The winning entry from Nottingham City Council ‘Get In:volved' was about its pioneering campaign to drive up attendance in its secondary schools. It worked with a local radio station, using incentives and peer group pressure, so that children actively wanted to be in school. The council said: ‘Uniting schools and academies who traditionally exist within silos was no mean feat. It took time, persistence and creativity to persuade a target group of six secondary schools in Nottingham to buy-in to an innovative campaign for a shared vision of improving school attendance. We devised, consulted, engaged, partnered and delivered a multi-stranded marketing campaign that brought incentives and reward to the forefront and finished with a special pop gig for our schools. The campaign has seen attendance improve by an average of 2% over the autumn term in 2014 – a huge figure given the number of pupils involved.'

The campaign added 5,661 extra school days over the term for a combined financial investment of £65,000 from schools and the council – an investment of just 11p per pupil per day. Ofsted was briefed about the campaign, which was supported by education secretary Nicky Morgan.