20/3/2006 - School attendance campagin says 'thanks for coming'

Over 350 primary school children from across the county will be celebrating the success of a school attendance campaign with a day out at the Dalton Wild Animal Park this Thursday (23 March).

The campaign is called 'School Attendance Matters' - SAM - and was launched in 2003 to highlight the importance of attending school regularly.  It is based on characters from the wild animal park, and features SAM the cheetah. Sam's message is "don't cheat on your child's education".

Along with a series of books and a variety of activities taking place throughout the county, the characters are used to engage pupils and help the council's children's services and schools get across important messages about attendance.  

Since the start of the campaign three years ago, unauthorised absence in the county's primary schools has reduced by nearly a quarter to 0.16 per cent.  Over the same period the national figure has remained the same, at 0.43 per cent.

All the children going to the day out at Dalton Wild Animal Park have either the most improved attendance of have an attendance level of over 96 per cent.

Friendship, staying safe, moving on to secondary school, holidays in term time and punctuality have also been covered in a fun way.

Primary school children will enjoy a free fun day out at Dalton Wild Animal Park thanks to the support of the park's owner, David Gill, and the sponsorship of local businesses and organisations.

County councillor Philip Chappelhow, cabinet spokesperson for children's services, said: 

"Education is at the very heart of children's personal, social and economic development and the higher the attendance at school the better the opportunity for them to achieve their full potential.

"The figures show that the campaign is paying great dividends and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in running and supporting it.  Special thanks go to park owner David Gill who has once again opened his gates free of charge to reward children who have done well in their attendance and to once again help us promote the campaign's messages."