Attendance figures shock at schools

The figures were disclosed in a study by Notts County Council into the number of days off taken by pupils at schools across Nottinghamshire.

The council want to create a plan of action ahead of plans by the government to tackle persistent absenteeism, especially that caused by truancy and exclusions.

The figures for Holgate Comprehensive School, which has 1,343 pupils, and National Comprehensive School, which has 1,077 pupils, are split between unauthorised absences and authorised absences.

In Hucknall, between September 2006 and July 2007, Holgate Comprehensive pupils had 2,990 days off without explanation, while National pupils were off for 1,991 days without valid reason.

Parents will view the statistics as alarming. But although they appear high, they are better than the countywide average.

In Nottinghamshire as a whole, 1.88% of secondary-school sessions (each of which equate to half a day) were lost to unauthorised absences, equating to a total of 3,382.

At Holgate, that figure is 1.66% of school sessions and at National, 1.35%.

In terms of authorised absences, there were 11,075 days at Holgate and 7,080 days at National.

Again they both performed better than the county figure, which saw 6.23% of school sessions lost to authorised absences, equating to 16,523 days.

At Holgate, the figure was 6.16%, while at National, it was one of the lowest in Nottinghamshire at 4.79%.

The rates of attendance at both schools was also above the county standard of 91.89% with Holgate recording 92.18% and National again one of the best in the county at 93.86%.

A group of 16 secondary schools throughout Nottinghamshire have been identified as suffering from persistent absenteeism.

But this does not include either of Hucknall's comprehensives. At Holgate, 78 pupils were classed as persistent absentees and at National, there were 41 who fell into this category. Figures have also been released to show the number of pupils kicked out of Hucknall's secondary schools in the last three completed academic years.

HOLGATE (1,343 pupils)

2004/05 – 103 fixed one-to-five-day exclusions; 21 fixed six-to-15-day exclusions; one fixed 16-to-45-day exclusion; three permanent exclusions.

The exclusions were split among 68 pupils and resulted in 500 days lost.

2005/06 – 132 fixed one-to-five-day exclusions; six fixed six-to-15-day exclusions; two fixed 16-to-45-day exclusions; seven permanent exclusions.

The exclusions were split among 72 pupils and resulted in 506 days lost.

2006/07 – 145 fixed one-to-five-day exclusions; five fixed six-to-15-day exclusions; no fixed 16-to-45-day exclusions; three permanent exclusions.

The exclusions were split among 86 pupils and resulted in 418 days lost.

NATIONAL (1,077 pupils)

2004/05 – 39 fixed one-to-five-day exclusions; nine fixed six-to-15-day exclusions; no fixed 16-to-45-day exclusions; two permanent exclusions.

The exclusions were split among 33 pupils and resulted in 261 days lost.

2005/06 – 43 fixed one-to-five-day exclusions; 11 fixed six-to-15-day exclusions; no fixed 16-to-45-day exclusions; two permanent exclusions.

The exclusions were split among 37 pupils and resulted in 321 days lost.

2006/07 – 56 fixed one-to-five-day exclusions; seven fixed six-to-15-day exclusions; no fixed 16-to-45-day exclusions; one permanent exclusion.

The exclusions were split among 40 pupils and resulted in 252 days lost. The results are: