Truancy......... Only a Fool Would Miss School

On Monday 7th April, Cumbria County Council's Education Welfare Service launches its School Attendance campaign, 'Truancy……… only a fool would miss school', to raise awareness of how important regular school attendance is to a child's education and future. 

Pupils who fail to attend school regularly are more likely to leave school with few or no qualifications and may not have the same opportunities as others later on in life. 

County Councillor Joan Stocker, Cabinet Spokesperson for Education says 

"Regular school attendance is very important to a child's education to make sure they get the best possible opportunity to achieve their full potential. They develop good habits which are important at school and continue through further education and work. Cumbria's Education Welfare Service work extremely hard to ensure parents fulfil their legal duty in relation to pupil attendance. Getting the children to design the slogan for this campaign was a great idea and we were overwhelmed with the response." 

Barry Armstrong, Education Welfare Service Team Leader says 

"Although overall attendance levels in Cumbria continue to improve, we must not be complacent. We believe we can make further improvements and that 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." 

The Education Welfare Service offers any parent support to try and make sure that pupils do not miss out on their education. It can also provide advice and information about the law on school attendance.