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The shortlist has now been revealed for the 2018 Education Business Awards, which will return to London on 5 July to recognise excellence in education across 22 different categories
Taking place on 5 July at London’s Grange Hotel in St Paul’s, the 2018 Education Business Awards will recognise outstanding achievements in the UK education sector, as well as the hard work and dedication of teachers, department heads, business managers, and support staff which contribute to the success of an educational institution and outcomes for pupils.
This year, 22 awards are up for grabs which focus on academic progress, facilities, best practice and innovation. Shortlisted organisations will attend the ceremony, which will be hosted by celebrity guest, Countdown’s Susie Dent.
A drinks reception will kick off the day, followed by a three-course lunch before the winning schools are revealed.
Outstanding progress
There are three categories for outstanding progress: primary, secondary and independent.
These awards will be given to the educational establishment that has made outstanding progress in the management of its facilities, finances and human resources and can demonstrate an increase in the educational performance of the school.
One such school that has been recognised for its significant progress is Deighton Primary School in Wales. In 2011, the school required significant improvement by Estyn, the Welsh schools’ inspectorate.
After the head resigned and a new head was appointed, it was removed from the category in 2013.
In 2014/15 Deighton was part of Welsh Government’s Lead-Emerging School Programme and the improvements made were recognised in a Welsh Government case study.
In July 2015, Deighton was visited by Esytn again and all elements were recorded as being ‘Good’. As a result, the school was included in a 2016 Estyn case study on rapid school improvement and leadership.
In January 2017, Deighton was awarded ‘Green’ status in the Welsh Government’s categorisation. This was recently replicated in January 2018.
In May 2017, Deighton’s deputy headteacher, Lynsey Wangiel won Welsh Government’s Teacher of the Year award and was a Pearson’s Silver Award winner in the UK finals.
Better outcomes for pupils
Stalham Academy in Norfolk is also in the running for the Outstanding Progress award in the primary category. It was once a school that was unliked by parents and the local community, but is now a lead member of the Norwich Teaching School, and regularly offers support to other schools that need it. Rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, the school shares its experiences of turning the school around at open mornings and workshops for the Regional School Commissioners office.
91 per cent combined outcomes for reading, writing and maths at KS2 SATs has resulted in the school being in the top 10 per cent in the country for outcomes, top 20 per cent for progress, and it is recognised as one of the highest performers for achievement of pupil premium children. The school also appeared in the Telegraph top 1,000 performing schools (ranked at 316) achieving in the top 2.6 per cent of schools across the country.
Another contender for the Outstanding Progress Award is Parkland’s Primary School in Leeds.
In 2014, the school was rated ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted, there had been 150 exclusions in the previous 12 months and five different head teachers. However, thanks to the new head and dedicated team, the school has turned itself around – it became the first Local Authority School in five years to go from Inadequate to outstanding, as well as scoring the highest Progress scores in the country.
The school is in an a highly deprived area, yet it does not use it as a barrier to learning. By giving opportunities to deprived children, the results at Parklands sees them perform at the end of KS2 in the top ten per cent of schools in the country for writing; the top five per cent for reading – and Parklands is the single highest performing school in the country with regards to maths.
Beating challenges
Surrey Square Primary School in London has also been shortlisted for the Outstanding Progress Award.
Despite serving one of the most challenged communities in London, Surrey Square supports and inspires its pupils to achieve at the very highest level.
Through deeply understanding the needs of every child and their family, and the school’s exceptional commitment to pastoral care and interventions, it empowers students to achieve and thrive, both academically and personally. Results in 2017 were particularly impressive, with progress scores that put the school in the top two per cent nationally.
Surrey Square’s approach has resulted in children achieving at a very high level by the time they leave us. Given their often very low starting points, this represented exceptional progress, which was recognised in a letter from Nick Gibb MP to the school.
Queen’s Park Primary School in London is also in the running for the Outstanding Progress category. The school falls within the top percentile in the deprivation index with higher than national average children accessing pupil premium and EAL.
The school is located in an area with an active gang culture, which has had a personal impact on staff and students within the school. However, the school has seen a three year trend of continuously improving results, placing it in the top three per cent for the country for progress. With improving absence percentages for both children and staff and a focus on mental health and wellbeing, the school has gone from strength to strength in achieving the best for its pupils. This has resulted in staff retention remaining at an all time high and the school now has a waiting list.
The final school that may scoop the award for Outstanding Progress in the primary catergory is Ernesettle Community School in Plymouth. It is in an area of high deprivation, and when the school was deemed as ‘requiring Special Measures’ for the second time in less than three years in May 2010, the legacy of low aspiration, low academic standards and high levels of local unemployment were only compounded.
A new headteacher was appointed in May 2010 to address these issues and seven years later, the school is now very proud to be the highest performing school on average in the authority over the past six years and the regional winner of the Pupil Premium Award in 2016. This journey has been enabled by a staff team and a community of children and families, who now have the potential to live happy, prosperous and rewarding lives.
As a result of the school’s outstanding reputation, it now has 485 children compared with 240 in 2010.
The school was named in the top 1,000 schools nationally for the last three years in a row, and was the winner of the regional Pupil Premium Award in 2016, as well as winning the title of ‘Best School in Plymouth’ in 2018.
ICT Innovation Award
Leighton Park School in Berkshire is up for three awards this year: ICT Innovation, STEM and ICT Facility awards. The school has delivered a two year strategy to promote and integrate STEM learning through an innovative vision and framework. Working with industry, charities and not-for-profit organisations, the school has provided creative experiences for its students, as well as 730 students from local primary and secondary schools.
One of the many outputs of this framework has included students engaging with the latest technologies including augmented reality, simulators, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Experience and skills with these emerging technologies are fundamental to the school’s values to enable students to be confident, competent and to be highly employable for future STEM careers.
