KS3 Achievement awards evening

[soggybottom2]

Our school selects around 60 pupils from KS3 to receive a certificate or special school tie. Presumably, if you are invited to the evening you are told what each child has done to deserve an award while those of us who never get to attend are kept in the dark. There's a few photos on the school website and it looks like the same children year on year. They don't seem to be rewarding high ability, so what is it all about?

How does your school celebrate achievement?

It sounds very much like my DC's school, not only is it the same children year in year out but their siblings too. I have no idea what it is about or what it is rewarding and my children don't seem to know or be bothered by it.

Ours does similar but in the autumn and covers the whole school, so not very many awards for those in year groups other than gcse. It's quite mysterious if you don't get invited but then it gets put in the newsletter after.

My DC's school does something like this. DS1 was selected in Year 7 but then never again. The teachers each give points to children whom they consider to have worked particularly hard, behaved well and achieved good results in their class that year. The points are all added and the ones with the most are given certificates at a special achievement award evening and told which subjects they got the points for. Interestingly, there seems to be a high ratio of girls receiving the certificates.

It doesn't seem to bother DS1 that he wasn't chosen again!

dunno - never been invited

No, seriously, my dds' school does this - an assembly rather than an evening. She got an award in Yr 7, then not in Yrs 8 and 9, then this yr, in Yr10, they are giving her 3 awards. So it seems to disprove the theory that it's always the same people, and also disproves my theory that the staff consult to ensure one person doesn't get more than one award. You don't know anything about the award assembly if they aren't getting one though, which in an odd way, is rather nice. Funnily enough tough, although she is pretty academic, she's never got an award for any academic subject, so I have no idea what the criteria is. I'm also cross at the lack of notice as neither dh or I can get out of the meetings on that morning, but that's another story.

*though, not tough

DSs school gave out awards in every subject to pupils in years 7, 8, 9 and 10. 4 children per subject got achievement awards. 4 children per subject got effort awards. I think they said in total there were about 250 certificates. DS got 4 effort awards.
Then there were about 10 awards for pupils in year 10 for other things - 100% attendance since year 7, most environmentally aware pupil, best sports person etc. Those 10 awards/names made it into the school newspaper.

DD2's school do an awards ceremony (black tie) for a small group of worthy children. They have to be nominated by a teacher and then the finalists are given

Whoops! DD2's school do an awards ceremony (black tie) for a small group of worthy children. They have to be nominated by a teacher and then the finalists are given places depending on votes received.

After the ceremony their photos are stuck up around the school and used in the school prospectus.

It is more or less the same group of students every year. All the others are pretty much told they are a lower form if life.

Dd's school invite every Year 9 (all 170) and thier parents each child name is called out and they get a folder with thier certificates in. Some will have just one thier keystage 3 cert from the school others will have others eg. music grades, behaviour etc and then there are a few best class for attendence, best sport class etc and some full attendence awards and a few sporting trophys.

The main thing is everyone invited everyone awarded.

There is the argument that if "everybody is awarded something" then getting an award isn't an achievement though - it's a hot afternoon in a stuffy hall where a whole year group have their names read out.

I wouldn't mind if it was just a certificate that's taken home and forgotten about, but our school issue ties. These ties stand out against the normal tie and the chosen few get to wear them for the rest of their time in school. An award received in year seven can be displayed round their neck for the next four years whether they continue to achieve or not. It just doesn't seem fair on the rest of the children.

Oh, right, so that's more about the fact they give them ties and allow them to wear them for the next few years, than about recognising achievement at the time then.
I'll agree, that does sound odd.

we have a saturday morning. all year groups from yr 2 - yr 8 ( prep school) must be really boring for younger ones as only 2 prizes per year up to year 5, then split into subjects for the older ones. All are supposed to attend and nobody knows until the actual ceremony if they've got an award or not!

At my dd's school they give things called Head Teacher's Awards for all round good-eggness. The boys get a tie- which is disconcertingly similar to the UKIP one- and the girls get an engraved paperweight. Which, as the Head says, ensures they have a blunt implement to hand in case of need.......