Few things play a bigger part in a school’s success than its staff, and Wolverhampton Grammar School’s wide range of initiatives to improve staff development and opportunities were truly impressive.

The projects included a fund to support postgraduate training, research grants for teachers and a review of staff engagement in all strategic planning, as well as new CPD opportunities to help early career development, and media and external relations training.

Comments in the staff survey showed how this has paid off: “When you have a young family and spend most of your time at work, it’s important to enjoy coming into work, find your role rewarding and see you can make a difference”; “this is the best school I have ever worked in”; and “the environment we work in is first rate and I believe the senior team will take the school to even greater heights”. 

This was just one area where Wolverhampton showed judges it could meet the criteria of “demonstrating excellence in strategy and direction”. Low student fees, an excellent ISI inspection report, the depth of community outreach and the achievement of pupils all confirmed this senior leadership team as a worthy winner.

The judges said: “This was a category with a number of really creative strategic initiatives from a wide variety of schools in different contexts. The judges chose Wolverhampton Grammar School because it was clear that a closely knit team was addressing with real care many aspects of school life which directly impacted on the experience of teachers.

“The personal, and apparently voluntary, testimonials from staff about their love of working in the school were also significant in the judges’ choice.”

For all other Tes Independent School Awards winners, click here, or follow the hashtag  #tesISAwards

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