Holme Grange School – national award winners

At a glittering gala dinner, Holme Grange School, Wokingham, were announced as the National Winner at the Independent School Association Awards for their Excellent and Innovative Early Years Provision. The whole school community are proud that the work they have been doing has been recognised by this prestigious award, recognising the best of independent education across the country. ISA report that this year saw a 20% increase in nominations with awards being hotly contested with winners presented with their awards by Danny Crates, a Paralympic gold medalist.

Headteacher Claire Robinson explained, ‘Having staff who are always looking to themselves to improve outcomes for children and prepared to go the extra mile is part of our everyday practice at Holme Grange. Our work with Professor Pat Preedy to develop children’s physical development in the Early Years has had a significant positive impact on the progress our children make. I am delighted and very proud of the team who show such commitment daily to the children in their care. It is an honour to work with them.

‘We know that reliable research evidence is beginning to highlight that time spent on screens using hand-held devices is greatly affecting children’s development – particularly control of the eyes, speech, language and social interaction. At Holme Grange we believe that a quality Early Years Education is pivotal in securing future success for our young learners. We have a duty to react to the changes that impact young learners and to embed programmes which nurture, challenge and support in equal measure to ensure children develop as independent, successful learners.

‘The Early Years programme is just one of many educational research programmes which flourish at Holme Grange. Working with educational experts in a range of spheres ensure teacher development is put at the centre of the school’s development – as excellent teaching will result in excellent outcomes for all children.’

Pat Preedy, who is working with the government on a project called ‘Movement For Learning’, piloted her work with Holme Grange. It aims to help Early Years children gain greater balance and dexterity to ensure they are physically ready to tackle tasks like pen manipulation for writing and drawing.

Claire Cox, head of pre-prep, expressed her delight with the results: ‘It is great to see our Pre-Prep children thriving educationally just by making some small adjustments to our daily routines, adding particular movement exercises has already impacted on core strength, pencil grip and readiness for learning. We are thrilled with the results of our work.’

The ‘Movement For Learning’ Programme was just one of the many exciting things happening within the Early Years Department that made Holme Grange stand out from all the other amazing finalists. Mrs Robinson commented, ‘We were delighted to be announced as a finalist in September – but to be crowned as the national winner is really special. I am so proud of our team.’