April and May are very exciting times in a school calendar as it is the Awards Season for schools. This year we have been thrilled to be shortlisted in three different events. The Education and Training Awards by Corporate Vision, The Thames Valley Business Awards and the Times Educational Supplement (TES).
Earlier in the week, we had The Education and Training Awards. Due to COVID they had cancelled the event and chose to announce the winners via email. We were thrilled to find out we had been chosen as ‘Best Independent Co-educational Early Years School’ in Berkshire.
On Thursday evening we had the Thames Valley Business Awards. Even though the event was virtual this year it still managed to retain the glitz and glamour of the awards evening. We had live music, keynote speakers, goodie pack with drinks and snacks.
The school had been shortlisted for the COVID Community Champion Award for the Beyond Education Project. Families enrolled their children on a six-week cooking course that they did from home on a Friday night. They collected boxes from school earlier in the day, the boxes contained all the things they would need to cook. Then at 6 o’clock, they would log on to our Thomas Frank’s chef and cook-a-long. The beauty of the scheme was that the money they paid for the course then enabled the chefs to cook volumes of the meals and Mrs. Robinson would then deliver these meals to families in need in the Wokingham area that night.
The school was delighted to be shortlisted for this award and tuned in to see the award ceremony. Our first surprise was to be announced as a finalist from the shortlisted group, however, Mrs. Robinson’s enthusiasm boiled over when we were announced as the overall winner. We now go forward to the national awards in December.
Friday 30th April will bring the TES Awards. We have been shortlisted in two categories, ‘Strategic Education Initiative of the Year’ and ‘Sports Award’. We know the other schools that we have been shortlisted against and this is tough competition. We will be live streaming the event in Caudwell Hall and will celebrate a very successful week for Holme Grange either way.