Northern Grid for Learning - School Broadband, eSafety, Learning Resources and More

The Northern Grid Awards are highlighted by our school as one of the most exciting competitions we enter. Each year it gives the after school ICT club a focus for the Autumn Term as they work together to achieve some very special and talented work required for a specific category. Being part of the independent sector, the awards are extremely important to us as resources and money available is limited. Prizes won from the awards have given us the opportunity to develop our ICT curriculum and resources in an exciting, challenging and very rewarding way. Thank you for allowing such a great opportunity.

Laura Bland, Teacher, Polam Hall School, Darlington

I entered the awards to showcase the excellent work my year 9 pupils had produced. They had already showcased their work to the school community, but the awards allowed us to gain broader knowledge of the great work our pupils are capable of producing. It was also great to win the award as it proved that the work was of a high quality and the pupils gained recognition for their efforts.

Chris Wilde, Teacher, Churchill College, North Tyneside

I entered the school for a Northern Grid Award because I was so proud of the work the pupils are doing and the levels of capability they achieve, not only in my ICT lessons, but also in the way they use their ICT skills in other lessons.

For me, the best thing about the award is that it is decided on by fellow professionals who spend a lot of time in schools and have the chance to see how ICT is being used in lots of situations. A pat on the back by my peers and colleagues is very encouraging.

The money that came with the award has been used to buy the final IWB that we needed, and to replace some old machines. I would like the chance to do more multimedia work with the pupils, and the new machines will allow me to do this now.

Norman Tait, Teacher, Epinay School, South Tyneside
(Winner of the Overall Excellence in ICT award)