Why are Academic Awards so effective?

Our ‘Academic Award’ scheme has been running for two years. I believe it is a distinctive method of rewarding pupils for their academic achievements, and I am personally very proud of the scheme: we are a non-selective school and this is a non-selective approach to rewarding academic achievement.

Traditionally, only pupils who achieve the top grades are valued in this country’s educational system – and so they should; but so too, we strongly believe at Fyling Hall, should those pupils who work just as hard to achieve a C or a B grade.

Children’s self-esteem and well-being can be adversely affected if they are constantly measured by a system that only views A grades as an academic achievement.

We are all different: some students find reading, academic study and assessments painless, but many do not. Some students have to work incredibly hard to achieve a C grade, others, with the same level of effort can and do achieve A grades.

Our aim at Fyling Hall is to encourage a hard working ethos where pupils understand that effort equals results; in this way, pupils learn to appreciate that they are all capable of success.

We want ALL pupils to achieve their potential, and we aim high for every single one of them. The ‘Academic Award’ scheme is just one of the many ways in which we make sure that all of our pupils aim high for themselves too.

How does the system work?

 ‘Academic Awards’ reward pupils who:

• demonstrate a sustained level of effort in any subject over a period of time
• show an independent or a proactive approach to their own studies
• improve their level of effort and/or attainment in their half termly reports
• are given multiple commendations in the same subject area
• produces a particularly impressive piece of work that is the summative result of a number of smaller tasks that have been set over a period of time.

When a teacher decides that a pupil has fulfilled one of the above criteria they can reward a pupil with an “Academic Award”, whereupon a post card is sent home to parents so that they can share our pride in their success.  A weekly summary of the recipients can now be found on our website.

During our final “Prize Giving” ceremony of the year, the pupil with the most Academic Awards from each year group will be announced, and an overall winner will also be named.

Each winner receives a cash prize and the student who has achieved the most Academic Awards will be awarded the ‘Alex Gregg Cup’ in recognition of academic excellence. 

Claire Park

Head of English, Curriculum and Enrichment