SCHOOLS across Darlington are being asked to telephone parents as soon as a pupil misses lessons following the murder of an 11-year-old boy in Scotland.

Rory Blackhall was killed in Livingston, West Lothian, in August.

He was dropped off at school at 8.30am by his mother, but his disappearance was not spotted until seven hours later - when his grandfather arrived to pick him up from school.

A report from a Darlington Borough Council working party has suggested every school in the town calls parents on the first day a child fails to arrive for school.

The move is also designed to crack down on Darlington's truancy problem.

The report will be presented to the council's lifelong learning scrutiny committee on Monday. It reads: "The recent murder of a primary school child in Scotland, when his parents only found out he was not at school at the end of the school day, highlights the necessity for this to be done."

The report says more pupils in Darlington skip school than anywhere else in the Tees Valley.

Figures from the last academic year show there was an absence rate of 9.31 per cent in the town's secondary schools and 5.88 per cent in primaries - most of it authorised.

However, a recent study at Longfield School, in Darlington, found a strong link between attendance and GCSE results.

It showed more than 60 per cent of pupils who attended at least nine out of ten lessons gained five A* to C grades - the benchmark to continue in further education.

Of those who attended fewer than nine in ten lessons, only 14 per cent achieved the benchmark.

Although there was no statistical improvement in attendance levels last year, many schools in the town did improve. The council has used truancy sweeps, poster campaigns and issued 15 £100 fines to try to boost levels.

Chris McEwan, council cabinet member for children's services, said: "We have had an attendance strategy in place since last September and since then, our truancy figures have improved.

"In the past year, five secondary schools have seen an improvement in truancy. The attendance strategy is a long-term plan to emphasise the importance of going to school to both pupils and parents.