A PRIMARY school in Accrington is leading the way in modern-day communications after introducing an innovative way of keeping in touch with parents.
Staff at St Peter's Primary School, on Cartmel Avenue, can now contact parents via a mobile phone text message for various reasons such as school closure, sports day cancellation or if a child is playing truant.
Although the Groupcall system has not been introduced solely to keep track of attendance, headteacher Joan Smith said it could prove to be very useful.
She said: "We would use the texting system as a back-up if a child did not attend school but we already have our own system for truancy.
"The facility is usually for groups in case a school trip is delayed so we can send a quick text to tell parents we are going to be 10 minutes late."
Mrs Smith said that parents were asked if they wanted another way of communicating with the school and everyone agreed text messaging was the best option.
She added: "We are one of the first schools to take it up, not a lot use it yet. Most people have a mobile these days so it is the best way of contacting them."
If a child does not attend school a phone call will be made home followed by a text message if there is no answer.
