North Lincolnshire 23rd in country for best school attendance rates

Schoolchildren in North Lincolnshire have some of the best attendance rates in the country, new figures have revealed.

The spring term absence figures show a continuing improvement for the same period last year, and are better than the national and regional average – placing North Lincolnshire 23rd among all authorities in England.

The overall absence rate in primary and secondary schools decreased from 5.2 per cent in spring term 2011, to 4.9 per cent in spring term 2012. The national average is 5.3 per cent.

The overall absence rate in primary schools has dropped from 4.4 per cent to 4.3 per cent, and the rate in secondary schools has dropped from 6 per cent to 5.6 per cent.

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The news has been welcomed by head teachers in the region, who feel that good attendance is crucial to good attainment.

Ben Lawrance, head teacher at Frederick Gough School, in Scunthorpe, said: "This is really good news and hopefully it will contribute further towards the good results we are getting year-on-year.

"There is a lot of work by schools to get the message across about attendance. It is also important that parents understand the issue and make sure children are attending school. The parents deserve a lot of thanks for helping improve attendance by making sure their children go to school. We can celebrate this achievement because it is absolutely superb."

Linda Hewlett-Parker, head teacher at Sir John Nelthorpe School in Brigg, said: "We have an attendance rate of over 95 per cent at our school and that is down to the liaison between the appropriate agencies.

"Good attendance is key to getting good results. It also teaches important routines for when they enter the world of work.

"Being in a learning environment is very important."

Councillor Rob Waltham, cabinet member for people at North Lincolnshire Council, said: "These figures are the result of our close working relationship with schools to make sure children and their parents make attendance a priority."

The unauthorised absence rate in primary schools decreased from 0.5 per cent to 0.4 per cent, and the unauthorised absence rate in secondary schools decreased from 1.2 per cent to 1.1 per cent.

The authorised absence rate was also lower than last year, dropping in primary schools from 4 per cent to 3.8 per cent and in secondary schools from 4.8 per cent to 4 per cent.