iAchieve Awards 2021/22

This year we have introduced the iAchieve Inspirational Student Awards.  We wanted to recognise, celebrate, and award the successes of students using iAchieve this academic year.   The successes of our iAchieve students didn’t necessarily have to be measured as excellent grades.  We believe in all different kinds of successes.

We were looking to reward an inspiring student whose success, whatever nominators thought that was, really reflected our iAchieve values.

Nominations closed on 6th May 2022 and the judging began.

The Nominees

Within the nominations, we saw strong themes of perseverance, hard work and helping others.

We heard about students who were succeeding despite their dyslexia or difficulties with literacy.  There were students who had been supporting their peers and getting involved with the local community and there were pupils who had dealt with medical issues and refused to let it hold them back.

We were truly inspired by so many of the nominations.  Here are some of the things that students’ nominators said of them.

“He works so hard every single lesson and is fully immersed in the online content.”

“She is always eager to work and develop her knowledge.”

“I think my student should win because of how much he has changed as a person since my arrival at the school”

The Judging

Having received some excellent nominations, the job of judging the iAchieve Inspirational Student Award was very difficult indeed.

The iAchieve judges were looking for evidence of a student who may have had a real change in approach, attitude or achieved a success they may previously not have.  Someone who has created a progression opportunity for themselves that may not have been possible or expected previously.  A winner would be chosen based on a motivation to overcome any obstacles or adversity to achieve success and a notable effort to succeed in their vocational education.

The judges felt that all the nominees met many of the criteria.  For this reason, we selected five runners up from the following schools:

All Saints Catholic College

Inspire Academy

Risca Community Comprehensive

The Bourne Academy

Woodrush High School

Our Winner

It is with great pride that we share with you a little of our winner’s nomination form – it was so beautifully and carefully written, and we really feel it did her justice.

“I am nominating this student to win the iAchieve Inspirational Student Award as I believe her to be an inspirational young person who, in spite of all of the personal struggles and challenges that she has already faced in her life, has remained positive, kind, thoughtful and empathetic towards others. Her attendance, behaviour and attitude to learning is exemplary and she always has a smile on her face. 

This student is quite simply an outstanding student with a confident outlook on life; she has not allowed her home life experiences to detract from her school studies, attitude to learning or her determination to succeed in her qualifications.

Furthermore, the Equality and Diversity qualification has supported this student to build knowledge and understanding of the several types of discrimination and inequality that can exist within schools and communities across the UK; the same prejudices that she herself has experienced. In turn, she has used this to develop greater awareness of equal opportunities and acceptance of diversity to make her a fair, honest and empathetic citizen. In 2021, this student achieved the role of a Prefect, and she carries out this duty with modesty and pride supporting staff on open evenings and with break time duties.

This student is nominated by myself, her class teacher, in agreement with my colleagues because we agree that she is an exceptional young person who is resilient and resolute; she refuses to allow her personal circumstances impact negatively on her education, day-to-day life or future career aspirations.

This student is without a doubt a shining star and example to us all; she is an excellent mentor for younger students in the school.”

The iAchieve judges were blown away by this nomination.

The Award Ceremony

Johnathan, iAchieve Chief Executive, and Alice, Sales and Marketing Executive, travelled down to Flint High School to present the winning student, KT-Leigh, with her award.

We were joined by KT-Leigh’s teacher, Angela Chatfield, as well as the Headteacher, Mrs Millington, and two of her family members.

Everyone in attendance for KT-Leigh was really proud and really enthusiastic about her going on to her future career in childcare, especially her teachers, who hope she will bear them in mind for work experience in the future.

It was a privilege to meet KT-Leigh and to see the support network she had built around her.  Jonathan said, “It has been really exciting for us to hear from all the schools involved in the awards this year and there have been some amazing nominations. We were blown away by KT Leigh’s nomination, her determination, perseverance and resilience despite everything else going on has been truly inspiring.  We have also been really impressed by Angela Chatfield and the whole of Flint High School in their dedication to their students’ success.  We wish KT Leigh all the best with her future endeavours.”

iAchieve supporting inspirational students

Schools use iAchieve to effectively embed valuable Key Stage 4 vocational options. Our comprehensive vocational packages, accessed via our online delivery platform, include everything you need to successfully deliver vocational options. 

We will ensure you’re confident in the delivery of each of your chosen vocational courses through iAchieve platform training, ongoing support, and our comprehensive resources that are expertly matched to your chosen specification.

This year’s iAchieve Awards nominators shared what they have enjoyed about using the platform.

Angela from Flint High School kindly walked us through how she is implementing iAchieve in her classroom.  She has devised a tracker which lists all learning outcomes from Equality and Diversity, as her students progress through the course, they go from red to amber to green for each learning outcome.  This works really well, not only to keep track of her students, but also for the students to keep track of their own progress, as well as being an incentive for a little healthy competition amongst classmates.

With the iAchieve resources already covering everything required to teach the specification, Angela found that any spare time can be spent building on what is already provided by iAchieve rather than focusing on matching her planning to the specification.

iAchieve’s high-quality, ready-made resources allow Angela to concentrate on her students and their individual needs.

The online format of the resources allows for a really flexible approach to the qualification.  Students can study different points in the course, which can really support students that might switch to using iAchieve part way through the year.

We also heard from the runner up schools on what they have found useful with iAchieve this year. Risca Community Comprehensive spoke of the control our resources gave to their students.

“Completing a little bit, taking breaks and revisiting when [students are] ready, has made all the difference. It is surprising what you can achieve with determination, self-discipline, even when taking small steps at a time.”

Risca Community Comprehensive

The Bourne Academy explained that iAchieve had helped students with organisation issues, as well as providing an online area to return to for accurate information. They said of iAchieve, “It is useful for students to revisit as often as they wish to help them when not in school or if tasks are set for homework. As their work is saved they do not need to return anything to school which also helps those with poor organisation.”

Other feedback on the benefits of using iAchieve included:

“She enjoys using iAchieve as it gives her the opportunity to work at her own pace. She can go back over topics as and when she needs to and has become very good at navigating herself around materials.”

All Saints Catholic College

“These resources are of such good quality and have helped me to prepare and plan lessons thoroughly that can be accessed in school and at home.”

Flint High School

“Pupils enjoy the routine and familiar format of the iAchieve platform. They know what to expect each lesson and feel confident to work independently on this.”

Woodrush High School

If you’re interested in how iAchieve could support your school with vocational delivery, get in touch at info@iachieve.org.uk.

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