Parents are being targeted in a bid to combat truancy after a special conference in Keighley.

A working group has been set up to encourage parents to help in the battle to cut back on non-school attendance in the town, where Greenhead Grammar had one of the highest truancy rates in the country.

The move comes as Bradford Council education officers prepare an action plan to tackle the number of youngsters expelled from the district's schools.

The plan will mainly target first schools, which saw a dramatic rise in the number of pupils expelled between 1993 and 1997.

In Keighley, Holycroft First School had one expulsion between 1996 and 97. Ingrow First had none and Our Lady of Victoria one.

Among Keighley's middle schools, Calversyke had two, Highfield none, while Hartington and Swire Smith had one.

But the town's upper schools faired worse, with nine at Oakbank and seven at Greenhead. The truancy conference attracted 60 people, according to Julie Evans, Keighley's anti-truancy co-ordinator.

"It was stressed how important it was to get parents involved and the need for people to work in partnership,'' she said.

A working group of volunteers to focus on parental involvement was set up and the aim is to work with other agencies in the town, she added.

At the conference were representatives from the education department, the careers service, youth service, probation and police services.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.