A Safer Newport initiative has caught out eight children skipping school to go Christmas shopping with their parents in the city centre.
This month school liaison officers from Gwent Police and education welfare officers from Newport City Council joined forces to apprehend the pupils and tell them to return to school. During three days of patrols in the city centre 46 children were stopped in Newport City Centre, 43 of whom were with their parents. Most had valid excuses for being out of school, but eight were found to be truanting and they were sent back to school with the promise of a warning letter to their parents.
PC Richard Thomas, a school liaison officer in Newport, said: “At this time of year, parents are sometimes tempted to let their children miss school to go Christmas shopping. But this should not be happening as it is illegal to take your children out of school unnecessarily. We caught a good number of pupils who should have been in school. The truanting pupils were advised to return to their schools and letters will be sent to their parents reminding them of their responsibilities.”
Research shows that children who attend school regularly are likely to be more successful than those who frequently miss school. A pupil who misses a day of school each week misses the equivalent of two years in their school life, leading to huge gaps in their knowledge base that become difficult to fill. Recent surveys have indicated that 70% of children who do not attend school regularly admit to committing at least one criminal offence.
If you have any information on truancy or antisocial behaviour in your area, please contact Gwent Police on 101.
