Schools to text parents on truants
April 25th, 2008, 5:44 pm Teen Hobbies
Southland Girls High School is one school that uses School Links communication technology, which allows parents to receive a text informing them of their childs absence from a class within minutes of each period.
Principal Yvonne Browning said the technology was extra protection so parents received prompt reporting back if their daughter was playing truant. %26quot;Its reassuring were caring for their children.%26quot; A letter had been sent to parents advising them of the system, and more than 90 percent of parents were happy to be involved, at a cost of $5 annually.
Most of those who did not sign up were confident their daughter was regularly attending classes and did not need the notification, she said.
Each pupil was scanned whether they are present or absent at the start of each period and this information was then put into a computer which would automatically send messages out to parents informing them of their childs absence.
The messages would not be sent if the absence was already explained.
There was a strong connection between being present at classes and learning, so this was another way to ensure pupils were at their classes, Mrs Browning said.
If pupils were prepared to wag, they were always going to get caught, and this system was a prompt version of what they had previously been doing.
%26quot;Parents are not waiting three days for a note to go home, or a phone call at the end of the day to hear about an absence,%26quot; she said.
Southland Girls is the only Southland or Central Otago school with an up-and-running system.
Southland Boys has initiated a similar system but had teething problems, which it hoped to iron out.
James Hargest College associate principal Nadia Rose said the school had run a Telecom Safe at School system last year but Telecom cancelled that at the end of the year.
The school was looking into the more expensive School Links system, because having the system made a %26quot;huge difference%26quot; in the school, she said.
Other schools, including Verdon College, said they were looking into the technology.
Related posts
