PUPILS from secondary schools in Nottingham have improved their attendance to win a place at an exclusive music concert in the city with Professor Green.
Classes with the best overall attendance from eight schools will watch the special VIP performance at a secret location in Nottingham on Thursday (14 January).
Attendance was measured over the Autumn term as part of the Get In:volved campaign, which has been organised for the second year by Nottingham City Council and radio station Capital FM.
Fronted by rapper Professor Green and Capital FM Breakfast Show presenters Dino and Pete, the campaign urged pupils to ‘Get In:volved to Get the Gig’. It included presentations in the schools, a special video, website and radio adverts, as well as launch assemblies for pupils with Dino and Pete.
Whole classes were encouraged to work together to improve their collective attendance to win the prize. All schools who took part will send a class to the concert – around 400 pupils in total.
This award-winning approach to tackling absence was run with 7,500 pupils at eight secondary schools in Nottingham: Bulwell Academy, Oakwood Academy, Bluecoat Academy, Bluecoat Beechdale, Farnborough Academy, Top Valley Academy, Nottingham Girls’ Academy and Djanogly City Academy.
Participating schools saw added an extra 5,727 school days over the autumn term. This is the second year the competition has been run. In 2014, the competition saw pupils add an extra 5,661 school days over the autumn term.
Cllr Sam Webster, Portfolio Holder for Schools at Nottingham City Council, said: “I’m proud of the way pupils have risen to the challenge: they’ve improved their attendance and they’ve won their place at this exclusive concert. This is the result of the collective hard work of pupils and their parents, teachers, head teachers and school attendance officers – they’re all committed to ensuring that pupils are going to school every day and making the most of their education in Nottingham.
“We’re pleased that an international musician like Professor Green has agreed to front this for us. He’s a fantastic role model for young people who really relate to him. He’s spoken openly about the challenges he faced when he was younger and wishes he’d made more of his opportunities at school. I think this is a powerful message to send to pupils.”
Richard Ardis, Managing Director at Capital FM East Midlands, said: “This has been a hugely exciting campaign for us. The Get In:volved partnership with Nottingham City Council has delivered fantastic results for the second year running. Pupils relate to Professor Green and have really stepped up their efforts to win a place at our amazing gig.”
The first Get In:volved campaign scooped three national awards in 2015: The Media Week Awards, Municipal Journal Awards and the Local Government Communications Awards – and has been praised by the Department for Education.
The competition is part of a wider drive by the City Council to improve school attendance in Nottingham. The Council maintains its zero tolerance approach to unauthorised school absence by taking action against parents whose children are persistently absent from school.
Cllr Webster added: “I’m pleased that these schools have seen an improvement in attendance. It is crucial that we improve school attendance in Nottingham so the better rates must be sustained. Ultimately, we want children to be in school so that they can achieve their full potential. Missing 17 days of school a year has been proved to be the difference between getting one higher grade at GCSE level – and that is crucial for our young people.”
Parents can help their child’s attendance at school by:
- Making sure their child gets to school on time
- Not booking holidays during term time
- Contacting the school the first day a child is off sick.
For more advice on school attendance, visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/schoolattendance
