Geography excellence award for Garston school (From Watford Observer)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting WO to 80360, or email us
Geography excellence award for Garston school
9:32am Thursday 25th February 2010 in News
Katherine Crellin, head of geography at St Michael's Catholic High School, with pupils and their award.
A school in Garston is on top of the world, after being awarded Centre of Excellence status by the Geographical Association.
St Michael's Catholic High School, in High Elms Lane, has been recognised for providing “quality geography beyond the school and into the local or regional education community”.
It joins just 19 other schools across the country to receive the award.
Katherine Crellin, head of the school's geography department, first applied for the award last September and spent four months building a portfolio of excellence to demonstrate the school's work.
It has an active environment council; staff work with Sacred Heart Primary School in Bushey to lead their geography curriculum; and pupils take part in a greenhouse project to create algae to fertilise plants.
St Michael's also contributes money towards a school in Rwanda, a project that plays a massive part in lessons across the school's geography curriculum.
The number of pupils taking GCSE Geography has increased in recent years (77 signed up last year), while last year's exam results were hailed as the best ever.
Katherine will now attend an awards ceremony on April 8.
She said: “We're really pleased. It's a really big achievement for the school and the department.
”It's been really good for me to realise and put down what it is we do and the huge amount of things we do for the kids.”
Following the award, the department will now be required to write publications for the geographical journal and host conferences for the society. It will also become a 'beacon' for other schools to get information.
