06 April 2005
Minister Encourages Primary School Principals to Report Attendance

At a unique tripartite meeting in Athlone today the Minister for Children, Mr. Brian Lenihan T.D. encouraged primary school principals to report their student absences to the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), the new agency set up to encourage school attendance, as one of the best ways of ensuring that their students get on in life.

Athlone is one of the 18 regional towns around the country with an intensive NEWB service. This means that schools within the town have a dedicated Educational Welfare Officer to provide support to schools, families and children if there is a concern about a child’s school attendance or educational welfare. The NEWB also provides an intensive service to all children not attending school, no matter where they live.

Figures for the first school attendance returns under the new arrangements, which were made in March, were encouraging for a first due date according to the NEWB; 1,960 out of a total of 3,200 primary schools and 508 out of a total of 746 secondary schools made returns documenting attendance from the start of the school year to Christmas. The second due date is this Friday, April 8th, documenting attendance from Christmas to Easter.

Eddie Ward, CEO of the NEWB emphasised that the Board could only provide adequate support to schools, parents and children based upon tangible and timely data on individual students. He urged all schools to report absences over 20 days, expulsions or where there is concern about a child’s educational welfare.

The meeting, which was organised by the NEWB in partnership with the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) and the School Management Boards, was designed to allow national school principals to discuss the NEWB Guidelines on the Reporting of School Absences and Expulsions and the new website www.schoolreturn.ie, where schools can now return information on attendance on-line.

“We know that schools are already under pressure and yet they are now obliged to report on school attendance under law,” explained Ward. “Therefore, we have developed a system which helps them fulfill their obligations in a simple and easy way that involves no financial outlay to the school. The website provides an attendance management system to the schools at no cost and means that attendance can be reported at the touch of a button.”

The Athlone primary principals heard about the added importance of instilling good attendance habits in children and their parents from the very start of their school life. Research has shown that poor school attendance can lead to early school leaving, poorer exam results and poorer life chances for children. Teachers have reported that they can tell from as young as seven the children who are most likely to drop out of school by their attendance records.

“With the establishment of the NEWB, school principals and teachers now have somewhere specific to go to if there is a concern about a child’s attendance or educational welfare. This is a major development in Irish education,” said Ward.

The website, guidelines and all other support materials have been developed in consultation with school managers, principals, teachers and parents. The website is confidential and will be accessed only using a school identity code. It is protected under the Data Protection Act (1988-2003) and the Education (Welfare) Act (2000).