A Scottish secondary school is the first in the UK to use American telecommunications technology to combat rising truancy.

Buckie High School, in Moray, has installed the system which is designed to log pupils in and out of the school.

If a child is missing within 30 minutes of a class starting, the system sends a pre-recorded message to parents.

Staff at the 900-pupil school said the pilot system would have important safety benefits for pupils as well as alerting parents to truants.

The Phonemaster system is linked to a network of computerised class registers.

'Safety' benefits

Principal guidance teacher, Donna MacKintosh, who has been trained to operate the system, said technology was a new way of improving parent-teacher relationships.

She said: "Parents are told immediately if their child is not in school, and there are obvious benefits for the safety and welfare of the pupils.

"Support for the system is strong among parents, and we see the Phonemaster as a way of improving still further this home-school relationship."

Rector Chris Sugden first experienced the American version of the Phonemaster during an exchange visit to Canadian schools several years ago.

He said: "It allows the school and parents to share information quickly, to everyone's benefit."

He admitted that there had been teething troubles with the new system, but most parents had been in favour of it becoming a permanent feature.