Glossop school scoops first class award

Glossop's St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy has received an award in recognition of the work it is doing to improve outcomes for disadvantaged students. 

It has been given by the Pupil Premium Award from the Achievement for All organisation, which works with schools across the country to improve outcomes for all pupils. 

St Philip Howard, which is part of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, has been working with Achievement for All for two years to narrow the gap in education between ‘pupil premium’ (disadvantaged students) and non-pupil premium students.

A curriculum has been designed to meet the needs of PP pupils, meetings have been held with families to engage parents at home and bring them into school and one member of staff is responsible for overseeing the work done with the students.

The school has been working with a pilot group of 35 students and following the success of the two-year programme,  the plan is to roll the initiative out to even more pupils and become a leading school in the area. 

Deputy headteacher Mike Kays says everyone at the school was pleased to see their efforts recognised with an award. 

He said: “We worked with Achievement for All to raise outcomes for Pupil Premium pupils, improve their personal development, behaviour and aspirations and increase parental engagement. 

“We have met 12 times over a year to monitor the impact and we have had to prove we have made massive improvements and had an impact in all the above areas.  

“We have seen massive improvements in the PP pupils we have worked with, in some cases we have seen them improve by a whole grade in their GCSEs. We are delighted with this achievement and it is recognition for all the hard work the school has put into increasing outcome and opportunities. We are continuing to work with Achievement for All around achieving more and we hope to become a leading school over the next programme.” 

Headteacher Louisa Morris added: “We are delighted with the outcome of the hard work which has been done by all of our staff to ensure the quality of education is high and no pupil is disadvantaged in any way. The award recognises the huge effort that has gone around this award, but also in improving the whole of the academy.” 

Congratulating St Philip Howard was Sean McClafferty, chief executive of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust.

He told the Chronicle: “This award is a fantastic achievement and well deserved recognition of all of the hard work that is being done at St Philip Howard to ensure that every child gets the very best start in life.” 

Achievement For All is a not-for-profit organisation that works with early years settings, schools and colleges to improve outcomes for all children and young people.  

Main image:

PLEASED: Deputy headteacher Mike Kays with the award.

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