This site was created specifically for the 2012 Church School Awards.
Content is from the site's 2012 archived pages.


Church School Awards

The application window for schools wishing to apply to The Church School Awards 2012 is now closed.

Thank you to the hundreds of schools from across the United Kingdom who applied to take part. Details of the 2013 Awards will be published in the Autumn.

The inaugural Church School Awards were launched in September 2010. Open to all Church Schools, the Awards are designed to promote the fantastic and vital work done in the areas of community cohesion and global citizenship; the BIG SOCIETY in action! The Awards are an opportunity for everyone involved in Christian education to celebrate the unique and vital work that students, teachers, governors and staff do for their local communities, for our country and throughout the world.

From exchange visits to Malawi, to community outreach programmes with other local schools, from promoting the values of sustainable development through Live Simply, to encouraging good citizenship, The Church School Awards are an opportunity for Christian education to show what underpins all of our Church Schools, in the UK, and worldwide.

The Church School Awards were established by Emmaus Recruitment, the Church schools recruitment service, and are supported by the Church of England’s National Society, The Scottish Catholic Education Service, Methodist Children & Youth, the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC), Northern Ireland’s Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), aid and development organisations including CAFOD, Christian Aid, World Action in Methodist Schools, World Aims and many other supporters.

 

HOW TO ENTER

Schools already do a lot of work in the area of Community Cohesion and Citizenship, often making a huge difference through simple actions. For example, many schools organise EAL buddy parent programmes, train young translators and hold international evenings. The Church School Awards are as much about these projects, as it is the bigger events.

To enter the Awards, schools are asked to answer 4 questions explaining how they are making a difference locally, nationally and internationally. In 2010/11, many schools encouraged their pupils and students to get involved with this process, supported by either the International Coordinator or a member of the SLT. Alongside the written piece, schools can enter either a Powerpoint presentation or video of 3 to 4 minutes, demonstrating community cohesion and citizenship in action in their school.

Timings for 2011/12

2011/12 Church School Awards Opens 6th June 2011
Closing date for applications to the Church School Awards 18th November 2011
Regional Winners Announced 13th January 2012

We plan to hold the 2011/12 Church School Awards Presentation Gala, on Thursday 22nd March 2012 at Methodist Central Hall in London. All Regional Winners will be invited to this event, together with lots of famous faces from the world of education, the media and government.

All schools who enter The Awards receive a commemorative certificate of participation and will also be eligible to use the Church School Awards logo. Regional and national winners will also win a range or prizes including laptops, book tokens and a years subscription to Mathletics.

 

Church School Awards 2012 Gala Event

Regional winners were invited to a special Gala event at Methodist Church House near to Baker Street in London on Thursday 28th June 2012. The Gala was attended by a host of people and organisations, including schools, churches, charities, sponsors, government, sports and the media.

At the Gala, each regional winner will made a short presentation on the work they are undertaking to promote citizenship and community cohesion, lasting around 3 minutes. The form of the presentation was up to individual schools to decide, and included music, dance and video.

Each regional school winner were invited to bring a delegation of up to 5 people to the Awards Gala, including pupils, students, staff and governors.

Feedback from the Awards Day in 2011 and 2012 was both humbling and wonderful. A flavour of how people felt can be summed up by Mel Eastwood, one of the teachers from the 2011 National Primary Winner, Bishop Bridgeman CE School;

The whole day was amazing, we had SUCH a fabulous time. Thank you for all your trouble and for making it so special for us”.

Lord Hill, Minister of State for Schools, presented the winning schools with their prizes and said about the Awards:

“ I am delighted to congratulate the regional and national winners of the first ever Church School Awards on their superb work. These schools have demonstrated their commitment to respecting and supporting other young people around the world as well as in their own local community.

Church schools make an important contribution to education in this country – not only in achieving good exam results, but also in nurturing young people to become real ambassadors for the ethos of their schools. It is wonderful to be able to celebrate this and see the links they have established in volunteering in local communities, fundraising for countries hit by disaster and building relationships with pupils around the world.”

The Awards Gala in 2011/12 was hosted by former BBC Television Presenter, Kristen O’Brien. Event sponsors and supporters who also attended included Emmaus Recruitment, Mathletics, COS Group, Cafod, Christian Aid, Tribune, CATSC , Redemptorist Publications, Dernier Publishing, XMA, Methodist Children & Youth, World Aims, The National Society and Northern Ireland’s Council for Catholic Maintained Schools.

PRESS RELEASE

 

Church School Awards

02 March 2012
Finalists announced for Church School Awards 2012
Second year of awards and Church schools make more of a difference to their communities than ever.

Ten regional winners have been announced for the second annual Church School Awards. The awards will be presented at a special Gala this summer, which will be hosted by Children's TV Presenter Kirsten O'Brien, to be held in London on 28th June.

Schools from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland were judged on how they foster strong community relations, both locally and nationally. More than 250 schools applied to take part and the finalists were chosen from a shortlist of more than 100 schools.

