School recognised with national award

Redwood Secondary School has won the Outstanding Sporting Initiative and Partnership Award from the Times Educational Supplement.

Redwood Secondary School has been recognised with a national sporting award.

The school, which caters for 225 pupils aged 11-19 with generic special needs, has won the Outstanding Sporting Initiative and Partnership Award from the Times Educational Supplement.

The school was the only special school in the country to be shortlisted and beat off stiff competition at the awards ceremony, held at the Hilton Hotel in London.

The judges stated: “At Redwood there is a clear notion of the purpose – and the benefits – of sport. The range of activities on offer is striking as are the participation rates."

The award was collected by the school’s Headteacher Stuart Pidgeon, Healthy School Lifestyles Co-ordinator, Garry Smith and Sports Development Programme Co-ordinator, David Butterworth

Mr Pidgeon said: “One of our major strengths is our sports activities programme which includes all pupils, regardless of disability, having access to a vast range of sports, after school, evening and weekend clubs each week.

“As a result, hundreds of youngsters have tried out activities their parents may never have imagined possible for them, from rock-climbing and skiing for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties to cycling and swimming as part of a triathlon

“More than half our youngsters attend after school clubs and our decision to rotate the activities on offer means that, so far, 26 different clubs and activities have been available.

“I feel that our achievements should be recognized within the region and act as examples of excellence for other schools, particularly in this pre Olympic and Paralympics period. As Headteacher I am proud that we have achieved national recognition for our achievements.”

Winning the award meant a double success for the school as they were also awarded the Rochdale Secondary School of the Year for sports provision at the Rochdale Borough Sports Award.