Recognising excellence at the Education Business Awards 2016

The Grange Hotel in St Paul’s once again played host to a fantastic afternoon celebrating the very best of the UK’s education sector at the Education Business Awards 2016.

While the national media is always quick to point out any failings within the sector, PSI Media believes not enough is done to highlight the great work of educational professionals up and down the country. The Education Business Awards was set up in 2006 to recognise examples of excellence in education and in the turbulent political times that lie ahead, this is more important than ever.

With 21 award categories, the Education Business Awards recognises a broad range of successes across the sector, from the School Building Award, sponsored by REC, which was picked up by Chalgrove Primary School, to the Educational Visits Award, sponsored by Rainforest Cafe, which was claimed by Ashby School.

In the Outstanding Progress for secondary schools category, sponsored by School Business Services, St Matthias School was recognised for its rapid progress after being placed into special measures following a poor Ofsted inspection two years ago. Under the leadership of head teacher Dean Coombes, the school is now rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted and sits in the top 10 nationally for the proportion of lower ability pupils who gain five or more GCSEs at grade C and above.

The Outstanding Progress in the primary sector category, sponsored by ESPO, was topped by Moreland Primary School after receiving its first ever ‘Good’ rating from Ofsted. The school was particularly praised for producing ‘exciting lessons’ and now looks towards an exciting future as it moves to a new school building.

St Joseph's College won the Outstanding Progress Award in the independent sector following a victory at the 2015 TES Independent School Awards. After reducing fees and increasing investment, the school has seen pupil numbers rise and stands as an example to the rest of the sector.

Karen Hopps, publisher, Education Business, said: “It is great to see so many people come together to celebrate the great work of the education sector, from teachers, to school business managers, through to catering staff.

“As the school year comes to an end the Education Business Awards is the perfect opportunity to look back and reflect on the hard work and dedication of education professionals. This year’s Awards saw a record number of entries and we were thrilled to see so many examples of excellence in education.

“I would like to congratulate all of the well deserved winners, but also those commended for their fantastic contributions. Thank you to everyone who attended and we encourage all schools to share their successes with us so we can continue to recognise the excellent work being done in schools across the UK.”

The full list of winners are:
School Recruitment Award, sponsored by eTeach: Herts for Learning - Recruitment fair

Music Award: Lindley Junior School, Huddersfield

Sports Award, sponsored by Technogym: Ellesmere College, Shropshire

Community Award, sponsored by Fairtrade Vending: Shrewsbury High School, Shropshire

Art & Craft Award: University Church of England Academy Ellesmere Port

ICT Facility Award, sponsored by OKI Systems: Westmorland Primary School, Lancashire

ICT Innovation Award, sponsored by MakerBot: The Studio Schools, Merseyside

SEN Provision Award, sponsored by nasen: Parkside Complex Needs School, Norwich

SEN Inclusion Award, sponsored by nasen: St James CE Primary, Northamptonshire

STEM Award, sponsored by Ultimaker: Plashet School, London

Educational Visits Award, sponsored by Rainforest Cafe: Ashby School, Leicestershire

Environmental Practice Award: King’s Ely, Cambridgeshire

School Security Award: Sir Thomas Abney Primary School, London

School Building Award, sponsored by REC: Chalgrove Primary School, London

School Catering Award, sponsored by Parent Pay: Ballard School, Hampshire

Academy Partnership Award, sponsored by Ward-Hendry: Brighton Aldridge Community Academy, East Sussex

Excellence in Health & Safety Award, sponsored by IOSH: Maltings Academy

School Procurement Award, sponsored by ESPO: Prince’s Mead Preparatory School, Winchester

Outstanding Progress Award - Primary School, sponsored by ISS Education: Moreland Primary School, London

Outstanding Progress Award - Independent School: St Joseph's College, Reading

Outstanding Progress Award - Secondary School, sponsored by School Business Services: St Matthias School, Wolverhampton