A scheme to tackle the problem of pupils playing truant in Sussex has had a dramatic effect. Jo Breach went back to school to investigate.

"BUNKING off" was Emma's reply when she was asked what she was good at.

After being hauled into the headteacher's office for playing truant yet again it was time to get to the root of the problem.

Listening to Emma's answer, the headteacher came up with a cheeky response of her own: "So you must be good at running then? Do you want to join the school athletics team?"

Emma has since left Davison High School for Girls but headmistress Dame Sheila Wallis has seen many like her.

The Worthing school is not alone - hundreds of school days each year are lost in Sussex by children playing truant.

Dame Sheila said experience had taught her the way to tackle truancy was to find the right way to motivate individual pupils.

She said: "We need to find ways of saying school is for you. Truants don't see it that way. They see school as something imposed on them."

Successive generations of parents and teachers, education authorities and governments have tried to come up with new ways of keeping young people in school.

Last month, Prime Minister Tony Blair said he wanted local authorities to make greater use of powers to combat truancy, including prosecuting parents who "collude" with their children's absenteeism.

A scheme in West Sussex has dramatically improved school attendance in parts of the county.

The pupil retention team was formed to enable the education welfare service to develop initiatives for improving attendance.

Three education welfare officers were brought in to advise interested schools about innovative ways of cutting truancy, working alongside the school's own education welfare officer.

As a result, pupil attendance is on the rise and truancy levels down.

The team has so far worked with 19 secondary schools across the county.

Each was visited by the team, which looked at its systems and attendance rates.

From this detailed analysis, specific recommendations were presented to headteachers.

Philip Papps, principal education officer in West Sussex and the team's head, said the team tackled truancy in a "more unusual way".

It helped schools identify different types of truant, from those just too lazy to attend to those with specific reasons for staying away, such as illness, bullying or bad relationships with classmates or teachers.

Mr Papps said: "We have already had some contact from a couple of education authorities because details of the team were put on the Audit Commission's web site for good practice."

One spin-off idea was the Rag Project being developed by a group of schools in east Worthing.

Instead of just recording pupil's attendance as a statistic, pupils are also awarded a colour.

Red indicates poor attendance of less than 83 per cent, amber shows 83 to 92 per cent and green is for good attendance of 93 to 100 per cent.

Mike Weston, assistant headteacher of Davison High, one of the schools involved in the project, said: "Some parents used to be pleased when we said their children had 80 per cent attendance because that would equate to an A in an exam. But for attendance it is poor.

"Under the new system, 80 per cent is red and means a warning. If a pupil is on red, we work with the family so it becomes green."

The schools have gained extra funding to employ a part-time project manager to develop a whole-community approach to improving attendance.

Soon posters will be springing up around towns asking parents "Do you know where your child is?"

Other ideas include giving children cards to carry if they are legitimately out during the school day.

Local businesses and police have also been asked to become involved.

The team is not just working with secondary schools.

At Springfield County First School, Worthing, the names of truants are read out at the meeting of junior governors, which is similar to a school council.

Headteacher Wendy Harkness said: "We print off attendance figures so those who have good attendance can be rewarded.

"At this age it is not usually the children who are fault but we don't want them to start getting into bad habits."

A controversial area is parents taking their children out of school in term time for holidays.

Schools are quick to point out how important a family holiday can be to a child but also how important school is for children to achieve.

The team's latest project is to target the large number of pupils whose attendance is not satisfactory but not poor enough for referral to an education welfare officer.

Bourne Community College, near Chichester, is involved in the new scheme.

Headteacher Margaret Eva said she could already see improvements: "To see 20 students increase their attendance so dramatically, in some cases from 80 to 91 per cent, was terrific.

"The students were so proud of themselves and so positive about maintaining their attendance levels."

Since the team was set up two years ago, much work has been done in partnership with schools and the community.

Sally Greenwell, West Sussex Cabinet member for education and the arts, said: "The team has enabled the education welfare service to develop a wider range of strategies to help schools. Schools have been enthusiastic and we are delighted with the positive results so far."

Funding for the team runs out next spring but the council is confident more can be found to continue.