CHILDREN who regularly miss school are being collected from home by their teachers in a mission to improve attendance.

As a result of the Attendance Matters campaign, 25 per cent of students who were persistently absent from Maltings Academy, in Witham, are now back learning in the classroom.

Since September, the academy has introduced new systems, processes and procedures in a bid to raise attendance figures.

The issue is deemed so important that the academy has even bought a car to collect students.

Assemblies have also been held to stress the importance of attendance, why it matters and the need to be resilient over the coming months so learning is not impacted in a negative way and students’ progress can go from strength to strength.

Other measures put in place are home visits, daily phone calls to parents to encourage their child to return to school the next day, attendance reward afternoons and attendance rewarded in assemblies, with certificates and badges for 100 per cent attendance and the most improved.

Further measures include a Maltings Academy premier league attendance table published every half term showing attendance rates for tutor groups, with the attendance champions crowned at the end of the school year.

Persistently absent students are also supported to improve their attendance.

As a result of the work, attendance overall has improved by five per cent compared to last year and is above the national average.

The number of persistently absent students has also dropped by 25 per cent.

Deputy headteacher Mark Slatter said: “This work ensures that attendance is a whole academy approach. It has been a key strategic priority for the academy.

“We stress to students that when they are in school they achieve, develop curiosity, empathy and compassion, develop new skills and learn new knowledge, become an informed citizen, gain qualifications and experience educational trips and visits.

“We also, of course, acknowledge that, for some, improved attendance is worth celebrating as a determination to be in school and learning will positively impact their life chances.”