Huge improvements in attendance, published by the Department for Education today, mean 1,000 more pupils a day are regularly attending schools across the Bradford district.

Schools and education leaders are celebrating significantly improved attendance and reductions in authorised absence, unauthorised absence and Persistent Absence results for the district during the Autumn Term of 2009, compared with the previous year.

The new figures for Bradford’s school attendance are just short of the national averages -  and outstrip the national improvement. Attendance in primary schools rose by 1.45% to 94.21% compared to the same period in 2008. Nationally the figure was up 0.18% to 94.57%. Secondary school attendance in Bradford rose from 90.92% in 2008 to 92.46% in 2009. The national figure rose 0.46% to 93.15%.

Authorised absence and unauthorised absence in both primary and secondary is significantly reduced with unauthorised absence falling from 2.90% in secondary schools to 2.29% and from 1.27% in primary schools to 0.96%.

The number of pupils with less than 80% attendance (Persistent Absence pupils) has also fallen sharply with over 900 (920) fewer Persistent Absence pupils in secondary schools and 700 in primary schools.

The figures show the hard work that all Bradford schools, supported by Education Bradford, are doing to promote good attendance and encouraging parents to ensure their children come to school regularly. Pupils with attendance that is a cause for concern are identified quickly and strategies employed by the school and Education Bradford’s Education Social Work Service are put into place to ensure improvement.

Denise Faulconbridge, Education Bradford’s Managing Director, said: “It is really positive to see the hard work schools and EB’s Education Social Work Service, are putting in to improving attendance, leading to these record results. It is a tribute to the hard work schools are doing, often working with each other in Locality Achievement Partnerships (LAPs), to tackle poor attendance. These higher levels of attendance will contribute to the Bradford district’s aspiration of raising achievement for all.”