A HIGH school has come up with a novel way to tackling truancy and slack punctuality, they've got their pupils gambling.

Unfortunately the top prize is worth just £5, but it's got pupils at Ashton-on-Ribble High School captivated and the truancy rate is falling.

The unusual lottery scheme is open to all pupils who attend school every day for a term, while a second lottery is run for students who are never late for a lesson.

A spokesman for the school, aka 'the voice of the balls', said: "We make the draw on the last day of term, in the Sports Hall, and on every occasion so far, it has been packed out.

"Each student who completes a full term without absence gets their name put in the draw, or the lottery, and we pull the names out in front of them.

"It is quite exciting and it has grabbed the pupils' attention.

"We give three prizes for each one. £5 is the top prize, £3 is second and £2 for the third. We give vouchers which all the pupils seem keen to win."

A bumper lottery is now being planned for the end of term for any student who attends school for all three terms without a break, and without missing a lesson.

The spokesman added: "It has worked. Non-attendance is much lower than it used to be and the students are coming to lesson on time as well."

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