A school is offering a string of prizes including handheld computer consoles and mountain bikes to its pupils – for simply turning up for classes.
Youngsters at Blairgowrie High School are being rewarded for good attendance with Nintendo Switches worth more than £200 and bikes in a bid to cut down on rising absence rates.
The controversial move is the idea of headteacher Paul Cunningham who, having been in post for just a few months, decided novel measures were needed to tackle the slide in attendance levels.
It also comes after we revealed this year how record numbers of secondary pupils missed classes last year, with a shocking one in eight absent every day, and hundreds of ‘ghost’ pupils failing to attend a single day.
Politicians and campaigners yesterday said the prize drive was a further sign of the chaos in education in Scotland under the SNP Government.
Former headteacher now the chairman of Campaign for Real Education Chris McGovern said: ‘Bribing children to turn up for education is anathema.
‘It sends a dreadful message that education is so unpalatable children have to be bribed to come to school, especially not with a Nintendo Switch as there are so many that are addicted to these games.
‘It’s the last thing they need.
‘The reward for education is education and the bright future it brings.
‘Education is one of the greatest gifts a child can receive, recognised as such by people all over the world, including girls in Afghanistan who are denied schooling.
‘We need to value education more and children need to be taught well so they want to go to school.’
Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for education Miles Briggs said: ‘Jenny Gilruth should be ashamed of the deeply concerning rise in school absences.
Headteacher Paul Cunningham brought in anti-truancy measures
Mountain bikes are amongst the prizes pupils can win for good attendance
Nintendo Switch games consoles are also being offered for children
‘It is her responsibility as education secretary to support our headteachers in offering real incentives for pupils to attend their lessons and learn, rather than forcing them to use their already sparse resources to offer prizes.
‘The SNP must set out a real plan to support our headteachers in bringing these attendance rates back up before Scotland ends up with a truancy epidemic.’
Mr Cunningham, who joined the school in August, is determined to lower absences as the school was sitting below the national and local average in 2023 at 84.8%.
He has introduced a weekly draw to tackle the problem with prizes including £5 vouchers for a supermarket or Starbucks, or hot chocolate and cake with the headteacher.
A bigger draw is held at the end of each term with star prizes for pupils who meet his 92% attendance target.
The 44-year-old, who has worked in education for 21 years, told The Courier newspaper: ‘I said we need to do something that’s highly visible and going to spark a bit of interest and enthusiasm into coming to school.’
His ‘In 2 Win’ scheme has set a target for all pupils of 92%. If they come in for 100% of the time each week they are entered into a weekly draw.
He said: ‘The bigger draw is termly, so if you are at 92% attendance or above come the end of the term, we have a grand draw in the assembly hall, and all the young people who meet that go along.
‘Last term, the star prize was a Nintendo Switch and this term the star prize was a mountain bike.’
Local businesses have donated prizes, with Crightons Cycles in the town gifting the school a mountain bike for the big draw.
Smith and Sons Coaches donated £200 worth of vouchers and Tesco gifted a range of prizes.
The school has also received hundreds of pounds from anonymous community members to support the scheme.
Parents, staff, and pupils have embraced the idea, which has created a ‘buzz’ around the school, according to Mr Cunningham.
And it seems to be paying off – earlier this week, the school celebrated as more than 500 students maintained an attendance of 92%.
Mr Cunningham welcomed the rise in attendance and said the prize scheme is only the start.
He said: ‘This is just an initial drive and push. So far, it’s having some positive impact.
‘Our S1 attendance this year is better than it was last year, and our term two attendance has improved compared to last year.
‘It’s not going to be the silver bullet; it’s not going to make attendances go up but what it has done is draw attention to attendance.’
It comes amid as schools across Scotland struggle to tackle non-attendance.
We also told how hundreds of pupils in Scotland failed to attend a single day of school last year, according to research and freedom of information requests to Scotland’s 32 local authorities by the Mail on Sunday and policy institute Reform Scotland.
We found that the number of those under 16 who recorded ‘zero attendance’ rose last year to a record high of more than 600, including more than 300 Primary 1-7 children.
Data from local authorities shows overall attendance at Scottish secondary schools at 88 per cent, indicating absence rates of one-in-eight pupils.
Blairgowrie High parent council chairman Ewan Lister said: ‘I’m aware that some young people cannot, for good reasons, attend school all the time.
‘However, Mr Cunningham has made it clear that those who face barriers to school attendance due to health or family reasons are not disadvantaged and are also given the opportunity to be entered into the weekly and termly prize draws.’
Perth and Kinross Council were contacted for a comment.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk