A campaign to boost school attendance by offering pupils the chance to go to an exclusive pop concert has won its third national award.
Nottingham City Council’s Get In:volved campaign was the top Platinum winner in the Local Government Communication Awards on Wednesday 11 November 2015.
The campaign, which ran over the Autumn 2014 term in secondary schools in the City with Capital FM, added an additional 5,661 school days and saw attendance increase by an average of 2%. It was the overall winner in Public Service Communications Excellence.
The Get In:volved campaign has also picked up top prizes at the Municipal Journal Awards in June and the Media Week Awards in October.
Cllr Sam Webster, Portfolio Holder for Schools in Nottingham said: “This ongoing national praise for our attendance campaign is recognition that we are trying to do things differently in Nottingham. We are coming up with new ways to work collectively with schools, academies and media partners like Capital FM to give our pupils an additional incentive to be in school. And it’s working!
“Over the Autumn 2014 term we have been recognised by the Department for Education as the most improved local authority in the country for attendance.
“We have more work to do in Nottingham, but I’m pleased that our schools have seen an improvement in attendance and are reducing unauthorised absences. It is crucial that we improve school attendance rates in Nottingham so the better rates must be sustained.”
Latest figures from the Department for Education show that Nottingham continues to narrow the gap nationally on overall absence, which in Nottingham fell from 5.1% in 2013/14 to 4.8% in 2014/15, compared with an increase nationally from 4.4% to 4.5%.
The Get In:volved campaign invited classes with the best overall attendance from six schools to watch a special VIP performance by pop group Neon Jungle at the Glee Club in Nottingham on 15 January. Fronted by Neon Jungle 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.
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 which is especially rewarding considering we’re tackling the very important social issue of truancy.”
The campaign is running again over the Autumn 2015 term with nine secondary schools in the City, who are competing for a place at a concert with Professor Green. Visit www.getinvolvednottingham.com