Contact Group comments on Government plans to crack down on term time holidays and truancy
Stephen Clarke, MD of Contact Group, responds to reports that Education Secretary, Michael Gove, plans to crack down on parents who take children out of school during term-time to go on holiday, as well as issue tougher fines for truancy in a drive to improve attendance rates.
Further to news reports that Education Secretary, Michael Gove, plans to crack down on parents who take children out of school during term-time to go on holiday, as well as issue tougher fines for truancy in a drive to improve attendance rates, Stephen Clarke, Managing Director, Contact Group (www.the-contactgroup.com), comments:
“Parents are breaking the law if they fail to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school, so holiday applications need to be closely monitored. Taking children away from school during term-time for whatever reason can disrupt their education, particularly at a crucial stage in their school career. In order to manage term time absences, Local Authorities can systematically track those on holiday during term-time and if they have requested a holiday, that they return on the agreed date. Our Term Time Tracker system, for example, logs all holiday applications on to the system, then the system checks each day whether each child has returned on the agreed date. Such measures vastly improve Local Authority attendance figures and raise awareness to parents about the importance of getting children back to school on time.
“Furthermore, in order to reduce absenteeism it is imperative that parents of truants are contacted on the first day of absence. All schools need a systematic way of notifying parents when their child is absent from school, irrespective of whether a member of staff is off sick. Our Truancy Call system is the most comprehensive product on the market to address this. The system can make calls on their behalf, so from the school’s point of view, they are alerting parents immediately and catching potentially persistent truants early before it gets serious.”
For further information about Contact Group please visit http://www.the-contactgroup.com, call 0844 448 4422 or email sales@the-contactgroup.com. Follow @contactgroup on Twitter.
For press information please contact Hannah Riordan, Livewire Public Relations, on 020 8339 7440 or email: hannah.riordan@livewirepr.com.
About Contact Group:
Contact Group, the trading name of Truancy Call Ltd is the leading provider of automatic notification systems which facilitate two-way communication between public sector organisations and schools. Its solutions enable schools and local authorities to disseminate important information quickly and easily via email, SMS and automated phone call.
With over a decade’s experience delivering solutions informed by, and designed to answer real school needs, Contact Group works with over 2,000 state and independent primary and secondary schools, academies, nurseries and sixth form colleges in the UK and Ireland.
Highly flexible, Contact Group’s solutions help facilitate whole-school communication with parents, governors, staff and students, providing an efficient and cost-effective way to manage student behaviour, attendance and bullying and notify parents quickly of school closures, payment reminders and general announcements.
Contact Group has strong partnerships with many top academies and federations including ARK, Oasis Learning Community, EACT and Pimlico Academy.
Contact Group solutions integrate seamlessly with all school Management Information Systems (MIS), enabling schools to send messages at the touch of a button, dramatically reducing the administrative time and costs associated with contacting parents individually by phone.
About Truancy Call:
Truancy Call is Contact Group’s award-winning parental communications solution, which significantly reduces the administrative burden on schools by allowing them to make first-day contact with parents of absent students via email, SMS text and automated phone call. Parents can respond directly using the same channels, enabling schools to obtain instant feedback.
Used by over 2000 primary and secondary schools in the UK and Ireland, Truancy Call helps to safeguard children’s welfare and prevent them slipping through the net, by continuing to make contact with parents until they have provided a reason for their child’s absence.
About Term Time Tracker:
Contact Group’s Term Time Tracker service enables Local Authorities (LAs) and schools to monitor term-time absences. It acts as a reminder to parents and pupils about their agreed absences and helps schools to monitor the safety and welfare of the pupil during his/her time away from school.
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