STUDENTS at a truancy-busting York secondary school are learning the importance of teamwork.

For two days, all Year 7 pupils at York High School attended a variety of sessions led by visiting staff from the York school improvement and staff development team, visiting staff from other York Schools and York High School staff.

The theme of the event was “working together”. The children were encouraged to learn to respect each other so that they want to come to school.

It was a first for York High School and one which it hopes to repeat.

Pupils took part in a range of exercises, including working in teams to make mobiles and working out how to get from one end of a bench to another through a group of people without falling off.

Ish Herd, head of Key Stage 3 at York High School, said: “It was great for them all to spend quality time as a team and to really get to know each other. They have only been at secondary school for two weeks and this was the ideal time to plan a stimulating programme of activities on the theme of working together.”

Pupils have been learning about showing respect to each other and to staff, working successfully in a group situation.

Yvette Bent, behaviour and attendance consultant for the York school improvement and staff development team, who worked with YHS to plan the event, said: “It was inspiring to see staff and pupils working so well together with a common purpose.

“When I watched the activities, I felt uplifted by the commitment of both staff and pupils and was amazed to see how much the pupils grew in confidence throughout the two days. It was a joy to see them blossom and gel together as teams.”

York High School opened in September last year after Oaklands and Lowfield schools merged.

The school in Acomb has been text-messaging parents if their children do not turn up for classes without prior warning.

The school, which houses more than 1,000 pupils, hopes the system, brought in earlier this year, will raise its attendance figure to around the 92 per cent mark.

The Press reported last month the number of kids skipping class at secondary school had dropped. Figures for York schools for the last academic year show that over the first two terms absence in secondary schools was at 7.06 per cent compared with 7.62 per cent in 2006/7.