School attendance soars as pupils compete for prizes

THOUSANDS of children and young people attended school 100 per cent of the time in November last year after taking part in a city-wide attendance competition.

Over 36,000 children and young people achieved 100 per cent attendance in November 2009 as part of a competition organised by Education Leeds.

November often has one of lowest attendance rates of the year so Education Leeds increased its support to schools by encouraging pupils to attend every day throughout the month to be in with a chance of winning top prizes.

The attendance competition also runs in March every year, another month where attendance rates can fall. It is designed to promote the importance of good attendance and encourage children and young people to have as little time off as possible.

A prize giving event took place yesterday. Each of the 37 schools which entered had a winner and the prizes included Nintendo consoles, school parties with a Radio Aire DJ, iPods, digital radios and family days out.

Coun Richard Harker, executive board member for education at Leeds City Council, said: “The attendance champions competition is a great way of increasing attendance and raising awareness of the benefits of regularly going to school. The response to this additional competition was impressive and saw more than 36,000 pupils achieve 100 per cent attendance. I hope the lucky winners enjoy their fantastic prizes.”

Chris Edwards, chief executive of Education Leeds, said last night it was important every child and young person spent as much time as possible in school.

He said: “It has been shown that missing just 17 days in one school year can lead to a drop of an entire grade at GCSE so the importance of regular attendance should not be underestimated.

“Congratulations to all those who took part. They are all winners and their prize is a better education to set them up for the rest of their lives.”

The ‘Give it 100 per cent’ campaign which ran last November is one of a number of attendance initiatives, competitions and advertising campaigns run by Education Leeds to remind children how important it is to attend school and that every day in school counts.