REDBRIDGE Council has been praised by the Government after achieving one of the lowest levels of truancy in secondary schools nationally.

Provisional data released this week showed that 3.5 per cent of secondary pupils skipped school in 2008/09, which marks a further drop on one per cent on last year.

The Department of Children, Schools and Families has now praised the council for its achievement.

In a letter to the council, it said: “We would like to congratulate you and all who work on attendance on this substantial achievement.”

The Government target for truancy in secondary schools is five per cent for 2010/11.

According to data released by the department in February about truancy across the capital, only one borough, Kingston on Thames, beat Redbridge’s record of achieving 3.5 per cent, while Kensington and Chelsea managed to match Redbridge’s record.

The worst borough in London was Islington, with 7.1 per cent.

The council claims that a raft of measures and initiatives have led to this success.

These include the council’s education welfare service taking regular weekly register trawls at schools to identify kids who persistently skip school and offering workshops to parents about the importance of their children attending school.

Other measures include parenting contracts, which give parents and children achievable targets to get their child to school on time.