PUPILS from Ducie High School swapped the classroom for the cinema as part of a year-long scheme to reward their achievements and boost standards.
Last year, headteacher Ray Kirby challenged every youngster at the Moss Side school to improve a skill they were good at and work on something they weren't.
At the end of each term, the most successful youngsters were rewarded with sport and concert tickets, through the MEN's Backing Ducie campaign.
This term, however, Dr Kirby challenged every pupil to improve their attendance and behaviour. When the youngsters met their half-term targets - based on attendance and exclusion figures - the MEN teamed up with Filmworks to offer all 400 pupils and staff the chance to see two IMAX films on the city's biggest cinema screen.
According to Dr Kirby, the collective IMAX experience, where images are in three dimensions, has had a real effect on school morale.
"We've had lots of individual winners and there have been some excellent individual performances, but this time we wanted to promote a whole school spirit," said Dr Kirby. "The idea was to make the children think of each other and how their behaviour affects the whole school, not just themselves, and they succeeded.
"Going to the cinema was fantastic and the kids thought it was brilliant. It was good fun, but it gave them a proper message about what they had achieved."
When the MEN launched the Backing Ducie campaign last July, the school was unpopular with parents, with poor exam results, high levels of truancy, debts and an uncertain future.
Now there are clear signs that the school has a brighter future and has been given the go-ahead to become one of the country's first city academies, sponsored by the Church Schools Company and Manchester Science Park.
The number of parents choosing Ducie for their children is almost twice as high as last year, truancy levels have fallen and exam results are on the up - with Dr Kirby saying the MEN's Backing Ducie campaign has played a crucial role.
"The whole partnership with the MEN has lifted the school's spirits," he said. "There's always room to improve, but the school's achievements have never been recognised like they are now."
Bernie Bradley, from IMAX, said: "We have a very good relationship with schools and we try to help with reward trips and morale boosts. Improvement deserves to be rewarded."