Winners announced at 2012 EB Awards
The winners of the 2012 Education Business Awards, sponsored by RM Education, were announced at the Emirates Stadium on December 6. Over 60 schools from across the country were in attendance to hear Newsnight's Gavin Esler reveal the winners in 19 categories. See the winning schools below.
Outstanding Progress - Independent School
sponsored by Espresso Education and Channel 4 Learning
Winner: Sevenoaks School, Kent
Sevenoaks School has an enviable record as a coeducational day and boarding school, providing academic excellence with a strong pastoral and co-curricular emphasis, as well as a global perspective inspired by the International Baccalaureate. The Sunday Times named Sevenoaks as the top performing co-educational independent school in 2012; A testimony to the school’s growing sophistication can be seen in the recently inaugurated Baccalaureate-linked Centre for Innovation lectures announcing top flight academic and professional speakers and inviting local schools and the wider Sevenoaks community to participate.
Commended
North London Collegiate School, Middlesex
Magdalen College School , Oxford
Wycombe Abbey School, Buckinghamshire
Brighton College, East Sussex
Outstanding Progress Award - Secondary
sponsored by NEC Display Solutions
Winner: Baxter College, Worcestershire
Baxter College, an 11-19 Academy in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, serves the seventh most socially deprived ward in England. 50 per cent of pupils are on the SEN Register. For years the school had been described as “the crisis school”. The Governors appointed a new leadership team, which has been relentless in improving every aspect of the organisation from recruiting outstanding staff, to a curriculum that mattered. 14 national teaching awards have followed plus a place in the top 100 schools list for sustained improvement from 2008 to 2012. Conversion to an Academy has been followed by a successful submission to make its Pupil Referral Unit a Free School from January 2013.
Commended
Henbury School, Bristol
Bedford High School, Leigh
St Thomas More Catholic, London
Chase High School, , Essex
Outstanding Progress Award - Primary School
Winner: Iqra Primary School
Iqra Primary School’s modestly understated principles of ‘improvement, quality, respect and achievement’ provide the overarching philosophy that helps build on the knowledge, skills and experiences that pupils bring to school and prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. Iqra gained top marks in the Times Education Supplement’s 2012 School Awards, coming first in the ‘most outstanding’ primary category and runner-up for the overall best UK school. A clear indication, in Iqra’s thriving and productive environment, that staff and pupils – together with parents’ and community members’ support – are dedicated to creating premier standards.
Commended
Oxley Park Academy, Bucks
Ashton Gate Primary, Bristol
Malmesbury CofE Primary School, Wiltshire
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, Hants
SEN Inclusion Award
sponsored by Mike Ayres Designs
Winner: The Lampton School
The level-headedness of SEN pioneering at Lampton is clear from their concern to recognise achievements in the context of a particular point in time. Friendly departmental competition, to feed success from one to another, forms the very live cultural backbone sustaining their focus. That capability goes beyond the school boundaries: Their Inclusion team has visited and worked with over 60 SEN departments since March 2009, operating in cooperation with London Challenge and the DfE to support targeted London schools. They have reviewed Inclusion literature for the Times Educational Supplement and delivered training on Inclusion to various audiences including SENJIT, Brunel University and Teach First.
Commended
King Solomon High School, Essex
Netherfield Primary School, Nottingham
Beal High School, Essex
Lyng Hall School, Coventry
SEN Provision Award
sponsored by Mike Ayres Designs
Winner: Springfields Academy, Wiltshire
Springfields has been praised for its enlightened all-round provision for pupils, and the vocational centre that has facilities and instructors available for 500 pupils from other schools. And there is an innovation focus for every part of curriculum provision. Providing a dedicated and experienced team working to support the most vulnerable pupils, while also providing baseline testing and progression data, is seen as critical. Their commitment to finding new ways to develop students’ confidence in literacy and numeracy is continuous, one of the reasons that has led to the achievement of Outstanding Special Needs School of the Year at TESSA. The school has received an ‘outstanding’ rating by Ofsted, and last year became the first special school in England to gain Academy status.
Commended
Wren Spinney Community Special School, Northants
Springfields Academy, Wiltshire
Whitefield Schools and Centre, London
Birch Wood School, Leicestershire
Outstanding Academy Award
sponsored by Smoothwall web filtering + security
Winner: Samuel Ward Academy, Suffolk
Samuel Ward Academy’s school motto ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it’ reflects its use of innovative technologies and teaching methods. The school has maintained its impressive progress and improvement during a major re-organisation in September 2011, when it changed from an Upper School for pupils aged 13-18, to a 11-18 Academy. This was a challenging period, as the effect of school closures and mergers was traumatic for many staff. Pupil numbers rose from 865 pupils to 1230, placing a huge strain on the over-crowded buildings. The school bid for and gained building projects for a dining hall and state of the art sports centre, changes have been highly successful. Whilst in the midst of all this change the school also submitted a successful bid to open a Special Free school. Frustrated by the lack of provision in the area for pupils with special needs, especially those on the autistic spectrum, the school decided that the Free School agenda offered a source of hope to local families whose needs not being met. The special school will cater for 70 students. The hard work of the school was recognised by Ofsted which awarded the school Outstanding in every category in October this year.
