IAPS member schools Eversfield Preparatory School and Felsted School are celebrating awards success.
IAPS member schools Eversfield Preparatory School and Felsted School are celebrating success, having secured coveted awards at the TES Schools Awards.
Dubbed the ‘Oscars of education’ the awards celebrate the extraordinary commitment, quality and innovation shown by schools, teachers and support staff across the UK.
Eversfield was named Independent Prep School of the Year, whilst Felsted School secured Boarding School of the Year.
Judges were impressed by Eversfield pupils’ achievements, leaving with academic, music, arts and sports scholarships. Many represent their county at sport and are later offered professional contracts, while the school’s talented musicians gain places at conservatoires and the Royal Academy of Music.
Upper school pupils take a lead in managing their own welfare, participating in anti-bullying, peer mentoring, and mental health and wellbeing training programmes as part of The Diana Award. A buddy system sees Reception children supported through their first year by a Form 6 pupil.
Eversfield’s commitment to pupil wellbeing and achievement is reflected in the professional development of staff. Every teacher carries out their own Chartered College of Teaching action research project and all are given the time or financial support to pursue further academic qualifications.
Judge Simon Larter-Evans, Headmaster of St Paul’s Cathedral School, said: “Eversfield School eschews the usual rhetoric and instead has created a whole community, with staff and pupils actively engaged in, and supported with, their own learning.
“There is clear, and unambiguous leadership. Powerful stuff that has led this non-selective school to thrive and grow."
Eversfield Head Robert Yates said: “We feel very privileged to have won this award, as there were so many amazing schools on the shortlist.
“I’m really proud of everyone who put so much effort into making the school what it is; all the staff, the governors and the students.”
Meanwhile, judges praised Felsted School’s focus on delivering students an all-round education to pupils and equipping them with the skills, confidence and determination to make a positive difference to the world around them.
The school attracts around ten enquiries for every senior place and, in 2022, received 700 applications for its 80 prep places - a 40 per cent increase over the previous four years.
Felsted’s academic programme embraces the latest thinking, approaches and technologies, while a co-curricular programme encourages the personal attributes and characteristics that will enable each student to make an active contribution to society and find fulfilment in life.
The school has a commitment to widen access, with a £3.37 million fee assistance fund benefiting more than a third of students, means-tested bursaries and hardship assistance, and free places for Ukrainian students.
Judge Gwen Byrom, Director of Strategy at North London Collegiate School, said: “We were impressed by the way topics such as diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability, were woven into the school and were not just standalone programmes or initiatives.
“The school is also bucking the trend with its incredible oversubscription for admissions. This is clearly a fantastic school that people want to send their children to.”
Chris Townsend, Head of Felsted, said: “There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into running a school like ours and there are so many people working hard, day in day out, to make it the place that it is.
“This award is for all my staff and colleagues. I am very proud of them all’.
Jon Severs, Editor of TES and Chair of the judges, added: “These awards showcase just how vital education professionals are to every facet of this country.
“Teachers, leaders and support staff all play such an important role in schools. This is our chance to say thank you for all that they do.”
More information about the TES Schools Awards is available on the TES website.