SCHOOLS are being invited to produce innovative ideas to raise standards in the classroom for the chance to win £10,000 to execute their plans.

The inaugural Randstad Education Awards will reward the entrants with the most innovative ideas to help raise standards in their school.

Those hoping to be in with a chance of winning one of the three prizes across the primary, secondary and SEN (special education needs) categories have until Friday, 24 January to submit their entry.

Schools who wish to enter the awards need to answer six questions relating to how they would invest the £10,000 prize in order to raise standards.

As well as innovation, the panel of independent judges will be looking for an outcome that is measurable alongside existing assessment criteria such as attainment levels or participation ages and levels within a particular subject, topic or curriculum area.

Jenny Rollinson, managing director of Randstad Education, said: “Many schools feel pushed around by current political change and face huge challenges as they are asked to do more with less thanks to squeezed funding.

“Despite these difficulties, many schools still aspire to raise standards and we feel this innovation and change from the bottom up needs to be recognised, encouraged and rewarded.

“We know that raising standards in education could be given an extra push if there were additional resources, equipment or facilities and that’s why we want to hear from schools that could use £10,000 to help them on their way.”

All ideas will be considered, but entrants are encouraged to adopt a whole-school approach in deciding how the money will be invested and input from a panel of pupils, governors, teachers and even parents is recommended.

A shortlist of finalists will be invited to an awards ceremony hosted by Randstad Education in February, where the winners will be announced.

For further information, visit the website randstad.co.uk/ education/employers/awards/ awards.