Have Christmas on us!

I make no apology for repeating a key message at the start of this blog. The two biggest factors in how well a student does in school is a) how much they read and b) how often they turn up to school. As I said in assemblies over the last two weeks to years 7-10…they need to turn up and read, read and turn up, turn up and read.

However, we know that attendance to school has become a national issue since covid. Schools are trying really hard to encourage students to attend more regularly and MHS is no exception. Our overall attendance rates are well above the national average, but they are still a long way below pre-covid levels and this is harming the quality of education that our students are getting. One successful recent initiative is focussed on encouraging students to come to school on Fridays, which is the day with the lowest attendance for our school. ‘In it to win it’ sees every student in school entered into a weekly prize draw with vouchers and other tempting goodies handed out the same day. It’s early days but already working.

As we run up towards the end of term we’re launching another, bigger competition. This time we hope that the whole family can benefit from students coming to school, in an initiative called ‘Have Christmas on us‘. Thanks to some wonderful local businesses listed below, we have some great prizes to hand out to families chosen at random on Thursday 21st December. To be entered into the draw students need to attend school every day between Monday 4^th December – Thursday 21^st December inclusive (14 days in total). The confirmed prizes are as follows, with perhaps more to be added as well:

5 x £50 vouchers for ASDA (one per year group)

2 x £10 Littlewoods Butchers vouchers

2 x £10 Marple Bookstore vouchers

4 x £5 Stationary Supplies Marple vouchers

Plus, one luxury hamper from Dutsons (see below!)

We’ll aim to get these prizes out to families immediately after the draw, and hope that they will make a small dent in the cost of a very expensive time of year.

Best wishes,

Joe Barker

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