UK schools recognised for prioritising social mobility
by Educate Magazine October 18, 2022 · Education News
An awards fundraising gala that was established to recognise and encourage action that will promote and increase social mobility in Britain’s companies was held last Thursday in-person for the first time in three years.
The UK Social Mobility Awards were set up to recognise organisations that are prioritising social mobility.
For example, this could be through recruitment processes and progression programmes, outreach within the local community, or by developing innovative ways to create change.
social mobility across the UK come together to celebrate their work and share best practise.
The ‘Schools/College of the Year’ category was championed by international banking group BNP Paribas, with Trinity Academy Leeds being awarded the winning trophy.
A new school that is based in one of the countries most deprived areas, Trinity Academy are passionate about advancing social mobility and have been implementing innovative initiatives to create equal opportunities for their students within the curriculum and beyond.
Waterhead Academy in Oldham were also a finalist in this category.
Judges included Lord Mayor Alderman Vincent Keaveny, Amanda Mackenzie OBE, Sandra Wallace CBE, Karen Blackett OBE, and Steven Cooper CBE, and were chaired by Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE.
Amazon were the Gold Partners of this year’s awards.
John Boumphrey, UK country manager at Amazon, said: “I want to congratulate all the winners of this year’s SOMOs – some of the stories we heard were truly inspirational.
“These awards are so important in raising awareness, sharing best practice and celebrating the many ways organisations of all kinds across the UK are helping to drive social mobility.
At Amazon, we believe that success and scale bring broad responsibility.
“By creating good jobs and apprenticeships with competitive pay and excellent development opportunities, and supporting education at all levels, we are working to remove barriers and increase social mobility right across the country.”
To find out more about the awards, click here.
