MORE than 10,000 children were regularly missing from school in the first two terms of the last school year, new Government figures have revealed.

The figures from the Department for Education showed that in the first two terms of the 2017-18 school year, 16 per cent of pupils in secondary school were classed as persistently absent.

When primary schools were included, the figure stood at 13 per cent.

The pupils missed one in ten classes, resulting in children missing on average six days of school, or five per cent of their total teaching time. In total, Bradford schools lost the equivalent of 475,000 days of teaching in the two terms.

Unauthorised absences, such as truancy and parents taking their children out of school to go on holiday, accounted for 37 per cent of absences, with authorised absences such as illness and medical appointments accounting for the rest.

The figures for Bradford are above the national average, where 14 per cent of secondary school and ten per cent of primary school pupils were persistently absent.

Councillor Imran Khan, portfolio holder for education, employment and skills, said: “It’s vital that children attend school.

“Every day missed has an impact on their education. This is why reducing the number of days children miss school is an imperative of our Children, Young People and Families Plan.

“We’re working with schools to support them with early intervention so they can make improvements and closely monitor attendance.

“Frontline teams are working with young people who may be missing school to stress how important education is to them.

“But the whole community has a role to play and parents, carers and young people can support schools in tackling this. A child’s education must come first.”

Leader of the Council’s Conservative Group, Cllr John Pennington, said the number was a “frightening statistic”.

He said: “It has a devastating impact, and children do not realise the damage it is causing.

“It’s up to the parents to make sure their children are in school and prepared for later life, but sometimes I suspect the parents don’t really care.

“I feel for the teachers who are doing the best to educate these kids, it must be soul destroying for them.

“I don’t know what we can do other than educate parents of their responsibility for their children’s education, but we can’t force them. They need to know the importance of their children’s schooling.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “No child should be taken out of school without good reason – children only get one chance at an education and evidence shows that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chances of achieving good GCSEs.

“While the number of absences has risen slightly, they are still far below the rate seen in schools ten years ago.

“The rules on term-time absences are clear and we have put schools back in control by supporting them – and local authorities – to use their powers to deal with unauthorised absence.”

Parents who fail to ensure their children attend school can by fined £60 by the Council, rising to £120 after 21 days.