School Awards
Investor In People
In 1999 the school was awarded the Investor In People standard, which was subsequently renewed in July 2002. In July 2005 we were successfully reassessed under the new standards and received an outstanding report. This standard shows that we recognise the importance of maximising the potential of all those who work in the school. If the students are to make the most of their time at school, then we must also make the most of all staff who work at Summerhill. There is a very clear system for identifying training and development needs and ensuring that any training has an impact on the learning and achievement of the school.
Artsmark
In 2003 we received the Artsmark Silver Award, which reflects the high standards of work produced in the school. This award is given for excellence across all the arts subjects, which include visual arts, dance and performing arts. All staff and students have worked hard to achieve this award and given the excellent facilities that we have in the new building we expect to achieve even higher standards.
Sportsmark
At the time we received the Artsmark Award, we also obtained the Sportsmark Award. This again is in recognition that the school is reaching very high standards of achievement in sport and PE. When you visit the school you will see the excellent facilities that we have and understand the opportunities that we are able to offer our students.
School Achievement Award
In 2001, 2002 and 2003 (this award was discontinued in 2004) the school received a 'School Achievement Award' from the DfES. This was given to schools who showed sustained improvement in external examination results over a 3-year period. Even though this award has now ceased to be presented to any school, we are continuing to push standards even higher. We fully expect to consistently have in excess of 80% of our students obtaining 5 or more GCSE results at grade C or higher every year.
ICT Award
From October 2004 Summerhill became a register school for ICT in the West Midlands. As such it has been recognised as a cutting edge school to offer practical help and leadership advice on aspects of ICT and e-learning to less confident ICT schools. Each area of the country has one focus school and 19 register secondary schools. Our focus school is South Bromsgrove HS in Worcestershire.
The 70% Club
The Specialist Schools Trust has a very prestigious award which goes to schools that achieve in excess of 70% of their students obtaining 5 or more A* - C grades in GCSE examinations. We were very pleased to become one of the schools invited to join this club.
Health Promoting Schools Award
The school is recognised as a Health Promoting School, which reflects that we are concerned about all aspects of our students' health. This covers food, exercise, healthy lifestyles and health awareness. Only schools meeting high standards in these areas are considered for this award.