A hit squad is set to blitz schools across the Bradford district in a bid to boost attendance and tackle truancy.

Pupils at secondary schools who are absent without permission are being targeted by education social workers who will go into selected schools on agreed dates and check the register. School staff will tell education social-work teams of any mitigating circumstances, such as a known illness or term-time holidays agreed by the school.

But if the pupils are absent without leave, parents will be visited that day to find out if they are aware of their child's absence. If they are not at home, a note will be left for them along with a printed record of their child's school attendance. They will be asked to contact the school and will be told that their child's attendance is being monitored for a specific period of time.

As a pilot exercise, some schools have already been blitzed by education social workers. According to the Council, at one secondary school 100 home visits were made. The majority of the parents knew of the absence but about 20 pupils were found to be truanting.

The blitz, which will take place in the summer term, follows the successful Every School Day Counts campaign launched by Bradford Council last year to stop children skipping school.

The message to the thousands of pupils across the district and their parents is that good attendance at school makes a real difference to what they can achieve.

Councillor David Ward, the Council's Executive Member for Education, said: "Evidence shows that attendance is inextricably linked to school performance and that pupils who do not go to school regularly are more likely to leave without fulfilling their potential and without any qualifications. Education social workers will arrange with individual schools the best day for carrying out the blitz and agree to target either a specific year group or the whole school."

Bradford Council has undertaken a range of initiatives to promote good attendance involving schools, parents, education staff, other Council departments and the police.

These have included a newsletter on attendance initiatives, a poster campaign in shops and supermarkets, a good-practice guide and seminars for interested parties.