Thomas Clarkson Academy is putting a variety of strategies in place to boost its students’ attendance. Not only will students with a 100% attendance record be in with a chance of winning a £25 Nando’s voucher every half term, but one lucky student this year will win an iPad. Another fun strategy is that Thomas Clarkson’s own attendance monkey (a cuddly stuffed toy) is allocated to the form group with the best attendance each week.

Mr Nigel Glover, who leads on attendance  said: ‘These strategies are a way to encourage our students to think about whether they are too ill to attend, or whether, with a bit of encouragement, they can come in and try to make it through the day. The IPad is a big incentive and everyone who had a 100% attendance record will be entered into a random draw to win it. Prizes are kindly being sponsored and we are also holding a draw to reward a student each half term with a £25 Nando’s voucher. That prize is being sponsored by the Vision for Education agency and the first voucher for 100% attendance in the last half term was won by Year 7 student Shakeel Hashim

‘By using these strategies we want to highlight the importance of regular attendance. If students miss even a handful of days per year they reduce their chances of getting the grades they are aiming for. Having one day off per month equates to more than two weeks off in a school year and an absence of 17 days annually can mean that a student’s grades are cut by a whole level at GCSE. The competition is really hotting up as our tutor groups vie to see who can host our attendance monkey Monty, who is proving a very popular incentive as well!’