Featherstone High School in Southall has been declared ‘world class’ for its standard of education.

At an awards ceremony at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Featherstone students Shyanna, Sultan and Enderjit (pictured above) were presented with the World Class Schools Quality Mark on behalf of the school. They were accompanied by headteacher Gerry Wadwa and assistant headteacher John Noel.

The World Class Schools Quality Mark is the new standard in education for schools whose wider provision means that they have moved beyond ‘outstanding’. World Class Schools is an organisation comprising of a group of experienced educationalists, from a variety of backgrounds, including headteachers and inspectors. It recognised there was a need in England to formally recognise those state secondary schools that go beyond Ofsted’s highest rating, ‘outstanding’.

Mr Wadwa said: “We were delighted to be recognised with this award. Our students had to provide their own evidence that our school values and our focus on those critical personal and social skills were firmly embedded throughout the school.”

Featherstone is one of only 17 schools in the UK to achieve the status this year. Each of these non-selective schools has successfully undertaken a rigorous assessment process by World Class Schools and have demonstrated that they are meeting a wide range of criteria, beyond those used in national league tables.

The award’s uniqueness lies in the fact that the students are assessed with regard to whether they are world class or not, as well as the school itself. World Class Schools believes that if the school is truly world class, then its students should be able to demonstrate this in whatever context they find themselves. The award is supported by a range of local and national businesses, further and higher education providers, and parent organisations that are interested in which schools nationally are the best at developing young people to succeed in the burgeoning global economy.

Students were assessed for their:

• Leadership qualities
• Social awareness
• Collaborative and cooperative behaviour
• Enthusiasm for learning
• Empathy, understanding and compassion
• Critical thinking skills and problem solving.

As part of the assessment, students were required to complete a social responsibility project and bring about genuine, positive transformation. Featherstone students created three interactive learning boards, Numeracy, Values and Literacy, for Key Stage 1 students.