PUPILS in Oxfordshire missed more than 40,000 days at school in just one term last year.

According to figures released by the Department for Education, more than 3,700 out of the 73,100 children in the county missed at least 11 days of school in the autumn term.

In autumn 2013 a total of 3,450 children missed the same number of days.

Oxfordshire County Council’s education chief Melinda Tilley said there was very little it could do to deal with the issue and that it was down to individual schools to tackle it.

She said: “We chase up our children from the care system but other children are the schools’ responsibility.

“If there’s a lot of persistent absence we would help where we can and we write letters to parents if a school asks us to.”

The county’s state secondary schools performed worse than their primary counterparts with 7.4 per cent of children missing the benchmark 11 days – the fourth worst in the South East and well above the national average of 6.1 per cent.

The latest figures show 4.5 per cent of sessions (half days) were missed by pupils. Almost four per cent were authorised.

By law a headteacher can only authorise an absence due to illness or in “exceptional circumstances”.

The council can only intervene with unauthorised absence by either issuing fines of £60, ordering parenting classes or appointing an education supervisor, with a criminal prosecution the ultimate sanction.

Last year 83 fines were handed out, up from 66 the year before. In the autumn term, from September to December, 3,722 missed 22 or more sessions (half days) making them “potential persistent absentees.”

Mrs Tilley said handing out fines was never the answer. She said: “I thought it was a stupid idea. There has to be a better way than that, particularly when we are talking about single parents.

“Schools should be talking to each other, helping each other, to find out what does work.”

Mother-of-five Hailey Townsend was fined £60 last year after taking her five children out of school last June for a holiday.

The 30-year-old from Headington intended to take her children on holiday again this year but received a warning letter from Oxford Academy, where her eldest daughter Kimberley goes.

She said: “I can’t afford to take them on holiday outside of term time. I’m paying £335 to take them to Weymouth. The same holiday in August would cost me £980. I would rather reluctantly pay the fine. Why should my children suffer? Every child should be entitled to a holiday.”

Ms Townsend, who has two disabled children, said more could be done to take into account individual family circumstances.

“It should be means tested and schools should look at the bigger picture and consider everything,” she said.

The Oxford Academy had the county’s highest absence rate with 14.5 per cent of children missing at least 11 days of school.

Headteacher Niall McWilliams said the school had adopted a strict policy and was clamping down. He added: “It’s a really important issue. If they are not in school they are not learning and it reduces their life chances.

“It has improved for us here over the last two years but we know it needs to get much better.

“We are really strict on it and we have put rigorous procedures in place. We’re aiming for 100 per cent attendance.”

Mr McWilliams said the school works with families who show initial signs of absenteeism and conduct home visits to persistent offenders.

He said: “For each family there’s a different reason but early intervention with parents is very important and we also do an attendance pick-up. For example if a pupil who has a tendency to be absent isn’t in school five minutes before the bell, we go and knock on their door.”

The Cherwell School in North Oxford was one of the best performers with just over five per cent potential persistent absentees. Headteacher Paul James said: “We have dedicated support staff who have a key part of their role ensuring low levels of absence.”

County council education scrutiny committee member John Howson said: “Fining parents works well for middle class parents who want to take their kids on skiing holidays but doesn’t work with parents on benefits. There seem to be parents who don’t understand the importance of education.”