Leighton Park School aims to be a centre of innovation, inviting local primary and secondary schools to benefit from these technologies. It is also a lead school for technology in the Thames Valley. To help achieve this, the school is creating STEM innovation collaborative classrooms for the 2018-2019 academic year. These innovation zones will provide unique, collaborative and dynamic learning environments which make the best use of the installed technology.
Leighton Park School has become the winner of the Ripple Effect campaign which has delivered cutting edge technology
from manufacturers such as HP, Intel, Misco, Softcat and XMA.
The full list of nominations is below:
Art & Craft Award
Beech House School, Rochdale
Barnston Primary, Wirral
King's Ely, Cambridge
Chatsmore Catholic High School, Sussex
St Thomas More Catholic School, London
School Sport Award
Windsor High School and Sixth Form, West Midlands
Radley College, Abingdon
Epsom College, Surrey
King Alfred’s Academy, Oxon
James Allen's Preparatory School
Educational Visits Award
Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Surrey
Marine Academy, Devon
Whitworth High, Lancashire
Bishop Alhelm's CE Primary School, Dorset
Windsor High School and Sixth Form, West Midlands
Community Award
Eastbourne College, East Sussex
Heswall Primary, Wirrall
Lutley Primary School, Werst Midlands
Bolton School, Greater Manchester
Parklands Primary School, Leeds
Environmental Practice
Thingwall Primary School, Merseyside
Hever Church of England Aided Primary School
Fochriw Primary School, Caerphilly, Wales
London Islamic School, London
St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Berkshire
Excellence in Health & Safety Award
Liscard Primary School, Wirral
Clare Mount Specialist Sports College, Merseyside
Queens Park Primary School, London
St Peter's Catholic Primary School
ICT Facility Award
Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Surrey
Leighton Park School, Berkshire
de Ferrers Academy, Staffordshire
Ecclesfield School, Sheffield
ICT Innovation Award
Ashmead Primary School, Buckinghamshire
Plashet School, Newham, London
Open Academy Norwich, Norfolk
Southlands School, Hampshire
Outstanding Progress (Independent)
Latymer Upper School, London
Sevenoaks School, Kent
North London Collegiate School, Middlesex
Magdalen College School, Oxfordshire
Caterham School, Surrey
Bromley School, Kent
Outstanding Progress (Primary)
Deighton Primary School, Gwent
Stalham Academy, Norfolk
Surrey Square Primary School, London
Ernesettle Community School, Devon
Queen's Park Primary School, London
Parklands Primary School, Leeds
Outstanding Progress (Secondary)
Acklam Grange School, Middlesbrough
Derby Moor Academy and Sixth Form, Derby
Davenant Foundation School, Essex
Harris Academy Battersea, London
Kensington Aldridge Academy, London
Boldon School, DSouth Tyneside
SEN Inclusion Award
St Peter's School Huntingdon, Cambridge (e/switched)
The Stanway School, Essex
Coppetts Wood Primary, London
Hollingsworth Academy, Rochdale
Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College, Birmingham
Ernesettle Community School, Devon
SEN Provision Award
Pontville School, Cumbria
Alderman Knight School, Gloucestershire
William Henry Smith School, West Yorkshire
Castledon Academy, Essex
Hillcrest Jubilee School, Warwickshire
Clare Mount Specialist Sports College, Merseyside
School Building Award
Hever Primary School, Kent
Eastbourne College,East Sussex
Reigate Parish Church Primary School, Surrey
Barr Beacon School, Walsall
Hawley Primary School, London
School Catering Award
Charlton Manor Primary, London
Liscard Primary School< Merseyside
Matravers School, Wiltshire
St Helen and St Katharine, Oxfordshire
School Music Award
Rendcomb College, Gloucestershire
Kings Heath Primary Academy, Northampton
Woodford County High School, Essex
Charlton School, Shropshire
Ellesmere College, Shropshire
School Procurement Award
Acklam Grange School, Middlesbrough
Matravers School, Wilshire
The Stour Academy Trust, Kent
Walsall Academy, west Midlands
Bradford Grammar School, Bradford
School Recruitment Award
Herts for Learning, Hertfordshire
St Peter's School, Cambridgeshire
North Yorkshire County Council
Bradford MDC / Northern Lights
Neale-Wade Academy, Cambridgeshire
School Security Award
Barnston Primary, Wirral
The Academy, Selsey, West Sussex
East Wickham Primary Academy, Kent
Beaufort Co-operative Academy, Gloucestershire
Winterslow C of E Primary School, Salisbury
STEM Award
Bromley High School, Kent
Ballard School, Hampshire
Leighton Park School, Berkshire
King's Ely, Cambridgeshire
Epsom College, Surrey
Academy Partnership Award
Barking Abbey School Specialist Sports College, Essex
Thomas Clarkson Academy, Cambridgeshire
Wimboldsley Community Primary School
King Solomon Academy, London
Manchester Health Academy, Manchester
A report by Policy Exchange shows that secondary schools with an effective ban on phones are more than twice as likely to be rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted as schools without.
A government consultation on faith school reforms also seeks views to allow new special academies and existing special academies registered as having a faith ethos to apply to have "religious character".
A free new self-assessment quiz for teachers and school staff on the government's Prevent Duty has been launched by edtech charity LGfL–The National Grid for Learning.
In the survey by school leaders’ union NAHT, more than nine in ten school leaders say they have had to raise funds from sources like charity grants and fundraising to cover basic costs.
Ofsted has said that schools with RAAC present will be able to defer inspections this summer term
Find, check and compare UK education suppliers on the National Register of Educational Suppliers at incensu.co.uk.
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