Every Parent Matters

Children in the North East of England are being given free bowling sessions in a scheme to encourage them to attend school. Six primary schools will take part in the reward scheme introduced by Stockton Council’s School Attendance Team. Children must have 100% attendance each half term to benefit from the opportunity.

It is an indictment of our schooling system that children have to be incentivised in this manner. The attendance reward offered being outside of school holds a clear message. Why do children abhor school in the first place? Perhaps the lesson content, skill of the teacher, teaching resources and curriculum conspire to turn education into a slog.

Cllr Alex Cunningham of Stockton Council said: “Poor attendance at school is clearly detrimental for children where it affects their level of educational achievement as well as their social and emotional development.”

“We are keen to raise standards in Stockton and children respond well to praise and rewards and I’m sure they will be striving to shout their name out at registration every morning knowing they have a target to achieve.”

But are we just treating the symptoms and not the disease? Certainly children need to be motivated which includes what they are taught and the way they are taught. A considerable number of teachers are highly inventive, therefore surely they should they be encouraged to develop lesson content, style and rewards that interrelate with education. A trip to a bowling alley is certainly rewarding but it could be more educational. I recall winning a prize for attendance at school. I was granted an extra 20 minutes playtime on the day of the announcement. I remember it vividly, the initial pride was quickly offset by the fact I was the only child to gain the award. 20 minutes on your own in a deserted playground lacked appeal and the following teasing in the class, plus having to catch up on the missed 20 minutes of the lesson conspired to make this a one-off award.

The thought was there but the reward inappropriate. Perhaps the incentive offered by Stockton could be attendance at some form of educational games. These could amalgamated with other councils into local, regional and national events with increasing level of content, perception of value and incentive to achieve.

The actual lesson content could be revisited to ensure a level of entertainment and fun is present, overcoming the attendance issue. Enthralling children is an art; to maintain the momentum is a huge task. Lessons hold huge potential to develop educational content that is intriguing, entertaining and functional. Seeing lessons as fun would be a huge influence on children to attend. If a central reward is needed maybe the event could be designed by a team of games designers and TV directors to develop a national Educational games event with the kudos that all children would aspire to. Maybe attracting international figureheads, pop stars, entrepreneurs and inspirational figures would inspire and encourage children as the ulterior motive such that attendance at the event would be a significant reward. In the meantime six children from Rosebrook Primary School, in Stockton, will be the first to benefit from the attendance scheme, receiving a free bowling game. It’s a start that could precipitate a whole new approach

Alistair Owens educational games