Premium award for city schools

Northern Saints Primary youngsters having outdoor fun.

Sunderland schools are celebrating putting children at the heart of everything they do.

A total of seven Wearside primaries have been awarded the regional Pupil Premium Award 2016 from the Department for Education for the work it does to support disadvantaged youngsters in their schools.

The award is for the huge progress disadvantaged children have made since 2011.

Now, these seven schools, Northern Saints CE Primary, Barnwell Academy, Dame Dorothy Primary, East Herrington Primary Academy, Hasting Hill Academy, New Penshaw Academy and St Mary’s RC Primary, will go through to the national awards.

Steve Williamson, headteacher at Northern Saints CE Academy in Rotherham Road, said: “At Northern Saints we were delighted to receive this award acknowledging the tremendous work of staff in supporting our disadvantaged pupils.

“Pupils and their parents continue to work hard to support their child’s education in all of our schools.

“We believe that all children have the potential to achieve the highest levels of attainment, whatever their background. It’s good to see our success recognised.

“The award builds on our earlier success where we were placed in the 100 top performing schools nationally for progress between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 along with Hasting Hill Academy and Valley Road Primary.