A South Tyneside secondary school has scooped a highly acclaimed teaching award in geography.
St Joseph’s Catholic Academy, in Hebburn, has won ‘Centre of Excellence’ status for the Secondary Geography Quality Mark (SGQM). This status is the highest tier of the accreditation and the academy is one of only two schools in the region to secure such recognition.
The prestigious award recognises the school’s contribution to quality teaching of geography at the highest level and is designed to drive school improvement and raise standards across learning, leadership and curriculum development.
Peter Mitchell, headteacher at St Joseph’s Catholic Academy, said: “This award demonstrates that teachers, despite the unusual Covid-19 environment, are still focused on the fundamental priority of delivering quality teaching to enable better learning.
“I’m incredibly proud of the geography department for achieving this accreditation at the highest level available.
“Engaged learning is driven by focused, impactful teaching. It’s great to win an award that raises the profile of geography across our school community as well as regionally and nationally too.
“We’re a strong community-based school, with some excellent teaching. Our geography teachers really deserve this accolade for their hard work in delivering the curriculum, ensuring great learning, and demonstrating their passion for the subject too. Well done.”
St Joseph’s is one of eight schools within Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust.
Brendan Tapping, CEO of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, said: “The aim of the trust is to deliver an exceptional level of education to all our students across each of our schools.
“The teaching and support staff work extremely hard to ensure our students are consistently provided with a high quality of teaching within a nurturing environment that’s focused on fulfilling the potential of each individual child.
“The geography department at St Joseph’s has worked incredibly hard to achieve the highest distinction possible for this award – it’s a credit to them and their students.”
For more information about Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, please visit: http://bccet.org.uk/
For more information about St Joseph’s Catholic Academy, please visit: http://www.stjosephs.uk.net/