Pupils who pass GCSEs can have ride in Ferrari
GCSE pupils in Hull are being offered "money can't buy" rewards for doing well in their exams.
Hull City Council has teamed up with a number of sponsors to offer prizes such as a race day in a Ferrari at Silverstone for those children who have shown the most improvement.
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Pupils who improve their GCSE results could be invited to ride a Ferrari at Silverstone.
Other rewards include a makeover with a top hair stylist and the chance to attend a pop concert with a big name act.
It is hoped the prizes will encourage students to achieve better exam results and, in turn, see Hull move further up the national GCSE league table.
Judith Harwood, head of learning leisure and achievement at Hull City Council, said: "It's a great way of giving that bit of extra encouragement to pupils.
"We want to encourage them to do their very best by giving away prizes that money can't buy."
Hull now sits just one place above the bottom of the national GCSE league table, with 37.1 per cent of pupils gaining the benchmark five A*-C grades, including English and maths.
This is an improvement of more than seven per cent on the previous year's total of 29.6 per cent.
The city council has set out a series of pledges to hit by 2012, which include more than 50 per cent of pupils gaining five A*-C grades.
Sponsors stumping up the cash for the rewards include Kingston Communications, Galaxy Radio and Hull Truck Theatre.
One pupil from each secondary school who has shown the biggest improvement will be given the chance to compete for prizes.
The 14 winners and their families will all be invited to an awards ceremony at Hull Truck Theatre in September where they will be treated to a gig by the popstars.
Details of which artists will appear at the gig, as well as more details on the prizes, will be announced to pupils just before the exams begin.
The award ceremony will feature a quiz in the style of TV show The Weakest Link, in which the 14 so-called Exam Jam winners will compete for prizes head-to-head.
The quiz will be hosted by Galaxy DJ Simon Hirst, who presents breakfast show Hirsty's Daily Dose, which is organising Exam Jam, together with the council.
As well as money-can't-buy prizes, there will also be smaller prizes such as iPods and computer equipment for schools.
The pupil who wins the quiz will also receive £3,000 for their school to spend on equipment, donated by Kingston Communications.
47 Comments
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by terry, bev
Monday, March 08 2010, 11:50AM
“What next from this appalling council - 2 weeks in barbados if you turn up for your A levels?
Well, Judith, how it works for those of us in the real world is as follws -
Work hard at school, get good grades and get a decent job which will one day reward you with nice things.
Don't get good grades and end up on the dole and end up with nowt, which is all you deserve.
From the people who brought you (at your expense) the yacht for criminals and wasters.”
by Pat, Wolds
Sunday, March 07 2010, 6:54PM
“@Sam
Nice one!
FLASHBLOCKED”
by Sam, Hull
Sunday, March 07 2010, 5:17PM
“" its pathetic how this rag of a newspaper have now blocked comments on a certain story...
more blocked storys, london "
You always think of the best things too late but can I suggest that everybody who agrees that the HDM campaign against Paul Smith was an utter disgrace download a program called 'Flashblock'. It's a plug-in for Firefox (you do use Firefox rather than IE I hope).
Flashblock stops most of the third party adverts on the page loading replacing them with a box empty except for a 'play' icon which allows the advert to load.
If everybody used it not only would their pages open faster the HDM would lose a lot of its advertising revenue.
Adding 'Flashblocked!' to the end of every post will remind the HDM that we do not forgive and we do not forget :-)
FLASHBLOCKED!”
by Cheryl, east hull
Sunday, March 07 2010, 11:09AM
“I worked hard at school and eventually bought the Ferrari. Ain`t that how it`s supposed to work??”
by grafter, east hull
Sunday, March 07 2010, 11:07AM
“I worked hard at school and eventually bought the Ferrari. Ain`t that how it`s supposed to work??”
by grafter, east hull
Sunday, March 07 2010, 11:05AM
“I worked hard at school and then eventually bought a Ferrari. Ain`t that how it`s s`posed to work..?”
by I was a, hard working pupil
Sunday, March 07 2010, 10:35AM
“So what reward do the kids that work hard all the way through and do well because they want to, get?
On the basis of this, I think that I should just be given the Ferrari!”
by more blocked storys, london
Sunday, March 07 2010, 9:14AM
“its pathetic how this rag of a newspaper have now blocked comments on a certain story...”
by Charles, cott
Sunday, March 07 2010, 2:21AM
“This is pathetic. There is so much obvious disgust with the education in hull that I'm surprised "Judith Harwood, head of learning leisure and achievement at Hull City Council" can show her ugly face at work tomorrow without bricks coming through her no doubt dirty windows. Go on you know where she "works"; give her some heavy.”
by Chubbs, Qld Oz
Saturday, March 06 2010, 8:12PM
“I love these "initiatives" the Council comes up with, it gives the rest of the world something to laugh about.
Can't wait for the next episode!!”