Here's a quick summary of what secondary schools in Hertfordshire have successfully bid for so far in the autumn term of 2024. Each academic year, schools can bid for up to £1000 in each of our focus areas (PE, STEM and Learning to Learn) subject to our monthly budget (the current balance is displayed on the applications page). Applications have to pass our criteria which you can find here.
We wish all the award recipients good luck with their amazing projects and we are very pleased to have helped them "achieve a lot with a little".
| School | Location | Focus | Project |
| Presdales | Ware | PE | 6x portable handball goals and indoor/outdoor handball packs to allow the school to extend this popular sport out from just Y9. The portable goals will replace current fence markings, greatly helping with shooting/goalkeeping practice both indoor and outdoor to multiple classes and the new balls will bring them up to England Handball recommendations. There is already a very successful extra-curricular club and the new equipment will help extend and improve this as well as allowing handball to be offered as a GCSE PE sport. |
| Monks Walk | Welwyn Garden City | PE | 6x wireless microphone system to facilitate constructive feedback and internal and external assessment of the leadership elements of examination courses. Camera filming of Btec and A level performance rarely picks up good quality audio and external assessors can only grade on what they actually see and hear and so have requested the school purchase microphones so they can fully reward student coaching/leadership activities. |
| Presdales | Ware | STEM | 15x wireless temperature sensors for use by all pupils to replace out-dated/basic existing equipment. The new sensors will increase the accuracy and speed of readings and link up to Data Harvest EasySense2 software which will allow students to share, interrogate, manipulate and present their results which will allow for better understanding and access to higher examination grades. |
| Simon Balle | Hertford | STEM | A one-day presentation and workshop on forces and motion for KS4 where pupils work in teams to build and race vehicles. Students will investigate gravitational, potential and kinetic energy, building fan-powered cars and rockets which aligns with the GCSE Physics curriculum, which requires students to know about energy stores and how changes in energy occur. They plan for attending teachers to replicate the workshops in-house in future years. |
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Chancellor's
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Hatfield | PE | Multiple pairs of running spikes, athletics vests and football shirts to kit out their successful girls and boys teams. Their current spikes, in particular, are old, and the new shoes will help their athletes perform to an even higher standard and expand the range of sizes they can lend out. All the new kit will also raise motivation and team spirit and allow more pupils to compete at the same time. |
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Croxley Danes |
Rickmansworth | PE + STEM | A linked bid with STEM for the installation of an orienteering course, equipment and lesson plans which will not only benefit PE lessons across the school but also facilitate outdoor cross-curricular learning and revision and Duke of Edinburgh. In addition to the physical fitness benefits, orienteering activities will help develop student teamwork, problem-solving and resilience and the 1000+ lesson plans can be downloaded for future years and adaptation. Additional oudoor maths equipment (clinometers and tape measures) were also funded to facilitate hands-on, outdoor trigonometry activites in conjunction with the course questions. |
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Queens |
Bushey | PE | A Promat roll-out gymnastics mat (12.8m X 1.83m) to finally complete their full gymnastics floor. As well as being used in curriculum PE, the surface will greatly benefit skills development and practice for their very successful cheerleading and gymnastics teams as well as their dance clubs and the KS 1 and 2 gymnastics clubs they host. The mats will also encourage more of their boys into gymnastics, capitalising on the popularity of parkour around the world. |
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The Reach Free |
Rickmasworth | PE | 5x freestanding netball posts to replace their current unusable posts (11 years-old) and so increase the number of matches/practices that can be played simultaneously. This will benefit not only curricular PE, but clubs, Y6 district competitions, district-wide tournaments and school income from "Back to Netball" lettings. |
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Katherine Warington |
Harpenden | PE | 24x heart-rate monitors to give a class set both for timetabled fitness lessons and examination lessons. They will be used to investigate areas such as the short-term effects of exercise, training zones and how lifestyle choices affect physical health. The monitors provide a great hands-on link between practical and theoretical aspects of the course and can also be used cross-curricularly in science. |
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John Warner |
Hoddesdon | PE | 22x athletics running spikes and 2x team football kit. The spikes will greatly improve grip and so help performance and will be used across the year groups in competitions, training and sports day. The football kits will also used across the year groups (one lower and one upper school) for matches and will help build team-spirit, pride and motivation. |
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Roundwood Park |
Harpenden | STEM | A professional vacuum bag press system and 12x tenon saws. The bag system enables complicated shapes/items to be formed from thin wooden veneers and will be used throughout the school on such projects as building working model hovercrafts, bee housing, speaker casings and prototyping in examination classes. It exposes pupils to real-world industrial processes as well as improving and extending their workshop skills. The tenon saws are needed to prepare the veneer and formers and will also be used for many other workshop projects. |
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Queens School |
Bushey | Learning to Learn | A day of study techniques workshops for Y11 and targetted groups and a revision evening for parents and students delivered by Glia Learning. The sessions will focus on alternative ways to learn and revise and will be aimed at various groups from pushing the higher achievers to helping close the achievement gap for PP, SEND and pupils with behaviour/motivation issues. 12 teachers will also experience one or more sessions and so continue to teach and practise the learning strategies after the workshops. |
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Queen's School |
Bushey | STEM | 3x Dynamics system and 6x light gates to be used primarily in years 8, 10 and 12 and science club to investigate such topics as motion, velocity, acceleration and gravity in a hands-on way in smaller groups. The system and attachable gates accurately gather and store data which will help students not only investigate and understand the theory but also facilitate higher levels of achievement in their requred course practicals. |
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Hockerill |
Bishops Stortford | PE | A Concept 2 rowing machine to help equip a larger fitness suite to be used during curriculum PE lessons as well as during extra-curricular clubs and for boarder access. A similar successful grant last year has shown to promote not only physical fitness but mental health and encourages students to take charge of their own fitness as a life-skill. |
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Westfield |
Watford | PE | Blazepod Ultimate Team Bundle of reaction pods to help increase reaction speeds in specific sports as well as in more general fitness lessons across the school. The pods will be particularly useful for Westfield's elite/team athletes as well as helping to motivate and engage those pupils who are resistant to traditional exercise activities. |