The Regional Winners are:

NE and East Anglia Primary - Wilberfoss CE VA Primary School, York (Anglican Diocese of York)

NE and East Anglia Secondary - Notre Dame High School, Norwich (RC Diocese of East Anglia)

NW and Northern Ireland Primary - St Comgall's Catholic Primary School, Bangor, County Down (RC Diocese of Down and Connor)

NW and Northern Ireland Secondary - Trinity CE School, Carlisle (Anglican Diocese of Carlisle)

Midlands Primary - Queniborough CE Primary School, Leicestershire (Anglican Diocese of Leicester)

Midlands Secondary - The National Church of England Academy, Nottingham (Anglican Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham)

SW and Wales Primary - Durweston CE VA Primary School, Dorset (Anglican Diocese of Salisbury)

SW and Wales Secondary - Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Cardiff (RC Archdiocese of Cardiff)

London and SE Primary - Parish Church CE Junior School, Croydon (Anglican Diocese of Southwark)

London and SE Secondary - Kent College, Canterbury (Methodist Independent Schools)

 

Special Commendations:

St John Houghton Catholic School, Ilkeston (Midlands Secondary)

St Andrew's CE/Methodist (Aided) Primary School, Dronfield (Midlands Primary)

St John Fisher Catholic High School, Peterborough (NE and East Anglia Secondary)

St Thomas' CE Halliwell, Bolton (NW and Northern Ireland Primary)

Notre Dame RC School, Plymouth (SW and Wales Secondary)

Archbishop Benson CE Primary School, Truro (SW and Wales Primary)

Regional prizes will be awarded at both primary and secondary level, with overall national winners for both phases drawn from these regional winners. The Gala will take place in London, at Methodist Church House, on the afternoon of 28th June, with VIPs, sponsors and partners of the Church School Awards all presenting the schools with their prizes. Schools were asked to describe what nurturing global citizenship and fostering community cohesion mean to them, and how these principles are embedded in school life.

Lisa Nolan, Education Development and Improvement Officer for Methodist Children & Youth, said: "We have again been overwhelmed by the level of interest in the Church School Awards. The standard of application has been very high, and we look forward to celebrating educational excellence at the Gala this summer."

Nicola Sylvester, Head of School Effectiveness for the Church of England's National Society said: "These awards offer recognition to the many church schools that are making a huge difference in their communities, and we're looking forward to expanding the awards nationwide in 2013."

Susan Kambalu, Secondary INSET Co-ordinator for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), said: "It is exciting to see so many schools engaging with global justice issues across the curriculum, enabling young people to develop empathy with and understanding of their neighbours in the global South."

The Church School Awards were established by Emmaus Recruitment, a recruitment specialist of teaching and leadership staff for Church schools, and are supported by the Church of England's National Society, Methodist Children & Youth, the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC), Northern Ireland's Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), aid and development organisations including CAFOD, Christian Aid, World Action in Methodist Schools, World Aims and many other supporters.

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It was so exciting receiving the news from our granddaughter that her high school in Norwich was a 2012 finalist in the Church School Awards. I had just spoken with a representative from Hart Heritage Assisted Living located not too far from where we live in Harford County, Maryland. We are looking into our options regarding independent senior living within a facility such as Hart Heritage Estates. The amenities at Hart Heritage are extensive and both of their locations are licensed dementia care facilities which provide round the clock care and supervision in a safe environment. The Hart Heritage location in Street, Maryland is close by to Rocks State Park. I suppose the primary attractions at Rocks State Park include Kilgore Falls and the King and Queen Seat. The King and Queen Seat is a spectacular 190-foot high rock outcrop overlooking Deer Creek. Kilgore Falls and the King and Queen Seat were featured in the Disney movie Tuck Everlasting! When our kids were growing up we ofter visited the park to go hiking and to go tubing on to Deer Creek, which is ideal for fishing, as well.

I had just gotten off the phone when I received notice that my grand daughter wanted to have a facetime with me. I called her grandmother to come join the conversation and we learned all about the Church School Awards and what it meant for her school. I appreciated the fact that the Church School Awards celebrated the best examples of local community work and global citizenship in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and encouraged respect for different cultures and a sense of justice. Our conversation was fun and informative. I told her about the rug company I had found to clean and repair some of our oriental rugs. And I made a fun bet with her that the next time she came to visit she should take a look at the oriental rugs to see if she could tell where the repairs had been done. (note: she couldn't tell except that there was now fringe on either end of the rugs). We ended the call by wishing her and her school good luck.

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Church School Awards Judging Panel & Judging Criteria

All entries to the Church School Awards are judged by an independent panel chaired by Tony Richardson, Executive Director of BECTA and former Director of the National College. Other panel members include Andy Sowerby, President of CATSC (Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges), Rob Gwyne, Deputy Director of The National Society, Lisa Nolan, Education Development and Improvement Officer for Methodist Education, Catherine Warland, Trainee Headteacher at St John the Divine CE Primary School in Lambeth, and Liam Dowds, Managing Director of Emmaus Recruitment.

All of the information schools require regarding the judging criteria for 2011/12 will be published in June. Please visit our website regularly to keep up to date with the latest news regarding next year’s Awards.

All entries to the Church School Awards receive a commemorative certificate and may use the Church School Awards logo on their website and headed paper. Regional and national winners also receive feedback on the strengths of their applications.

Examples of excellent practice in the field of community cohesion and global citizenship will be published on the Church School Awards website in due course, to support schools who may want to apply in 2012.

 

 



 

Church School Awards

Organisers of the Church School Awards have taken the decision to postpone the 2012/13 Awards and re-commence again for 2013/14. This has been a difficult decision to reach but a combination of factors (for example, a new joint Anglican/Methodist RE inspection framework launched from September 2012 and the welcome addition of the Catholic Education Service as supporters of the Awards going forward) has meant the criteria for assessment of the Awards now has to be re-evaluated and agreement reached to ensure a common framework applicable to all Church Schools of every denomination.

We apologise for not being in a position to run the 2013 Awards since we know there has been, as we have come to expect, a great and constantly growing level of interest in the Awards and all that they stand for.

So please do look out for further updates regarding the 2014 Awards in due course!

Thank you for your understanding and ongoing support going forward.

The Church School Awards Supporters
(The National Society, Methodist Education, Catholic Education Service, CAFOD and Emmaus Recruitment)

 


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