Dundee’s youngsters are jeopardising their futures by bunking-off school and taking term-time holidays, the city council has warned.
School attendance has been described as “one of the most crucial issues facing the city” but in the past year, unauthorised absences were equivalent to each primary pupil losing 10 days of education and secondary pupils losing 19.
Research shows pupils who fail to attend regularly are more likely to fall behind in their school work, struggle to make friends, become involved in antisocial behaviour or struggle to secure a good job.
In an effort to highlight the importance of young people in Dundee attending school, a major new campaign has been launched to reach out to parents and guardians.
The city’s education convener, Councillor Stewart Hunter, visited Craigowl Primary School to unveil the Every Day Counts initiative and speak to pupils, parents and school staff about the issues.
He said the school is “a shining example of what we are trying to do”, as he highlighted the campaigns the schools pupils have led to keep classmates in school and help them arrive on time.
The school’s parents and pupil councils have taken a lead role in the effort to boost attendance, with the pupils creating displays and a poster campaign and creating the slogan Lost Time is Never Found to inspire their friends.
Mylo Rhea McDonald, 10, said he had enjoyed the responsibility. “It has been great being responsible for something and having a say,” he said. “I think what we’ve done has helped motivate people to attend school and be on time.”
While praising the efforts of all at Craigowl and highlighting that attendance is roughly in line with the rest of Scotland Mr Hunter said more needs to be done across the city. To that end, leaflets are being delivered to families across Dundee to raise
awareness of the issue and the pitfalls of failing to attend school.
“We are opening a dialogue with parents about attendance because it is one of the most crucial issues that we face in the city,” he said.
“We are absolutely determined to close the attainment gap across Dundee and we want to encourage our pupils to make the most of their time at school as possible.”
He added: “Craigowl is a shining example of what can be achieved when pupils, teachers and parents work together, but we cannot rest on our laurels. Attendance and timekeeping are important life skills and this campaign asks people to really think what is in the best interests of a child.
Put simply: if they are not in school then they will not be learning.”