And the winner is...

We are celebrating this week as we received national recognition with an SSAT Educational Outcomes Award for the value we add to our students’ achievements at GCSE.

2014 was a strong year for the academy, and it built on solid foundations of success. Named the most improved school in Hertfordshire and the 35th most improved in the country in 2012, the academy went on to win the 2013 Education Business ICT Facility Award and the 2013 Building Futures Design Excellence Award, as well as being commended for the 2013 Education Business Outstanding Academy Award. In 2013 it also achieved a very high Value Added score of 1031, making it the third highest performing school in Hertfordshire, and one of the top 200 schools nationally by this key progress measure. To continue our winning ways with this latest award is great recognition for the hard work of staff and students alike. I am very proud of them.



SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers Network, recently undertook its annual in-depth analysis of official Department for Education data on all state-funded schools in England and identified The Bushey Academy’s success. 

The school has qualified for an SSAT Educational Outcomes Award by being in the top 20% of schools nationally for progress made by pupils between their key stage 2 results at primary school and their GCSE results at age 16.

Sue Williamson, Chief Executive of SSAT said: ‘The Bushey Academy should be congratulated for their exceptional achievement. They have proved themselves to be leading the field in improving GCSE outcomes for their students. There is so much good practice that this school could share.

‘These results are testament to the commitment and hard work of the students, teachers and leadership team at The Bushey Academy, and show what can be achieved when skilled teachers have high expectations and ambition for every young person.’

As well as this national award, we are celebrating local success in the Purcell School of Music's Community Festival this week. Our gifted Year 7 musicians have been working at the Purcell School for some months now, and came away with Bronze, Silver and Gold medals, which is very impressive.
 

It was BBC Schools Report day yesterday, and our budding journalists spent the day involved in a range of activities. This is the third year our students have contributed to this national event. They interviewed reporters who work for the BBC for their story 'Reporters on Reporters' and had to submit stories directly to the BBC to meet real time deadlines. The students commented that they found the day great fun, and had a good insight into the life of a journalist.

Next Thursday is our annual House Language, Literature and Culture Competition, held in our Cube theatre. I hope to see many of you there for what is always a high quality and very enjoyable evening.