Smithdon High School took the top spot in this year’s Education Business Awards for the ICT Facility category after the refurbishment impressed judges. Celebrity presenter Jeff Brazier made the announcement at a virtual ceremony that staff were able to watch online.

The award is made to a school in England which has made outstanding progress in the provision of a first class environment for the teaching of ICT and related subjects - and this year it was given to Smithdon.

This is more good news for our school and comes as we are celebrating the fact that it is now on the list of schools in-line for the government’s building programme. We have a great deal to look forward to.

Staff at the school knew how much difference our programme of work this year has made and this affirms that everyone did exactly the right thing for our students. Winning an Education Business Award is very tough, and we are all very proud of the achievement.

The Smithdon ICT suite was completely revamped during lockdown as part of a major £1m improvement project already under way which saw new classrooms, windows and roofing among other things.

The library now includes capacity for one-to-one learning, room for an entire class, a quiet area for reading, and it also contains the school’s fifth computer suite.

It’s very much future-proofed and the team has been looking beyond the pandemic and reconfiguring spaces to enhance the experience of our students and ensure our school is well-equipped for new demands and challenges.

The programme of improvements also included a major refurbishment of the sports hall at the school which is seeing increasing numbers on its roll and growing demand for places.