically communicated to parents and this has proved to be a good ‘deterrent’ to errant pupils.
Staff registers pupils’ attendance at each lesson, with the first period acting as the statutory morning registration. By running a report, the Attendance Office can monitor general attendance at school and also any trends affecting a particular lesson or subject.
Parents are immediately notified by text if their child fails to turn up for registration, with a request to contact the school to provide a reason for absence. The text messages are created and sent from the desktop through Text Message Server and delivered directly to the mobile phone.
There will always be a degree of absence because of illness and unauthorised absence, but it looks like general truancy can be identified and dealt with using modern technology. Well done Castle View for believing!