Commended
City Academy, Norwich
Oasis Academy Coulsdon, Surrey
Academy Partnership Award
sponsored by ESPO
Winner: Heartlands Academy, Birmingham
Heartlands Academy, which Ofsted found ‘outstanding in every area’, has developed a sophisticated level of business connections with companies ranging from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Deloitte to Chambers of Commerce and Business in the Community, Business Class, Enabling Enterprise and EDT. It was Business in the Community and Chambers of Commerce that acted as a catalyst for Heartlands to expand partnerships across Birmingham, and to participate in projects benefiting student development right across the curriculum. Students have attended enterprise sessions delivered by BMW, Jaguar and Thomas Vale Construction. PwC are one of Heartlands Academy primary partnerships and they back the delivery of enterprise classes by offering students business mentor support and professional enterprise guidance facilitated through a structured programme created through Enabling Enterprise. PwC also tailored an employability day for over 120 students, where classes were replaced by employability workshops, business speed dating and communication workshops. Pupils listened to business leaders about the importance of broader skills and experiences as an important added dimension to academic achievement when seeking employment.
Commended
Wallington County Grammar School, Surrey
JCB Academy, Staffordshire
Academy Development Award
Winner: Drapers’ Academy, Essex
In September 2012 Drapers’ Academy moved into brand new £24m state-of-the-art facilities for pupils, staff and the wider community. The impressive new building provides a high quality, stimulating learning space that supports the vision and ethos of the school - raising pupil achievement and improving opportunities for the community. This is the first phase of a learning village envisaged by the local council as part of the regeneration of the surrounding area. Its design uses the slope of the site to maximise views across the stunning Essex landscape and provide a central courtyard that takes its cues from the medieval cloister and the long tradition of the English country house and its surrounding parkland. In that setting there are 23 acres of landscaped grounds, for sports with all-weather pitches, three grass football pitches, fully-equipped gym, trampoline and climbing wall. Science clubs develop an understanding of the world including observation of sustainability from the power systems that provide renewable energy to the new Academy buildings and a study of the natural history of the site. A two storey greenhouse, adjacent to the science block, houses different types of climate so that plants can be studied in a variety of environments.
Commended
South Wolverhampton & Bilston Academy, West Midlands
Bedford Academy, Bedford
ICT Innovation Award
sponsored by RM Education
Winner: The Cooper School
The Cooper School, a specialist science college, achieved a new high point with the NAACE ICT Impact Award this year, presented by former Secretary of State for Education, Charles Clarke. It was in recognition of innovation showing how technology should work within a school – to support the needs of all. In addition to strengthening the depth, history and practical applications of computing in the curriculum, the school is developing extra-curricular ideas such as Game Maker, animation and mobile phone apps. In the latter case they are part of ‘Apps for Good’, a national scheme that offers students an insight into both the technological and business environment that surrounds the development of a mobile phone app. The group at Cooper are working to research, design and create a mobile app that will bring together the schools house system. This is all undertaken at lunch time with tutor time input from the rest of the school. Their expertise has featured this year in the Times Educational Supplement. From touring an Oxford College many of the team members are now planning to study Computer Science related subjects at university.
Commended
Woodlawn School, Tyne and Wear
Bohunt School, East Hampshire
ICT Facility Award
sponsored by RM Education
Winner: Essa Academy
Essa Academy has lead the way in its development of learning technologies, with 1:1 deployment of iPod touch devices and a rollout of iPads and AppleTV as a learning solution that allows the use of 21st Century learning resources and streamlined productivity in a educational setting. Equipping staff and pupils with appropriate devices is creating a range of benefits from cost efficiencies to expanding data and knowledge access; but it has also been with a radical approach to space in mind: moving away from traditional offices to create more fluid areas in keeping with technology functions that minimise the need for fixed location working. Essa’s 900 students each have an iOS device with tailored lesson plans devised and disseminated through Apple’s educational network iTunesU via wi-fi communications. iTunesU has agreed to let the school create its own electronic textbooks with podcasts, apps and video from various universities and then to distribute them via the network. Among apps in 24/7 use are office suites and a free cloud data service that students and staff use to connect with Google Drive and Dropbox.
