Two new forms of technology being introduced into British schools aim to tackle the problems of bullying and truancy. The first system, Text Someone, has just been trialled at a school in Shepton Mallet in Somerset. Aimed at pupils who don't want to confide directly with their teachers, it allows children to report incidents of bullying by text, email or mobile phone.

'Some children were slipping through the net,' the school's assistant headmaster Alan Tucker, told the BBC. 'They didn't want to talk to a teacher and this is just another method of communicating their problems.'

The second clever piece of software is Truancy Call - which is now installed in 450 UK schools. The system ties in with the school register. When a pupil is absent without a valid reason it automatically triggers a phone call or text message to the pupil's parent.