Amidst a national culture of league tables, Oasis Community Learning’s first Annual Awards recognised personal growth and achievement across a broad spectrum as individual students were celebrated by their leaders and peers in vocational, citizenship and academic categories.
Over 10,000 students from 11 Academies were eligible to be nominated in the open competition, with winners and runners-up invited to the event at the International Convention Centre, in central Birmingham on Tuesday 11th May.
The winners were rewarded for their achievements, despite difficult personal circumstances, in the following categories: Greatest Contribution to a Community, Greatest Personal Improvement in Learning, Outstanding Sporting or Cultural Achievement, and Greatest Team Endeavour. Further to the main four categories, another 6 Awards were also handed out.
Steve Chalke, Founder and CEO of Oasis Community Learning, said, “These awards celebrate character, resilience and hope – all vital attributes that you can’t sit a GCSE in. At Oasis Community Learning we have an ethos that recognises these characteristics and our Annual Awards give us an opportunity to celebrate their true value.
“The ethos that led to this celebration of achievement is encapsulated in our new Education Charter, which we chose to launch today because our students played a significant part in its formation. The Charter, which is a statement of our values, motivations and educational emphasis, reflects the heart of what the Oasis family is about and will inform our direction in education over the years to come.”*
The winners:
Greatest Contribution to a Community: Thomas Horton, 17, of Oasis Academy Immingham. Thomas won the support of his whole school and recognition from the world’s biggest chocolate maker for campaigning to help persuade Nestlé to sell fairly traded chocolate bars.
Greatest Personal Improvement in Learning: Stacey Bingham, 17, of Oasis Academy Immingham. Stacey has become an inspiration to other students, like her, who struggle with learning. Stacey worked hard over the last year to become fully integrated into the Academy and is now a member of its Sixth Form.
Outstanding Sporting or Cultural Achievement: Cirwen Farrant, 11, of Oasis Academy Bristol. Cirwen has Autistic Spectrum Disorder and overcame her inhibitions to play a leading role in an annual drama event.
Greatest Team Endeavour: Hockey team from Oasis Academy Wintringham. A team of under-13 self-confessed non-sporty types went on to win the district hockey tournament and currently lead their local schools’ league after being encouraged to learn to play hockey. Their sports instructor has reported a jump in levels of confidence and self-belief.
Other awards:
The Founders Award: AmyJay McCourt, 16, of Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill, in the category for Greatest Personal Improvement in Learning. AmyJay had a tendency to play truant and has had to cope with a difficult home life. With help from the Academy, she has turned her life around. Her attendance is now 86% compared to 29% last year, and she is targeted to achieve 6 GCSE grades.
The John Williams Award: Team of five students from Oasis Academy Brightstowe, in the category for the Most Inspirational Team Entry. The five students from Years 10 and 11 ran a Harmony Camp in the summer holidays with the help of HumanUtopia. The camp was aimed at children from local primary schools and saw Academy students running a three-day programme of activities, including martial arts, dance and cooking workshops. As well as just being great fun, the activities also promoted good behaviour and life skills in younger children, laying good foundations for the future.
Special Recognition Awards:
Jordan Arthur: Jordan, 17, of Oasis Academy Hadley, became the fastest school boy over 100m in the world after winning gold in 100m event at the World Schools Championship in Doha in December 2009. Jordan is a true role model for others. He is a humble and polite young person and helps mentor disaffected young students at the academy.
Lucy Ince: Lucy, 13, from Oasis Academy Enfield, is in remission from Leukaemia and has organised a variety of fundraisers for a Cancer Charity. As a shy person, she has shown great courage in organising various events to raise money for others in a similar situation to her own.
Hollie Duke: Hollie, 16, of Oasis Academy Shirley Park, is a remarkable and selfless student who is always looking for ways to improve the lives of others. She is an avid supporter of the Jimmy Mizen Foundation, which helps keep vulnerable children safe and warns of the dangers of knife crime. She organised a Shoe Box appeal to send to needy families overseas. She is also part of the Beat Bullying programme, and helps younger students in the Academy with their studies and works with primary school pupils to help with their transition to secondary school.
Lucy Collins: Lucy, 16, from Oasis Academy Bristol, used to have a very low attendance and did not enjoy school or learning. She ended up leaving home and had a number of negative influences around her. However, following a bad experience, Lucy made the d ecision to turn her life around. She rebuilt the relationships with her family and re-engaged with her studies. She has since worked tirelessly to exceed her target grades.
* The Education Charter , which spells out the things that motivate our educational focus and emphasis, can be found here, and is captured in the format, ‘We Are...’:
We are community – we are relationships
We are learning – we are achievement
We are unique – we are inclusive
We are enjoyment – we are perseverance
We are hope – we are future
We are Oasis...
Aye mate! And welcome to limbo! Problem: I have no idea what page you're trying to work on. You need to define a body ID in the template, then turn on the necessary rows and columns in layout.css. Arrrrgh!
