Deserved praise for hardworking schools

The winners of the 2018 Education Business Awards have been announced, recognising strong leadership, good teaching and operational excellence in UK schools from all sectors.

Schools are mini communities that nurture our future generations. A good school will have excellent and supportive leadership and dedicated teachers. But there are also numerous people behind the front line, ensuring the school is safe and clean, that health and safety standards are kept-up, and that children are well fed.

There are staff procuring equipment to compliment the curriculum, managing finances, making sure sports facilities are up to scratch, and so on. All the hard work that goes into running a school should be rewarded and the Education Business Awards serves to recognise this. Countdown’s Susie Dent presented the awards, which were sponsored by Awesome Apps, to the 22 winning educational establishments at the glittering ceremony at St Paul’s Grange Hotel in London on 5 July.

Outstanding progress
The Outstanding Progress award for Primary Schools, sponsored by Merlin, was presented to Ernesettle Community School. For the last three academic years, attainment figures put Ernesettle Community School in the top 1,000 schools nationally overall and the top 100 schools for disadvantaged pupils’. Extended Schools provision, subsidised educational trips and the continued appointment of a Family Support Advisor all help to improve the life chances of its pupils.

In the secondary school category, Acklam Grange scooped the Outstanding Progress Award. With a history of strong community values and equality, in September 2017 Acklam Grange was designated a National Teaching School and has to date supported over 40 schools. Technology aids learning and is one of many contributory factors to its students’ academic success. Welfare provision improved markedly from 2015-17 with the alignment of all student welfare services.

The Outstanding Progress award for the Independent sector, sponsored by Ant Education, was presented to Bromley High School. The school’s GCSE results in 2018 were the best in the history of the school with 49 per cent A* and 77 per cent A*/A grades. Some examples of the exceptional performance of its academic departments are the Royal Geographical Society’s Excellence Award and the Junior School winning first prize in the Primary Science Association’s National Practical Challenge Competition for KS1.

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