A new swipe card school registration system is causing rows between parents and teachers.

The system was introduced at The John Bramston School in Witham last term requiring pupils to swipe into morning and afternoon registration and every lesson throughout the day in a bid to cut truancy.

Concerned parent Donna Townsend, of Foxglove Close, says according to her two teenage children attending the school, the system is recording some pupils as absent even when they are in the classroom.

Headteacher Ted Rowley says this may be the case, but the school is following the Government procedure.

He said: "If a student is very late, if they arrive after registration has closed, that must legally count as absent from the Government's point of view.

"Registration is open for ten minutes and if the pupils arrives after that, then from a legal point of view they are absent, even if they then join the lesson."

Mrs Townsend's family are currently under the scrutiny of welfare officers due to the high number of unauthorised absences recorded by her sons.

She acknowledges they have been late or absent on a several occasions and have admitted failing to swipe in to lessons, but disagrees with the number of times

Published Wednesday January 21, 2004

Brought to you by the Evening Gazette