Awards
THE HIGHCREST ACADEMY AWARDS
Ofsted
Our most recent Report from February 2020 was rated as a Good school by Ofsted.
Our recent report gives a very positive overview on what it is like to be a pupil at the academy. Indeed, even within their obligatory areas for improvement, Ofsted acknowledged that these have been identified by the academy and are already in the process of being improved. This positive report is a reflection of the hard work, dedication and teamwork of students, staff, governors and parents and will mean that we are able to continue to move forwards, providing a wide range of both curricular and extracurricular opportunities for our students over the next four years.
“Pupils at The Highcrest Academy happily live up to the school’s motto of ‘Aspire and Achieve’”.
Click here to view The Highcrest Academy's latest OFSTED Report.
Eco-Schools Green Flag Award
Pupils at The Highcrest Academy have earned an international accreditation this academic year, recognising their amazing work in making their school more environmentally friendly and raising eco-awareness in fellow pupils. Eco-Schools is an international education programme that prompts young people to explore sustainability and climate change and take action.
Eco-Schools England Manager, Adam Flint, said: “Earning an Eco-Schools Green Flag Award takes passion, commitment and a desire to make a difference. Pupils should be proud of their great work. They’re an inspiration and it makes us feel heartened and positive about the future of our planet.”
https://www.eco-schools.org.uk/the-awards/green-flag-award/
Rights Respecting School Award
Highcrest became a Rights Respecting School in 2014 and achieved the Level 1 award in 2015. UNICEF moderators upgraded us to a Gold Award school after an inspection in 2018. Indeed, we were the first secondary school in Buckinghamshire, and only the fifteenth secondary school nationally, to be accredited as a Gold Award UNICEF Rights Respecting School; you can imagine how proud our community is of this award. The UNICEF articles continue to be at the heart of everything that we do at Highcrest.
The Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of a school’s planning, policies, practice and ethos. As a rights-respecting school, we teach our students about their rights and model respectful relationships.
We look forward to our next reaccreditation visit.
https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/
BucksFreePress Article: Highcrest First in Bucks to Receive Gold RRSA Award
The NACE Challenge Award
The NACE Challenge Award provides national recognition of school-wide high quality provision for more able learners within a context of challenge for all.
We received our most recent reaccreditation of this award in June 2022. Click here for full report.
Achieving the award means that we demonstrate good or outstanding provision in teaching and learning for more able learners. We have held this prestigious award since 2013 and have been re-accredited every three years since. We will continue in our journey to strive for excellence, as the flagship school from 2022, undertaking a further re-accreditation in 2025.
https://www.nace.co.uk/page/challenge-award
The EQualities Award
The EQualities Award recognises the academy’s commitment to treating everyone equally. We are currently working towards achieving the Silver award for this Quality Mark.
Highcrest was the first school in the whole of Buckinghamshire to receive this prestigious award. The EQualities Award recognises the academy’s commitment to treating everyone equally. To gain this award, Highcrest had to identify and review the different ways in which the academy engenders equality of opportunity and raises outcomes for all learners regardless of gender, disability, faith and ethnicity, sexual identity and socio-economic disadvantage. The promotion of our pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development was also a core feature of the audit, which also focused on safeguarding, bullying and the promotion of fundamental British values. We will be working with Equaliteach to obtain the recently remodelled EQualities Award to demonstrate that equality remains a priority area for us.
https://www.equalitiesaward.co.uk/
IQM Flagship School Award
Effective schools are inclusive schools that monitor, develop and devise strategies to improve the effectiveness of their provision to meet the needs of all students.
We received our most recent reaccreditation of this award in November 2021. Click here for the full report.
External assessors examined the school as an inclusive environment, looking for every child gaining access to every activity in school. The Inclusion Quality Mark covers absolutely everything in school, from students with special learning needs to the most able and those needing more help with literacy and numeracy. The IQM award certifies that both the curriculum and extra-curricular activities are accessible to all at The Highcrest Academy.
https://iqmaward.com/iqm-flagship-school/
Quality Mark
The Quality Mark is about recognising minimum standards in teaching literacy and numeracy.
Attainment of this award is normally based on a close partnership between the Basic Skills Agency, Local Authority and schools. The Quality Mark provides a framework for continuous improvement of the basic skills of all pupils in a school.
The Highcrest Academy is one of the few schools to have achieved this award four times. We have held the Basic Skills quality mark for nine consecutive years.
https://www.tribalgroup.com/education-services/quality-mark
Buckinghamshire Careers Hub
Highcrest is a proud member of the Bucks Careers Hub. This is an association of selected schools in Buckinghamshire who have a strong commitment to careers education and support. Careers Leaders from these schools meet regularly to share best practice, develop shared projects and resources to support students and build links with employers.
