Schools and academies in Nottingham are bucking the national trend by marking an improvement in attendance in the past year.
The Department of Education says 4.8 per cent of pupils were absent from schools and academies, a drop of 0.3 per cent from last year.
The national rates saw a reduction in attendance by 0.1 per cent to 4.5 per cent overall.
I would like to congratulate pupils, parents and schools
Portfolio holder for schools in Nottingham, Councillor Sam Webster, says: “I would like to congratulate pupils, parents and schools across the city on this achievement.
“Nottingham is bucking the national trend and really driving down authorised absence.
“A lot of work has gone into cracking down on school absence and celebrating good attendance and it’s making a huge difference.”
Nottingham has moved up the league table from 147th to 120th out of 151 local authorities with primary schools jumping 30 places to 114th and secondary schools going up 33 places to 114th as well.
The biggest drop for Nottingham was unauthorised absence, down 17 per cent.
Tough approach
Councillor Webster adds: “We’ve taken a tough approach and it’s working.
“We’ve cracked down on poor attendance and rewarded good attendance through the Lord Mayor’s Attendance Awards as well as trying innovative campaigns.
“Our message still remains clear – we expect children who are registered with a school to be in school.”
In Nottingham, the percentage of persistent absentees dropped 0.7 per cent to 4.5, with a national decrease of 0.2 per cent to 3.9.
There was also a small increase in ‘illness’ related absence in Nottingham, up 3 per cent, compared to the national increase of 7 per cent.
