Here's a quick summary of what secondary schools in Hertfordshire have successfully bid for so far in the summer 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 |
| The Reach Free | Rickmansworth | PE | A variety of tennis and badminton equipment to set up a racket academy to give pupils coaching and an opportunity to play at lunch times and after school in their "Stay and Play" sessions. The project has been set up after a pupil voice survey and successful trial sessions and they will use the new equipment to expand their provision to pupils and offer taster sessions to their feeder schools. |
| Hockerill College | Bishops Stortford | PE | A RowErg, Concept 2 rowing machine for their fitness lessons which all students are scheduled to take part in. The machine will also benefit theoretical learning in GCSE and IB PE programs in topics such as body physiology and adaptations to training. Boarders will have access to the machine as will pupils undertaking community projects such as fundraising through "rowing the Atlantic". |
| Chancellor's | Hatfield | STEM | 6x visualisers to better show practical demonstrations in science, analyse students' work and work through questions in class. Also 5x drawing tablets to allow teachers to save diagrams and workings instead of rubbing them out and share them with pupils, particularly SEND pupils who may struggle to copy work accurately or remember it. |
| Parmiter's | Watford | STEM | 19x stop clocks, 16x mass balances and 16x voltmeters to facilitate more hands-on investigation as they have increasing class sizes and aging existing equipment. The equipment will be used many times throughout Y7 - Y13 each year and also benefit extra-curricular science clubs and summer schools that include many Y6 students preparing to move up to secondary school. |
| Chancellor's | Hatfield | L2L | A 3-day, in-person course on how to implement instructional coaching and train other coaches across the school. As the training is cascaded down across the school, the first focus of the coaching techniques will be on instilling routines to ensure classrooms become calm, productinve and fully inclusive places for learning. This will eliminate low-level disruption and enable teachers to take more risks in teaching/learning activities such as disccussion tasks and group work. |
| Westfield Academy | Watford | STEM | A roof-top weather station to be used cross-curricularly in science, geography, IT, maths, PHSE. The station will be an exciting and real-world resource to develop data gathering, interpretation and presentation skills in many subjects and also projects focussing on e.g. climate change and conservation. All years will have access to the equipment and it will also benefit their successful Eco Club and have data reported on the school website. |
| The Highfield | Letchworth | STEM | A range of voltmeters, ammeters and powerpacks to facilitate smaller groups for practical work, especially in "A" Level physics which has doubled in size recently. As well as enabling more pupils to have hands-on engagement with practical work, the new equipment will also facilitate much higher accruracy in investigations and make difficult concepts easier to understand. |
| Rickmansworth | Rickmansworth | PE | 9x rucksacks and 3x 2-man tents, to enable the school to expand into gold award D of E By using their own equipment they can make taking D of E Awards cheaper for their pupils and so access the Physical section of the award which has students spending 3 to 6 months working towards a specific fitness or sporting goal. In addition the award develops students' problem solving, leadership and team working skills amongst many others. |
| Verulam | St. Albans | STEM | A Clifton Unstirred Water Bath to control the temperature of reactions in science throughout the school including GCSE and A Level required practicals. This will add to their existing bath to allow more pupils to have hands-on experiment experience and easily adjust and maintain required termperatures. |
| Sandringham | St. Albans | PE | 2x Basketball hoops to allow them to extend their current indoor basketball provision to their new outdoor multi-use games surface. This will increase the numbers who can access this popular sport, especially during the summer months when the indoor facilities are often unavailable due to examinations. The hoops will also be used at break and lunchtimes and by primary feeder schools and community groups. |
| Sandringham | St. Albans | STEM | A sustainable studio injection moulding machine to give D+T students hands on experience of turning recycled plastics into usable products. This will facilitate an exciting and memorable method or demonstrating the recycling process and will not only be used as part of the curriculum in lessons but also by clubs and in house activities. |
| Onslow St. Audrey | Hatfield | L2L | 2x Study Skills days with Glia Learning for all students in Y11 and Y13 and for selected small groups in other years. The sessions upskill their study skills, motivation and memory techniques in exciting and interactive ways delivered by an experienced speaker who overcame his own dyslexia to gain a PhD from London's Institute of Education and become a Chartered Psychologist. |
| Verulam | St. Albans | PE | Implementing a Fit Kidz Go! programme for all Y8 pupils and PP students in Y9/10. The program aims to develop motor skills, physical fitness and cognitive concepts related to movement as well as improving social and cooperative skills. The four-week program involves individual and team challenges using functional fitness equipment, learning bodyweight exercises and develops understanding of the muscle groups activated. The school has allocated funds to purchase their own equipment after PE staff have observed the activities and so allow the school to deliver the program in-house in future years. |