Warwickshire schools celebrate excellence
The fourth ‘Excellence in Warwickshire’ Awards took place on Wednesday 8 November at Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club.
The event was held to celebrate the achievements of schools inspected by Ofsted between September 2016 and July 2017. Schools that improved their Ofsted grading or that managed to retain their ‘outstanding’ judgement were praised for their hard work and presented with an award from Warwickshire County Council.
Many of these schools have worked exceptionally hard to bring about improvements, resulting in their Ofsted judgement moving from either ‘Special Measures’ or ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’. Some schools were recognised for their drive and determination to maintain the outstanding quality of education for their learners.
36 people including Head teachers, Chairs of Governors, and pupils from 12 schools attended. A wide range of schools from across the county were represented from nursery, infant, primary, secondary; maintained community schools, church schools and academies.
Guests enjoyed a performance from the Central Area Music Theatre Group, who entertained with energetic numbers from Bugsy Malone. Presenting the awards and personally congratulating the schools’ on their achievements were; Portfolio Holder for Education and Learning, Cllr Colin Hayfield and Head of Service for Education and Learning, Chris Malone.
Pupils were invited to speak about why their school is a good place to learn:
Toby and Gabriella from Stockton Primary said: “Our school is very proud to have this award because it will make our pupils more confident and make us all round prouder of ourselves.”
Lizzie from Studley High School said, “There is a distinct atmosphere, as you walk along the corridors, of family and a real sense of community.”
Olivia and Joe from St James CE Academy, Bedworth said “Our school is a good school because every single teacher does their best to bring out the best in all of the students. At St James, we love our learning and would recommend our school to everybody!”
Cllr Colin Hayfield, Portfolio Holder – Education & Learning, said: “In Warwickshire we put children at the heart of all that we do so it is fantastic to see our schools striving year on year to achieve the best outcomes for their pupils. This event is the perfect way to recognise their success and the hard work of both staff and pupils.”
Congratulations to this year's winners of the Excellence in Warwickshire award:
Abbots Farm Infant School
Camp Hill Primary School
Cubbington CofE Primary School
Etone College
Hillmorton Primary School
Kenilworth Nursery School
Kineton CofE Primary School
Kingsbury Primary School
Outwoods Primary School
Racemeadow Primary Academy
St Andrew's Benn CofE Primary School
St James CofE Academy
St Paul's CofE Primary School, Leamington
Stockton Primary School
Studley High School
The Queen Elizabeth Academy
Schools in Warwickshire receive prestigious award
Two schools in Warwickshire have received the Quality Lead Award from leading education charity Achievement for All. Bedworth Heath Maintained Nursery School and Boughton Leigh Infant School in Rugby have both worked hard to improve progress in reading, writing and maths for all pupils, particularly those with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities.
Achievement for All works with schools and settings to improve outcomes for all children and young people vulnerable to underachievement regardless of background, challenge or need. The prestigious award recognises a school's work in developing children's personal social and emotional development and also their progress in physical development, communication skills and early literacy and numeracy.
Atherstone Nursery School, Bedworth Heath's federated partner school, is also on the way to Quality Lead status having been awarded the Achievement for All Quality Mark.
Amanda King, Executive Head teacher of Bedworth Heath and Atherstone nursery schools said: "We are so proud that Bedworth Heath School has achieved the Quality Lead award which recognises the dedication and expertise our team bring to their work in school every day.”
"Working with Achievement for All over the last five years has had a clear impact on outcomes for children, enabling them to make consistently outstanding progress and us to close the attainment gap for our vulnerable groups.”
"We are just as proud that Atherstone Nursery School, which began working with Achievement for All two years later than Bedworth Heath, has achieved Quality Mark status, as exactly the same standards and objectives apply there."
Boughton Leigh Infant School was given a glowing report from Achievement for All’s Deputy Regional Lead Sue Burrows who reviewed the work going on at BLIS. She says:
“We are delighted to present Boughton Leigh Infant School with this prestigious award – a real stamp of quality for their high standards in leadership, teamwork, quality of teaching and pupil progress. The target groups we have been working with have made more than expected progress and are closing the gap with their peers."
“Achievement for All believes that every child can progress and through our programmes we hope to enable every child to be the best that they can be regardless of background, challenge, or need.”
Pictured are Karen Iles (National Director of Achievement for All), three-year-old Eva-May and Bedworth Heath Nursery School executive head Amanda King.
Celebrating achieving AfA Quality Lead status are Boughton Leigh Infant School teacher and AfA Champion Chris Cartwright (left) and Head teacher Andrew Moorcroft.
New STEM Centre at Royal Leamington Spa College: available to schools
A brand new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) centre has opened at Royal Leamington Spa College to inspire young people in a range of STEM related subjects.
The centre is funded by the Government’s Local Growth Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) and was officially opened by CWLEP board member and CEO of Leamington-based technology group The Emerald Group, Sarah Windrum.
Facilities within the centre include:
- Reaction Wall - to test student (and teacher) reaction times as part of investigations into fitness, health and sport
- Nao Robots - can be programmed to perform a number of tasks including dance routines and face recognition
- Infrared Spectrometer - used to analyse chemical evidence at crime scenes and the composition of various substances
- Virtual Reality Technology - software and goggles to explore virtual worlds
- Engineering technology including 3D printer, pneumatics trainer and self-assembly robots
- Dual Projection Facility - for large scale demonstrations of computer games and interactive screen based projects
The centre is designed to be used by pupils from local primary and secondary schools, as well as students at WCG.
Neil Coker, Group Vice Principal Curriculum, explains: ““We want to work with schools to provide activities that directly enrich and support their teaching for the benefit of all our local young people. We want to hear from and work with schools to develop activities that have real impact and add value to pupils’ learning and engagement in STEM.”
For teachers and schools interested in using the STEM Centre, please email stem@warwickshire.ac.uk.