In the City, where the Mayor strives for total control through education, Tack is torn between sympathy for the Truancy, an underground movement determined to bring down the system, and the desire to avenge a death caused by a Truant.

At present about one million pupils truant from their schools on a daily basis and this book examines why they do it. The numerous reasons for truanting discussed are: * disadvantageous home backgrounds * problems with settling in socially at school * poor performance in school * experiencing bullying in school * not coping with the transition from primary to secondary schooling. This book focuses on the social, psychological and educational causes of truancy. It examines recent research and gives many examples of good practice while also detailing the latest solutions for tackling this problem. The text is for teachers, heads of year and department heads, senior school managers, education welfare officers, social workers, educational psychologists, parents and all those with an interest in educational policy and practice.

First Published in 2004. This pack on tackling truancy in schools is specifically written for use by teachers and for other caring professionals in the field, such as, education welfare officers, education social workers and educational psychologists. It brings together in twenty-four concise units the latest knowledge and good practice in the prevention and combating of truancy and other forms of non-attendance at school. Some units focus on understanding the causes and issues involved in truancy while others focus on the Government’s latest initiatives. The ideas contained in the units are specifically designed to help schools, LEAs and other caring professionals meet the Government’s new targets for reducing truancy. In order to help readers make the best use of the pack and its materials: each unit begins by providing a summary of its contents; each unit ends with a range of professional development questions or tasks which can be undertaken during training events. The pack can be read alongside Ken Reid’s book Truancy and Schools, also published by Routledge.

Teachers and governments all agree that if you wish to raise educational standards then it’s imperative to improve school attendance, and yet an average of around ten per cent of secondary pupils are missing school on a daily basis. Despite governments around the globe trying to address this situation, any improvements have been negligible and improvements in school attendance have been stubbornly hard to achieve. As an internationally recognised expert on this topic, Professor Ken Reid offers workable, practical solutions to help schools improve attendance and to reduce non-attendance and truancy at government level, school and local authority level, individual pupil level and at the family level. Underpinned by the very latest research, but expanded upon with an accessible, practitioner focus, the issues covered by this topical text include: The causes of non-attendance and truancy Successful interventions and the evidence from research Reflections on the attempts to find national solutions Implementing home-school solutions An agenda for the future Supporting throughout with case-studies and workable solutions to the most demanding of situations, this book will be essential reading for head teachers, deputy head teachers, teachers and any educational professional eager to raise standards for all.

Truancy: Short and Long-term Solutions is a practical and accessible guide to dealing with the problem of truancy and non-attendance. It is the first book on the issue to actively focus on solutions to the problem, rather than the causes. Full of practical examples of the latest ways in which schools, teachers, education welfare officers and LEAs try to overcome their attendance difficulties. Ken Reid identifies nearly 120 short-term solutions as well as several long-term strategic approaches. The book also considers parental-condoned absenteeism, alternative curriculum schemes and mentoring, while the final chapter presents some strategic issues which policy-makers and politicians need to overcome. This book provides all teachers, deputy heads, head teachers, education welfare staff, social workers, learning mentors and other caring professionals with a repository of up-to-date ideas and solutions. It is essential reading for anyone involved in addressing the challenge of truancy.