A SCHOOL with one of the highest absence rates in the county is under no illusions that it must do better, its headteacher has said.

Niall McWilliams said The Oxford Academy had already improved its absence rate this year thanks to hard work from staff.

On Saturday, the Oxford Mail reported that in the last academic year – the most recent period for which figures are available – the Littlemore school had a persistent absence rate of 23 per cent in the autumn and spring terms.

This meant almost a quarter of pupils missed 10 per cent of their lessons and was the second-highest rate in Oxfordshire.

Mr McWilliams said: "We know our attendance has got to get better.

"We invest a lot of time and energy in it, trying to get students and families to take more responsibility with it.

"We did more than 400 home visits last year."

The headteacher said the school had been successful in driving the persistent absence rate down to about 17 per cent – five percentage points above the national average.

He said: "We do everything we possibly can to improve it.

"We will never take any chances, if a student is off we will keep following it up until we get a good reason why.

"Schools in challenging circumstances will always have problems with attendance.

"We have something called the yellow bus and it goes around houses every single day.

"It consists of a team of people including a senior member of staff and they knock on doors.

"If there are students who are regularly absent they go to the top of the list and if they are not present we drive the bus around the estate knocking on their doors."

Some schools fine parents if their children are absent without a reasonable excuse, but Mr McWilliams said he did not do this as it rarely solved the problem and parents did not pay anyway.

When high persistent absence rates across the county were revealed, Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for education Steve Harrod said regional schools commissioner Martin Post could be forced to step in.

Mr Post has responsibility for academies and free schools which are underperforming.

Mr McWilliams said: "I do not know what else we can do to improve it, so if Mr Post can come and help us solve the problem that would be great."