Commended
Copland Community School, Middlesex
Anson Primary School, London
Sports Award
sponsored by Collinson
Winner: Corpus Christi Catholic Sports College
Although set in an affluent area of Preston, a high proportion of Corpus Christi Catholic Sports College students come from the most deprived local areas, with 33 per cent on free school meals. The school is an 11-16 state school with 782 students, and became a sports college in 2005. Through the Football Foundation, and a former pupil, it has developed excellent sporting facilities, and has gradually built up an excellent PE Department with an array of sporting backgrounds. Corpus Christi believes that by using sport as a tool to increase attendance, examination results, and confidence, the school is preparing students for the world beyond. Over a third of each year group takes a qualification in PE, and individual mentor meetings with the students help them to take the course that is suitable to them. After school clubs are at the heart of the department and play a vital role in raising students’ confidence and self belief. Every year, Corpus Christi takes part in the Living for Sport initiative through Sky Sports to focus on a group of students in school who are either badly behaved or lack motivation/self esteem. The school is currently working with a group of girls in year 9, using sport to develop confidence and social skills.
Commended
Stanley Primary School, Middlesex
Uppingham School, Rutland
School Recruitment Award
sponsored by Eteach
Winner: Wennington Hall School, Lancashire
Wennington Hall School’s recruitment strategy focuses on finding talented staff that complements the existing team at the school, yet where each also brings something different to enrich teaching. That approach is designed to provide an innovative balance to overall expertise. For those seeking to contribute to the school, Wennington Hall has much to recommend it quite apart from its idyllic countryside location. The school has a well established reputation in Lancashire, in part resulting from the strong ethos and teaching outcomes: Ofsted has declared its organisation and management ‘outstanding’. An example of the attraction to the many applicants applying for each post is typified by the specific opportunities there are to develop talent, such as a Residential Social Worker training the school’s staff in her expertise. This has a positive effect all-round. Consequently, the school has the lowest turnover of staff in the area. At the interview stage a pupil contributes to the selection process by asking pertinent questions of the candidates on the conducted tour around the school. The pupil contributes an opinion at the end of the interview which helps candidates appreciate the effect of teaching in the school.
Commended
Brecknock Primary School, London
Over Primary School, Cambridge
Educational Visits Award
sponsored by WST Travel
Winner: King Edward VI School, Suffolk
King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds has a strong track record of fostering internationalism in the school, and made a significant breakthrough in the UK by making a bold and carefully planned cultural exchange trip to Kurdistan, northern Iraq. With the backing of the Youth Sport Trust, British Council, and funded by the European Union, the school’s intrepid leadership took students as part of an education festival celebrating unity in sport. It was a mutual effort to learn from each other the effect of which was to show there is a degree of normality in the country and, despite a high level of security awareness required for the trip, the school found stereotypes could quickly be cast aside. King Edward VI has a constantly busy schedule of hundreds of off-site visits that take students near and far. That has ranged from a day out at Rockbourne Roman Villa, to a weekend at our Rural Studies centre, Lovaton, in Dartmoor, to a three week expedition in Indonesia. Again, over the recent period and looking forward Fishbourne’s Roman Palace, Toothill Observatory and a language trip to Salamanca, Spain are just a few on the itinerary.
Commended
Ormiston Ilkeston Academy,
Seaham School of Technology, Durham
School Catering Award
sponsored by Bernard Matthews
Winner: St. Matthew Academy, London
St Matthew Academy has achieved Healthy School status by investing extensively in its catering facilities to deliver restaurant standard healthy breakfasts, snacks and lunches to its students. The quality of food at the Academy has rapidly improved over recent years through astute purchasing; developing reciprocal connections with local suppliers of eggs, meat and vegetables; and producing a variety of nutritional fresh meals every day. Tremendous educational benefits have been observed due to a better standard of food available for the students: Behaviour has improved; it is even believed better attendance is down to the psychological effect of quality food availability since pupils don’t need to abscond to buy food they want to eat.
Commended
Unity City Academy, Middlesbrough
Moor End Academy, Huddersfield
Brook Green Centre for Learning, Plymouth
Ravenscliffe High School, Halifax
Science Award
sponsored by Lab Systems Furniture
Winner: Balshaw’s CofE High School
Balshaw’s is a fully Comprehensive 11-16 State School in Lancashire with have 940 pupils. Over 30 per cent of students go on to study Sciences at A Level and beyond - well above the national average. Science Teaching is unusual, engaging, practical and fun. Enrichment includes two science clubs per week, GCSE astronomy on Friday nights, sleepover trips to the Science Museum, Trip to the Paris Science Museum for Year 11, Bring your Parents to Science Club, flights to the Northern Lights, and many more activities. Technology is a huge part of the school’s success; students use online robotic telescopes to produce GCSE coursework for Astronomy. In 2010, Balshaw’s was awarded a Wolfson Foundation grant to add a Science ICT Suite to enhance student learning. University lecturers that talk to students every year include Professor McCarthy, a microbiologist from Liverpool and Dr Wilson; a planetary geologist from Leicester. Great links have been forged with the local primary schools, and science training is provided for primary teachers. 2013 will be the year of “Astronomy for All” at Balshaw’s.
