Secondary Award Winners

2025 STEM Major Award Winner: Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School (St. Albans)

Six ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP7533-G Interactive Displays

What they’re buying & what it do es
Each 75-inch ViewBoard pairs 4K-UHD clarity with a 40-point ultra-fine touchscreen, dual-pen “pen-on-paper” writing, built-in Android 13 and the myViewBoard ecosystem. Teachers can whiteboard, launch apps, split the screen or cast devices wirelessly; a single USB-C cable handles power, data and display, while front-facing speakers make it an all-in-one teaching hub. (viewsonic.com)

Identified problems & gaps
Science and ICT lessons remain tied to “traditional whiteboards and projectors”, limiting interactivity just as “science subjects become increasingly data-driven and visual”. A two-screen pilot proved successful, but most rooms still lack the technology pupils need for modern STEM learning.

How the screens will enhance learning
Teachers report engagement has “improved exponentially” with the pilot boards; this grant extends that impact to every science classroom. Real-time annotation, simulations and data visualisations will, in their words, “mirror the technological environments students will encounter in higher education and STEM careers”. Forty-touch collaboration supports group investigations, while built-in casting lets students share work instantly. Seven trained staff will cascade skills, embedding objectives to “improve student engagement, foster collaboration and integrate digital resources into daily instruction”. The boards will also serve summer schools for feeder primaries and holiday sessions run with St Albans City Youth FC, widening reach to hundreds more learners.

Value for money & longevity
With panels rated for 50,000+ hours and an enterprise myViewBoard licence included, the package offers long-term use without ongoing software fees. Hardware that drives daytime lessons can be repurposed after hours for community partners, maximising utilisation. The successful pilot shows minimal change-management costs: staff enthusiasm is already high, so the investment translates straight into richer learning. Fundraising plans to roll screens out school-wide further amplify the award’s impact, ensuring benefits that last well beyond the initial grant.

2025 Learning to Learn Award Winner: Pinewood School (Ware)

WalkThrus Coaching Suite & Wordwall Interactive Learning

What Pinewood will buy and why it matters

• Teaching WalkThrus Volumes 2 & 3 – the latest instalments of Tom Sherrington & Oliver Caviglioli’s five-step guides. Each volume packs 50 evidence-based strategies (behaviour, modelling, retrieval, questioning and more) into concise, illustrated walkthroughs that staff can apply the very next lesson. (amazon.com, amazon.com)
• WalkThrus Programme Implementation Project – three consultant-led days spread across two terms that launch the books, coach middle leaders and help senior leaders embed a whole-school CPD cycle. (walkthrus.co.uk)
• Two-year whole-school Wordwall licence – an easy-to-use platform for creating interactive quizzes, games and printable activities, ensuring every lesson includes low-stakes retrieval practice and rapid feedback. (wordwall.net)

Identified gaps in teaching and learning
Pinewood reports that, while some teachers already “incorporate elements of metacognitive strategies and retrieval practice, we lack a unified, evidence-based framework” and have “limited resources for sustained external CPD.” The result is inconsistent practice and missed opportunities to teach pupils how to learn independently.

How the project will close those gaps
The twin WalkThrus books put a common language of learning in every classroom; the consultancy visits turn that language into habit through coaching and middle-leader support. As the bid states, the aim is to “shift our classroom culture to one where students understand how to learn, how to think, and how to retain information long-term.” Wordwall then gives staff the tools to deliver those habits daily, providing engaging retrieval activities that benefit all key stages and particularly support lower-attaining and SEND learners through explicit modelling and instant reinforcement.

Value for money and longevity
This is a high-impact, low-maintenance package. The books are durable resources that new staff can pick up each year; the consultant days create in-house expertise that outlasts external support; and Wordwall’s multi-year licence locks in two full years of unlimited use before moving to a modest renewal cost the school can self-fund. Crucially, the investment builds staff capacity rather than dependence, so the learning-to-learn culture can keep growing long after the initial award.

This table is primarily to check if your school has already been awarded any of the 3 awards for this academic year.

Click on the "Y"s for more details on the awards granted to each school

Here's a quick summary of what secondary schools in Hertfordshire have successfully bid for so far in the summer term of 2025.   Each academic year, secondary 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 application form 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".

Here's a quick summary of what secondary schools in Hertfordshire have successfully bid for so far in the spring term of 2025.   Each academic year, secondary 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 application form 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".