Outstanding Progress Award - Secondary

sponsored by NEC Display Solutions
Presented to the UK Secondary School 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.

2011 Winner: Bethnal Green Technology College, London

Four years on from ‘special measures’, Bethnal Green Technology College (BGTC) has made another leap in GCSE results, achieving 80 percent five-plus A*-C grades, including English and Mathematics. That took them from 27 percent in 2007 and on to 57 percent in 2010. Each has been a tremendous jump. Much of that has been guided through strong, long-term management, carefully targeted resources and high retention of committed teachers. Creating a tightly structured environment and staff development programme, assisted by Teach First, BGTC transformed other schools’ excluded students and created a new culture of expectation. They have received approval for Academy status.

Commended

Samuel Ward Academy, Suffolk
Nationally rated in the top three percent for several years, Samuel Ward Academy’s high ground consistency is reflected in an ongoing, vigilant management of improvements. The Academy’s ‘learning schools’, which aim at constantly enhancing student performance, are one result. Professionalism, curriculum advances, achievement levels and teaching capabilities find successful expression in Key Stage 4 students who, entering the school below par, actually finish above average. A similar pattern occurs with vulnerable students. The School Organisation Review provided an impetus: a £3.5m new build onsite, including a science lab, art room and numerous teaching and activity spaces, benefiting 7 and 8 students especially.

Ash Green School & Arts College, Coventry
Holding their ground from a past of serious underperformance, Ash Green school sustained exam performance levels in 2011 over the previous year with 65 percent five A*-C GCSE grades, including English and Mathematics. The turnaround through effective leadership and management has been achieved within a tight funding framework. Big improvements resulted following reorganisation of senior leadership greatly benefiting pupils. A sharply-focused system to track students’ progress enabled strategies to be deployed that close gaps in students’ learning. And curricular accommodation to a number of strong partnerships provides further vocational depth.

Debden Park High School, Essex
For five years without a hitch Debden Park performing arts school has kept its exam results moving up: 85 percent five A*-C grade GCSE’s and 67 percent with English and Mathematics included. Debden Park was singled out as a teaching school by the National College for School Leadership to lead training and professional development. Extensive capital investment in highly equipped facilities – ITC, sports, arts studios and teaching areas – helped create serious learning growth. Winning a national competition to perform at the National Theatre in London and gaining the Arts Council’s Artsmark Gold award, is further reputational vindication.

Sir John Cass Foundation and Redcoat Church of England Secondary School, London
Sir John Cass school is bouncing back from adverse circumstances to become the second most improved school in England. In 2010, it achieved 100 percent five A*-C GCSE grades. The school’s specialist languages and business enterprise college, together with substantial  investment in facilities and technology, requires a stable learning environment which is being achieved through strong, yet unobtrusive behaviour monitoring. Senior teaching leadership is building on that by adjusting the curriculum around different academic-vocational pathways to connect better with students’ range of capabilities. Support intervention is sharply targeted - problems have nowhere to hide.