Mark Andrews: Making school nicer is not the way to tackle truancy epidemic

During my wait for a school place, I had nurtured the notion that I was missing out on something really exciting and fun. Then, having been put in a drab, grey classroom, shouted at for talking, and ordered to sit on cold, hard floor for assembly – and then being told my handwriting wasn't up to scratch – I promptly came to the conclusion that school wasn't all it was cracked up to be.