On Saturday 19 May, the Council’s Westgate Leisure Centre hosted a special celebration evening to congratulate the winners of the ‘Be In To Win’ project, which it ran with the Chichester Education Business Partnership.
 

The project took the form of a competition and involved 3,708 pupils from Years 7 to 11 in four schools throughout the Chichester district. Each year group was invited to take part and was encouraged to raise their own attendance levels.

The project ran throughout the Spring Term 07, when two weeks were earmarked to measure the pupils’ attendance. Students then had one month in which to raise their attendance levels, to be in with a chance of winning. The schools which took part were: Chichester High School for Girls, Chichester High School for Boys, Midhurst Grammar School and Bourne Community College.

The winning tutor groups from each year were issued with VIP tickets to attend the special celebration evening, where they took part in a whole range of activities, including bouncy jousting, hip hop street dance, table tennis, squash, rowing, and football skills.
 
 

Bourne Community College (who won the overall Year 7 places) – Tutor Group 7B - improved their attendance levels by 8.2%.

Chichester High School For Girls (who won the overall Year 8 places) – Tutor Group 8T – improved their attendance levels by 6.6%.

Midhurst Grammar School (who won the overall Year 9 places) – Tutor Group 9TMA – improved their attendance levels by 8.7%.

Bourne Community College (who won the overall Year 10 places) – Tutor Group 10B - improved their attendance levels by 9.0%.

Midhurst Grammar School (who won the overall Year 11 places) - Tutor Group 11JRO - improved their attendance levels by 8.4%.

The Westgate Leisure Centre was so delighted with the effort and commitment made by all tutor groups that raised their attendance levels, that five runner-up tutor groups were also chosen to receive certificates:
 
 

Chichester High School for Girls – Tutor Group 7C
– improved their attendance levels by 7.8%.

Chichester High School for Boys – Tutor Group 8B
– improved their attendance levels by 5.4%.

Chichester High School for Boys – Tutor Group 9S
– improved their attendance levels by 7.1%.

Chichester High School for Girls – Tutor Group 10B
– improved their attendance levels by 7.3%.

Chichester High School for Girls – Tutor Group 11C
– improved their attendance levels by 4.5%.

The tutors from the five winning groups were also invited along to the event, to be awarded certificates for having tutor groups ‘with the most improved attendance’. Each of the winning tutors also nominated one pupil from their tutor group who made an excellent effort to raise their attendance, to receive a £20.00 gift voucher, kindly donated by Lewis Brownlee Sherlock Accountants.

“Kevin McCoy, Manager of the Westgate Leisure Centre, said “I am delighted that the Council has worked in partnership with Chichester Education Business Partnership to help combat the problem of children not attending school. The Westgate Leisure Centre will provide a fun and active event for the winning students as they will be able to benefit from the excellent facilities the Centre provides.”

The ‘Be In To Win’ event is sponsored by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, based in Chichester.

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