Do you want to be a shining STAR?
Here at the George Eliot Academy, the teachers offer a variety of awards to celebrate the excellence of their students. These awards range from Attendance Awards (for being present in school), Principle Awards (for excelling in subjects) and STAR of the week awards (for hard work and effort in one given week). These awards are based on a variety of factors, but are usually awarded to students who display our school’s STAR values: self-discipline, tenacity, ambition and responsibility. We aim for excellence in everything we do here at George Eliot Academy, and we award our students accordingly. This article discusses the ways we celebrate the success of the George Eliot students, and the different types of awards they receive.
One of the most elite awards the students can receive is the Principle Award. The Principle Award is given to students who are successful in a specific subject and make clear progress throughout the term. At George Eliot, our teachers try to celebrate their students as much as they can, which gives them a sense of pride in themselves and makes them realise what they are capable of doing. We spoke to some of our outstanding teachers to find out what they look for in a potential Principle Award winner. Miss Benfell, a Year 9 English teacher, stated that a student must be hard working and kind and have high expectations of themselves in order to be in with the chance of being awarded a Principle Award. Miss Benfell told us that, for her, the Principle Award is all about recognizing and celebrating students’ efforts and hard work. She did say that coming to a decision about who should win the English principle award is incredibly difficult, and she usually chooses a student who hasn’t been recognised before in order to give each student an opportunity to be recognised for their achievements.
Despite the Principle Award being the most elite award a student can win, there are also many other awards that students can receive to celebrate their progress and hard work. These awards include: house merits, competition certificates, enrichment awards, STAR of the week awards, special mentions on Twitter and the school bulletin, and attendance awards. House merits are awarded several times in a lesson for good conduct, behaviour, and effort, and for those students who meet the schools’ expectations of SLANT (sit up straight; listen; answer questions; never interrupt; track the teacher). House merits can also be awarded outside of lessons for achievements there too. The STAR of the week award is given to students in each subject every week. This award is given to students who display the STAR values of George Eliot Academy. Attendance is also very important at our school, and the awards encourage students to attend school 100% of the time. 
As you can see, there are many awards that students at George Eliot Academy can receive for their hard work. The only remaining question is: do you want to be a shining star?
