One of the most uplifting aspects of the Independent Schools of The Year Awards 2023, held on 10 October in Chancery Lane, in London was the depth, breadth and variety of the wonderful stories we heard
Dr Helen Wright
From schools whose students had cleaned beaches and schools who had initiated innovative apprenticeship programmes to schools who were making the most of their local environments and giving back in equal measure to their communities … the evening was a tremendous celebration of the excellence in education that the independent sector represents.
The evening was an opportunity for colleagues to meet one another again, and share their news; the highlight, of course, was the presentation itself, and with 27 awards to be handed out, there was plenty of occasion for celebration from delighted schools. The Unsung Hero Award, for a member of the school community who may not have a high profile within their school but who’s absolutely central to the life of their community, was awarded this year to Christine Fairbairn at Belhaven Hill School.
This elicited particularly warm applause, as did the award for The Rising Star of the Year, which showcases extraordinary achievements of individual students from our independent schools, and which this year went to an extraordinarily driven student from the British School of Brussels, who’s already doing university-level research in physics.
Our two top awards of the evening, however, went to schools which betwe...