Prize students show their mettle in double award
PUPILS at Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School in Birkdale have shown that they are leading the way both in ICT and sport.
This term, the school became the first school in North Sefton to win not only the prestigious Platinum National Award for Sport but has also gained the Naace ICT Mark accreditation.
The Platinum Sports Award is for making a commitment to develop pupils to be the best they can be in competitive school sport.
Schools in England are able to assess themselves across bronze, silver and gold levels of the Mark.
If a school achieves Gold status for four consecutive years, they are eligible to apply for Platinum.
To achieve Platinum, Our Lady of Lourdes had to meet all of the criteria for Gold, then submit a detailed case study, along with a supporting paragraph from the School Games Organisers, Mike Smethurst, from Stanley High School.
At a time when young people are becoming less healthy and less active, this award confirms that Our Lady of Lourdes is providing opportunities for pupils to participate in sport and reap the benefits of an active lifestyle both on and off the field.
The ICT Mark recognises the school’s good use of technology to support teaching and learning, as well as school administration.
It has confirmed how effective the use of technology is throughout the school. Application for and achieving the Mark was an extremely rigorous process and the school had to meet a range of specific criteria.
Head of Our Lady of Lourdes, Maureen Hillsdon, said: “To win two such high-level awards in one term represents a great deal of work by the whole school community but Mrs Jo Hodge (ICT) and Mr Sam Gallagher (PE) both deserve a special mention for their enthusiastic input and we are all delighted with the achievements of our pupils.”