ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS FOR 6,800 SCHOOLS - MORRIS

Staff in around 6,800 schools across the country are being rewarded with a School Achievement Award. The Awards, worth around £5,000 for a typical primary school and £25,000 for a typical secondary school, were announced today by School Standards Minister Estelle Morris.

There are two categories. The Improvement Awards reward staff in schools where pupil performance in 2000 was substantially better than in 1997 and in schools that have come out of special measures. The Excellence Awards are for schools where pupil performance in 2000 was better than most schools in similar circumstances.

Ms Morris said:

“I congratulate today’s winners. The purpose of these awards is to reward staff teams and to encourage schools to strive for further improvement. Schools succeed through a combination of good leadership, good teaching and team work by all staff.

“Most awards are for schools where pupils’ results have improved substantially over the last four years. Other awards are for schools achieving better results last year than most schools in similar circumstances.

“Schools in every part of the country have won awards and the list of winners reflect the rich diversity of our schools and the communities they serve. It includes large and small schools, secular and religious schools, specialist schools, grammar and secondary modern schools, urban and rural schools, schools serving disadvantaged communities as well as schools in more privileged areas.

“Schools should be proud of winning a School Achievement Award. It celebrates success and gives governing bodies the opportunity to give the whole staff team a tangible reward.”

Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to England
1. A full list of award-winning schools can be found on the School Achievement Awards website at http://www.dfee.gov.uk/teachingreforms/rewards/schoolachieve/index.shtml.
2. The School Achievement Awards Scheme was announced in the December 1998 Green Paper Teachers: meeting the challenge of change. Awards will be made annually. This is the first round. The overall budget for the first round is £60 million.
3. All maintained schools in England were eligible for awards. Around 6,800 schools have won awards in this first round. This is equivalent to about 30% of all maintained schools in England.
4. About three quarters of the awards are for improvement. Most improvement awards are based on ranking schools by the difference between their 1997 and 2000 Key Stage test or GCSE/GNVQ results. Every school that left special measures in the 1999/2000 school year is getting an improvement award.
5. The remaining awards are called excellence awards. Most of these are based on ranking schools’ summer 2000 Key Stage test or GCSE/GNVQ results. To allow for the well-established association between socio-economic differences in schools’ intakes and their results, most schools were divided into groups based on the proportion of their pupils eligible for free school meals. Awards are being given to the highest ranking schools in each group. Grammar schools, secondary modern and other non-selective secondary schools in selective authorities were ranked in separate groups.
6. Key Stage test and GCSE/GNVQ results do not provide reliable performance indicators for special schools, pupil referral units and very small primary schools and nursery schools do not produce such results at all. So both improvement and excellence awards for these schools are based on nominations by chief education officers or head teachers assessed by independent panels with expert knowledge of the particular type of school.
7. For most schools, the value of awards is simply a function of the number of pupils.
8. With guidance from DfEE and advice from heads, Governing bodies are being asked to decide how to share the award between staff.
9. The money for awards will be distributed to schools via local education authorities in April through the Standards Fund.
10. Regional case studies are available from the DfEE press office on the numbers below.

Contact Details
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News Desk 020 7925 6789, news.desk@dfee.gov.uk