Scores of school pupils descended on Harvey Hadden Sports Village for a special event to celebrate excellent attendance.
This is the fourth year that Nottingham City Council has held the Lord Mayor’s Attendance Awards, which celebrate youngsters who go the extra mile to be in school – as well as those who have clocked up a perfect 100% attendance.
Around 100 pupils and their families attended the event on Thursday at the recently-refurbished Harvey Hadden complex in Bilborough.
The awards are part of a wider drive by the City Council to work with schools to improve attendance in Nottingham.
Schools were invited to nominate two pupils to send to the celebration event. These could be youngsters with the best attendance or the most-improved attendance.
All pupils at the celebration received a Lord Mayor’s Award and got to have their photo taken with the man himself, Councillor Michael Edwards. The event was a fun celebration for all the children and their families, and they were entertained with games and activities.
Councillor Sam Webster, Portfolio Holder for Business, Education and Skills at Nottingham City Council, said: “We’re proud of pupils who make sure they are in school each and every day. We know that some overcome illness, difficult personal circumstances or might be caring for another member of their family.
“It’s important to recognise their achievement and we wanted to do something special for those pupils to show that their commitment doesn’t go unnoticed. These awards are a way of recognising them.
“We have some exceptional young people in Nottingham. We know that the majority of pupils and their parents are doing a great job of getting to school every day and it’s good to reward those who have really gone the extra mile.”
The awards are part of the City Council’s school attendance campaign, which was launched in June 2014 with a zero-tolerance approach to parents whose children are persistently absent from school..
The authority is also working with schools and academies to promote and recognise excellent attendance as part of the long-term action plan to improve performance through the Education Improvement Board.
Over the past few years, pupils with the best or most improved attendance have been given prizes at Lord Mayor’s Attendance Awards. Nottingham City Council also joined forces with Capital FM to run award-winning campaigns with secondary students to help improve attendance rates.