A CRACKDOWN on stay-away pupils has succeeded in getting more youngsters back in the classroom.

Pupil attendance at primary and secondary schools across South Tyneside has increased, as a result of a new get-tough approach.

Councillor Ron Reynolds, South Tyneside Council's lead member for lifelong learning and leisure, said: "We are getting tougher with parents who keep children off school unnecessarily.

"Improved management and monitoring of unauthorised absences means that although more absences are now being classified as unauthorised, the number of children attending school is going up."

Primary school attendance has increased to 94.2 per cent in the last school year, a slight improvement on the year before. But secondary school attendance increased from 90.4 per cent to 91.1per cent.