CHILDREN from primary and secondary schools across South Gloucestershire have won awards in a ceremony celebrating their achievements.

Awards for kindness and resilience were among the accolades for inspiring personal achievement presented to selected primary and secondary school students in South Gloucestershire on Monday, July 11. 

The special ceremony, which brought the joint school communities together at the University of the West of England, also included recognition of individual progress, green planet, unsung hero and sporting achievement, with awards presented by BBC Points West presenter Sabet Choudhury.  

Nominated students from three primaries - Charfield, Lyde Green and Severn Beach - and four secondaries - Marlwood, Downend, Mangotsfield and Castle Schools – which together comprise the Castle School Education Trust (CSET) were joined for the ceremony by their families and school communities and the audience were also treated to specially arranged performances from each school. 

All the schools within the Trust held their own nomination process earlier in the term and shortlisted their school stage winners for the final round of the awards.  

CSET’s CEO Will Roberts attended the event and said: “We all know schools are about learning and academic achievement, however at CSET we also strongly believe in the holistic development of all young people in our care.  

“These awards allowed us to acknowledge the personal achievements of our students and the variety of nominations was very inspiring. And it was absolutely fantastic to be able to celebrate all our schools together in one place.” 

Clare Bradford, Deputy Head of Education at CSET who organised the event, said: “It just felt so important to host something completely positive after the past few years where our students have had such an adapted version of their school experience.  

“One key consideration was that we were able to fund this event through sponsorship and not use any of the precious school budget, so we are very grateful to the local companies who supported this event: University of the West of England, Stagecoach, Burke Hunter Adams, Speller Metcalfe, RS Design & Technology, Bailey Partnership, Mama Bear's Day Nursery and Pre-School and Empica.” 

The award winners were: 

  • Kindness -   Joleigh Hancock, Downend School
  • Sporting achievement - Luke Ball, The Castle School
  • Creativity award - Max Scoltock, Mangotsfield School
  • Outstanding individual progress - Leah Dunn, Downend School
  • Green planet - George Crew, Charfield Primary
  • Outstanding team of the year - The Playground Pod Committee, Severn Beach Primary
  • Contribution to the wider community - Jamie Roche, Marlwood School
  • Resilience - Year 5 and 6 Football Team, Lyde Green Primary Primary
  • Unsung hero - Harmesh Singh, Mangotsfield School
  • Living school values - Jessie Edge, The Castle School