Shrubland Street Community Primary School in Leamington wins three Times Educational Supplement awards

Samantha Croston, Louise Greet and David Farrah (all centre) of Shrubland Street Community Primary School receive one of the school's three Times Education Supplement awards. Picture courtesy of Peter Searle.

It won the Science Technology and Engineering Team of the Year, Healthy School of the Year and the Arts and Humanities awards.

The awards, now in their seventh year, recognise outstanding contributions made by education teams and individuals to help students around the country to succeed, both inside and outside the classroom.

Speaking at the awards ceremony - a black tie event attended by 1,100 teachers and hosted by comedian hosted by BAFTA-nominated writer and comedian Greg Davies at the Grosvenor Hotel in London last Friday - Shrubland Street’s headteacher David Farrah said: “I’ve not put the work in, our teachers have and our children have and on a national scale it celebrates all the hard work done by everyone including the parents, children and teachers.”

David Farrah and Laura Shiell (both centre) of Shrubland Street Community Primary School receive one of the school's three Times Education Supplement awards. Picture courtesy of Peter Searle.

Laura Shiell, Shrubland Street’s head of creative arts added: “We’re a very small school in a quite unknown small part of Leamington and to have this national recognition is something you don’t get every day.

“It will mean the world to our parents and to our pupils to know that somebody has actually noticed what we are doing.”

The awards have 17 categories, including secondary school, primary school, alternative provision and healthy school of the year.

New accolades were introduced this year for teacher-bloggers and early years’ settings, in addition to an award for the most creative school.

The winners were chosen by a panel of judges including the writer Anthony Horowitz, Dame Joan McVittie, Headteacher, Woodside High School, London, and Colin Bell, chief executive of the Council of British International Schools.

When picking Shrubland Street for the Arts and Humanities award, the panel noted that pupils have gone on residential trips to Herefordshire and France and have developed links with a partner school in Sierra Leone.

The increased focus on Geography has given language learning a boost, as Skype sessions with a partner school in Madrid are used to bolster geographical knowledge.

The school has also made the most out of its vegetable garden which is tended by key stage 2 children who learn about land use and sustainable food growth as part of the project.

Their progress in the subject over the past year has been recognised by a Silver Award from the Geographical Association.

Ann Mroz, editor for the Times Education Supplement, said: “Shrubland Street Community Primary School is truly impressive.

The dynamism of its staff speaks volumes for the school, but what stood out was a commitment to helping others by leading the way in teaching practice and an outstanding example of how to get students engaged, in particular with science.

These awards are important for every school to celebrate.

“They are doing amazing things and helping to change lives.”