Only a fool would miss school' is the message the county's education bosses are sending out to potential truants.

Armed with the slogan dreamed up by a pupil at an Egremont secondary, Cumbria County Council's education welfare team has launched a campaign to keep children in the classroom.

"When children aren't in school they can't learn and aren't achieving what they could be," argued Barry Armstrong, CCC's welfare service team leader.

Although Cumbria's attendance rates are good compared to the rest of the country, there are still serious truancy cases.

In all, 28 Cumbrian parents were taken to family court last year to force their youngsters to stay in school, including four in South Lakeland.

"We must not be complacent," said Mr Armstrong.

"We believe we can make further improvements and these will benefit everyone in our society.

"They will give our young people even better opportunities in adult life, and will enable them to make the best possible contribution to our communities."

Children's reasons for bunking-off range from avoiding bullies to struggling with school work, but these can be dealt with by using support from CCC, said Mr

Armstrong.

The welfare team take referrals from schools and work with the children, their parents and the school to get to the root of the problem.

For instance, if a child is dropping out because they are finding the work too hard, Mr Armstrong said an education welfare officer would try to sort out special needs help, although he admits there are sometimes "resource issues" to contend with.

Parents may also be offered back-up via voluntary parenting

courses.

"They get help from a professional who they build a relationship with over 12 weeks of the programme and get to meet other parents who are having the same problem and for once in their lives feel they are not the only ones going through it," said Mr Armstrong.

As a next step, the county council can enforce an educational supervision order through the family courts.

The order could include instructions to have children dressed and ready for school, or delivering them into the care of a specific teacher at the school gates.

Non-compliance could result in further legal action.

Parents of persistent truants can find themselves in court facing fines of up to £1,000 or in more serious cases a maximum of £2,500.

"Even if the parents don't believe in the educational

system, their child should have the chance to make up their own mind," said Mr Armstrong.

April 23, 2003 08:30