Every Lesson Counts
February 2007 saw the launch of a new campaign designed to encourage better attendance at school.
It focuses on the reasons why children play truant from school, encouraging parents to take their family breaks during school holiday periods.
Attending school on a regular basis is the key to your child doing well at school and will set them up with good habits for later life and the working world. It will also give your child the opportunity to:
- make lots of friends and feel included
- learn new things and develop many skills
- increase their confidence and self-esteem
- improve their social skills
- be part of a school team or club
- have better career prospects
- achieve their potential and fulfil their aspirations
Every Lesson Counts aims to highlight the fact that just a few small changes can go a long way. Parents are advised to:
- show their child that they think school is very important
- praise their child's achievements
- create a reward book for their child for good attendance
- not keep their child off school if they are worried or have a problem - they should talk about it with their school or Educational Welfare Officer
- organise their child's equipment, homework, kit, bus fares and dinner money the night before
- recognise that if children get into bad habits at an early age, it is hard to break them later in life
If a child misses just one day a week, over the course of their school career they will miss two years of schooling. The Every Lesson Counts campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of regular attendance and to help schools, parents and children implement simple working practices to cut out absenteeism.
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Every Lesson Counts
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