The Grange School is celebrating great success with their Sovereign Award which aims to support the personal development of confident, proud, community driven young people at the school.

The award, now in its second year, provides students with the opportunity to develop a range of life skills including decision making, leadership, communication, creativity, and resilience.

The school ran an application and recruitment process to assess which students from Years 8, 9 and 10 will benefit most from the experience.

In 2019-2020 they had 37 students complete the award, with 39 for the 2020-2021 award.

The award begins with a personal development training programme where students have the opportunity to work with high quality practitioners in the business and sports industries. Last year some of the highlights were visits from Paralympians Kate Grey and Aaron Phipps, a visit to Bournemouth University for a tour and seminars led by staff and students, and a day spent at Rockley Water sports to experience sailing, kayaking and raft building.

Following the initial training programme, students embarked on projects in three teams – a Youth Parliament team, an Event Management team and a Business Enterprise team. The project groups resulted in some excellent outcomes, with a particular highlight being the ‘Dare to Believe Festival’ that the Event Management team organised for local primary schools. They planned the event from start to finish, allocated roles and delivered a fantastic experience for nearly 100 children.

Running alongside the projects is a credit-based personal development journey. Students are required to commit to their own personal and academic achievement whilst actively contributing to the community. The award is progressive, with Year 8 students aiming for the Bronze Award, Year 9 aiming for Silver and Year 10 for Gold. This  year the school  introduced awards for outstanding contribution in the following categories: Active Citizenship, Excellence in Student Leadership,Innovation, Young Ambassador and the Student Government Award. They provide these opportunities so that their students can acquire skills and learn behaviours which not only help them to develop as individuals but as drivers of change for others. Students are encouraged to spend time on self-reflection, evaluation and goal setting to raise self-awareness and strive to be the best versions of themselves.

Dan Moody School Games Organiser and Partnership Manager said:

“The award is about student leadership across the whole school, not just in sport. The award helps our young people to develop their leadership skills and self-confidence. It also helps them to connect in a positive way with the local community, and for the local community to have a greater understanding of what we do at The Grange School. I have been incredibly impressed by the way our students take responsibility and have pride in the projects they undertake. Our students experience an incredible range of activities through the Sovereign Award and we are very proud that they choose to go above and beyond what is expected of them.”

And Mr Jy Taylor, Headteacher at Twynham School added:

"The Sovereign Award has been a huge success at The Grange School and we are delighted that Dan is able to extend this across our families of schools in Twynham Learning. I’m looking forward to students at Twynham School being able to benefit from this high quality programme.”

Mrs L Garman, Head of School, The Grange School said: “I am immensely proud of our students here at The Grange School who have gone above and beyond, showing such great determination and commitment in completing the Sovereign Award. I look forward to seeing this fantastic opportunity being extended across our family of schools at Twynham Learning.”