;

TES Award Winners 2015

LEICESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL HAS TAKEN THE ‘GOVERNING BODY OF THE YEAR’ AWARD AT THE PRESTIGIOUS 2015 TES INDEPENDENT SCHOOL AWARDS.

In 2004, inspirational leadership and a commitment to improvement led trustees to make a momentous decision. They proposed to move the senior school from the heart of the city, and the junior school from a site seven miles away, to build a new school in rural Leicestershire. This posed significant questions.

Would there be a major shift in catchment area? How would current pupils get to school? Would it be built on budget and open on time? All were dealt with and the move was made in 2008.

The 2011 inspection found the school to be excellent in every respect. It has grown by 25 per cent, to 1,240 pupils, and examination results have improved. Trustees continue to provide effective direction with no sense of complacency. A new £4 million extension is being constructed and discussions to establish an overseas branch in India are at an advanced stage.

The judges said the school’s governing body showed “determined commitment to long-term planning at its very best”.

Winners attended a black-tie event in at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, hosted by Michael Portillo, where over 400 attendees celebrated all that is outstanding in independent schools across the UK.

The awards have 13 categories, including British international school of the year, special needs initiative of the year and senior leadership team of the year.