Why you should nominate your school for a National Happiness Award 2018

We know what it’s like. It’s been a long, hot summer. You’re looking forward to the end of term and the holidays, and here we are, cropping up in your inbox to announce the 2018 National Happiness Awards. Hooray!

“Why should I nominate?” you are thinking.

Well, apart from the chance to bring your team to one of the most dynamic and fun awards evenings in the UK, the benefits of being shortlisted and of winning go well beyond a swanky night out in Manchester in November.

Don’t take our word for it. Here’s what Sue Blyth, headteacher of Fourfields Community Primary School, in Peterborough, which was 2017’s Happiest School, said.

“We do so many things to make children and staff happy and we wanted to share that. Academic results are important, but for us they are not the be-all-and-end-all. We believe happy children and happy staff improve learning.”

After the win, Sue said that being crowned the UK’s Happiest School was ‘better than an Ofsted badge’.

And the school continued to bask in the glow of the accolade long after the ceremony ended. It enjoyed positive coverage in newspapers and on radio. And the benefits went even deeper. Since winning, Fourfields School has:

• Gained recognition across the local authority and further afield for its approaches to emotional health and wellbeing, as well as teacher workload
• Attracted visitors interested in the measures it takes, which has increased the profile of the school as well as the esteem of the staff and the children
• Contributed to the Ofsted Agenda into emotional health and wellbeing
• Written for “The Little Book of Flourishing Schools” about its journey to become the happiest school in the UK
• Gained a National Teaching Silver Award

As Sue concludes: “Staff are proud to tell people where they work. The Happiest School title means more to us than our Ofsted grade because it’s about people and the recognition that we are getting it right for children, parents and staff.  It also means that we can’t rest on our laurels. We continue to seek more ways of bringing happiness into the agenda.”

You just can’t argue with benefits like that, so why not boost your school and the people in it and nominate for the National Happiness Awards.