This award is to recognise the school that has shown the most improvement in the past year

Farnham Primary

FARNHAM Primary School, which last year was judged outstanding by Ofsted inspectors, has been nominated for the School Improvement award.
The school was declared inadequate in 2006, but gradually improved until it achieved top marks in its most recent inspection.
Most pupils speak little or no English when they start at the Little Horton school, but the latest inspection said pupils showed “exceptional progress” and that the school “oozed quality”.
Hugh Figgess nominated the school, saying: “The teaching and leadership is of the highest quality.
“Many pupils arrive at the school with limited use of English. The school and parents work together to enable pupils to make outstanding progress and to achieve very good results by the end of Key Stage 2.
“The quality of teaching and leadership is such that the school is now providing support to other schools and other teachers.
“Farnham Primary School is a high-achieving, outward-facing school that deserves this award.”
Head teacher Richard Edwards said: “It was great to get this top accolade.
“We have to be aware that the Government has set new, challenging targets for everyone, so we can’t rest on our laurels.”

Canterbury Nursery and Children's Centre

LAST year Canterbury Nursery and Children’s Centre rebounded from being classed as “requiring improvement” to gaining the top rating of “outstanding”.
The most recent Ofsted report into the nursery said: “The senior leadership team and the governing body have changed the culture in the school to one of continuous improvement and high aspirations for teaching and for children’s achievement.”
The nursery, in one of the most deprived wards in the district, was nominated for the School Improvement award by governor Jane Wootton and parent Ayesha Hussain.
Mrs Wootton said: “By understanding the diverse and multiple needs of their pupils, Canterbury Nursery School strives to maximise the holistic support they provide for the children and their families in the most rapid and effective way possible and this has led to a significant improvement in the children’s life chances.”
Head teacher Jackie Bracewell said: “The daily reward is what we see from the children, and for staff to have their hard work recognised is fabulous.
“For the community it is an opportunity to know that they have a facility in their midst that is outstanding.
“Credit to the parents that stuck with us and supported us thorough it all.”

Carlton Bolling College

CARLTON Bolling College has been recognised in the School Improvement category for going from being in special measures in 2014 to being one of the best-performing schools in the district in recent Government tables.
In recent years the school has pulled itself out of special measures, received national acclaim for the way it tackles any potential extremist views, seen record GCSE and A-level results, and achieved one of the highest “Progress 8” scores in the district in the recently released Government results tables.
The new measure looks at progress pupils make between starting and finishing school, and is the new yardstick by which the Government measures school successes.
Head Adrian Kneeshaw said: “The nomination isn’t for me, it is recognition for all the hard work the teachers have done.
“Improvements happen imperceptibly, there is no magic wand you can wave to improve things, improvements happen gradually and you can’t always see the improvements happening all the time.”
Maths teacher Vish Singh said: “It is all about the strategy and consistency we have in place. It has meant our results are consistently above the national average.”