Four schools in Essex will employ full-time truancy detectives in order to track down children believed to be absconding from school, it was announced yesterday.

Under the proposals, the schools will hire two full-time “attendance ambassadors” responsible for following up cases of truancy, with the new enforcers given licence to visit the homes of parents whose children are suspected of truancy.

An academy, two primaries and a junior school in Canvey Island have signed up to the trial scheme, which headteachers argue will help improve school attendance.

Sharon Parsons, leader of the Canvey Schools Partnership, said the new positions would reinforce the “value of attendance” in the minds of parents - some of whom can now expect a knock on the door should their child fail to be accounted for during registration.

“It’s not just about tackling truancy - it’s about attendance generally,” she added.

"Attendance is an issue at almost every school. You're lucky if you're a school without attendance issues. It's about trying to make all parents see the value of attendance."