When they go out to work, employers will expect full attendance

Barbara Schofield, Whalley Range High, Manchester

These anti-truancy measures include giving prizes and certificates to pupils with a high attendance level.

To some this may sound more like bribery, but - as the government pledges to reduce truancy by a third by 2002 - schools are looking for new ways to tackle the problem.

At one end of the spectrum, police sweeps - where children seen loitering in public places during the day are marched back to school - have proved effective in tackling truancy.

But the "softly, softly" approach has also proved a useful weapon, many schools have found.

At the William Sharp school in Manchester, where truancy has fallen by 7% in the past two years, prizes are given to the classes with the best attendance rate.

Prize draw

Individual children with a recorded rate of 90% or above each half term are entered for a prize draw.

And there is a special reward for those pupils who have a full attendance for the school year.

Assistant head teacher Mal Davies admitted that those classes with persistent truants were disadvantaged in the scheme, but said the school was now looking at ways to address the issue.

We're not against a child who is ill

Phillip Brown, Brinkhill Primary, Nottingham

Rewarding pupils is not just confined to secondary schools.

Brinkhill Primary in Nottingham gives out attendance rewards with the same gusto given to sports prizes and academic achievement.

The head teacher, Phillip Brown, said children do not want to let their classmates down and are therefore less likely to play truant.

Children with a genuine reason to be absent are not made to feel uncomfortable, Mr Brown said.

"We're not against a child who is ill, it's just a means of getting at the ones on the periphery.

"We're getting at those whose parents might suggest they come shopping instead of going to school," he added.

Too much pressure?

Whalley Range High School for Girls, Manchester, also uses a reward system - it has seen a 22% improvement in truancy over the past six years.

Senior assistant head teacher, Barbara Schofield, denied that schools were putting pupils under too much pressure.

"It's good training for the future," she said.

"When they go out to work, employers will expect full attendance. They can't just turn up when they feel like it.

"This is a method of training for the future and teaches them social skills," she added.