Commended
Jews' Free School, London
King Edward VI School, Staffordshire
Environmental Building Award
sponsored by Big Green Book
Winner: Richmond Hill Primary School, Leeds
Richmond Hill Primary School in Leeds is part of a world-class development specifically aimed at drastically reducing every aspect of energy use while making conservation paramount. That is aimed at achieving very low running costs – a product of conception-to-finish cooperation incorporating the school’s ideas and views. The school has not only achieved Passivhaus certification, but has actually improved on the air tightness target of the Passivhaus Institute itself. The school will use up to 80 per cent less energy than a conventionally built equivalent facility, reducing carbon emissions by 60 per cent without the use of renewable energy. To help achieve superior levels of thermal insulation a solution was found for the eradication of cold bridging between the building’s piled foundations and steelwork frame, by using high-strength insulation normally used in industrial process plant installations. The walls and roof of Richmond Hill School achieve optimum thermal insulation effectiveness, far exceeding the requirements of the current building regulations.
Commended
St. Faith's School, Cambridge
Oakmeadow Primary School, Wolverhampton
School Building Award
Winner: Stanley Park High School
Stanley Park High School, a £35m project that opened earlier this year, won the distinguished London Design Award for a new build judges declared had created the ideal space to “fire students’ enthusiasms”. The award celebrates how new buildings contribute to the quality and environmental sensitivities of the capital. The project’s internal public way and relaxed spaces are important aspects sparking students’ outlook and artistic creativity. And the architects’ scrupulous approach to seamlessly mixing new with the old reflects thoughtful understanding of how to captivate 1,400 pupils. Especially significant has been the way the site is divided into four small logically arranged schools – World, specialising in the humanities and foreign languages; Performance, concentrating on PE, dance, music, drama and media; Trade, where vocational subjects, technology, art and design are studied; and Horizon, a specialist school for children with autism. The central space at the heart of the School, designed to resemble the corporate headquarters of a large-scale company, provides an ideal learning space for all students. It contains facilities for ICT and a variety of seating arrangements for students to learn inside and outside formal lesson times.
Commended
Northwood Primary School, Darlington
Heartlands High School , London
Music Award
Winner: Great Sankey High School
The Music Department at Great Sankey High School is thriving. Students from the school’s choirs and bands display high standards of musical ensemble skills, inclusive of all ages, experience and background - something the school prides itself with. It hosts the regionals for Music For Youth each year, inviting young musicians from all over the North West to participate. Extra curricular inclusive groups are well attended. The school’s annual ‘Great S Factor’ is a hugely popular event providing an opportunity for all singers who audition to compete in the live final with a panel of famous judges. Numerous ex students are currently reading Music or Music Technology at University, and school boasts the phenomenal success of a former A Level Music student - his symphonic composition has been chosen to be performed in December 2012 amongst a programme of Wagner, Saint-Saens and Dvorák. A parent group raises money for the ensembles to help fund trips such as Disneyland Paris 2012, where the bands and choirs performed on the main stage. The vision for the future is to further strengthen links with local primaries, supporting instrumental/vocal lessons and ensembles in a wide range of genres and cultures, working in collaboration to produce a seamless transition and equal opportunities for all.
Commended
Churchfields Junior School, London
St. Roses Special School, , Gloucestershire
School Security Award
Winner: Clissold Park School
Clissold Park School sought a more reliable and flexible way of controlling access through 40 doors in the extensive day-to-day movements of everyone across the site. The previous arrangement of keys and codes proved to be both impractical and unreliable. The new system uses electronic locks activated by key cards that can be programmed to allow or restrict access to different parts of the building. That enables teachers and assistants to use cards that allow them to pass freely about the school. For cleaners, access may well be restricted to certain parts of the school deemed relevant and that fit in with certain times of the day. In this case Clissold School added another layer of security by personalising the cards with photographs to double as staff IDs. The technology allows for a vast array of configurations, including the ability to lock down the entire system should circumstances require it. Scheduled opening and shutting can be set for toilets, common room, dining area, etc. Operating in a wireless environment where the original doors and locks can be retained, readers on the main entry and exit points log arrival and departure times, providing another level of efficiency with time and attendance functionality.
Commended
The Green School, Middlesex
Catmose College, Rutland
The Education Business Awards is supported by the British Educational Suppliers Association and promoted through leading magazine Education Business, published six times a year. Now in its fourteenth year of publication, Education Business contains need-to-know news, features and case studies that explain the administrative and commercial issues affecting education.
