The project was to improve attendance at an Inner City Primary School. Children were absent for a number of reasons, rarely truancy. It was important to involve parents in becoming aware of acceptable and unacceptable reasons for absence.

We set up a project over a period of 10 weeks, visiting two Year 4 classes one day per week. The classes were divided into "advertising agencies", complete with their own company names and logos (the young people created these). Their job was to devise a campaign to show what was good about their school, and why it was essential to attend regularly.

Work involved questionnaires and market research at home and in the community. At the end of the project, each "agency" made a presentation to "clients" - school staff, pupils and parents - explaining their campaign strategy.

We worked closely with class teachers to ensure that learning and work was integrated into the curriculum, supporting literacy and numeracy targets as well as other key skills such as problem solving, IT, communication. Students were involved in lively debates about how advertising works. Pupils and staff responded enthusiastically. Importantly the school was left with reusable materials and strategies.

The project featured in Managing Schools Today