Aragon's Awards

Our Awards and Accreditations

At Aragon Primary School, we hold a range of awards and accreditations that recognise different areas of our work. Each award involves a detailed review of our provision and provides external recognition of the education, opportunities and support available to our pupils.

Artsmark Silver Award

Artsmark is the national award for arts and cultural education, accredited by Arts Council England. The Silver Award recognises our commitment to ensuring that creativity, art, music and performance are an important part of school life.

To achieve the award, we reviewed and developed our arts provision, strengthened the quality of our curriculum and demonstrated how pupils benefit from a broad range of creative and cultural experiences. We also provided professional development for staff and evaluated the impact of the arts across the school.

Attachment and Trauma-Sensitive Schools Award

This award recognises schools that understand how attachment, trauma and adverse experiences can affect a child’s emotions, relationships, behaviour and ability to learn.

To achieve the award, staff completed extensive training in attachment-aware and trauma-sensitive practice. We reviewed our policies, behaviour approaches and pastoral provision to ensure that relationships, emotional regulation and individual needs are central to our work.

Our approach combines clear expectations with an understanding of what children may be communicating through their behaviour. This helps pupils feel safe, supported and ready to learn.

Eco-Schools Green Flag Award with Merit

The Eco-Schools Green Flag is an internationally recognised award for environmental education and pupil-led action. Achieving the award with Merit recognises that our work went beyond the standard Green Flag requirements.

To achieve the award, pupils formed an Eco-Committee, reviewed the school’s environmental performance and developed an action plan focused on key priorities. They led practical projects, involved the wider school community, made links across the curriculum and monitored the impact of their work.

The award reflects the active role our pupils play in helping Aragon become a more environmentally responsible school.

Gold School Games Mark

The School Games Mark is a government-led award that recognises schools’ commitment to physical education, physical activity and competitive school sport. Achieving Gold reflects the range, quality and inclusivity of the sporting opportunities available at Aragon.

To achieve the award, we demonstrated that pupils have access to a wide range of sports and physical activities, including opportunities to participate in competitions and events. We also showed how we support less-active pupils, promote equal participation, develop pupil leadership and encourage children to lead healthy, active lives.

Healthy Schools London Bronze Award

The Healthy Schools London Award recognises schools that take a whole-school approach to supporting pupils’ health and wellbeing.

As this was Aragon’s first application to the programme, we entered at Bronze level. To achieve the award, we completed a detailed review of our existing provision and demonstrated that we had established strong foundations across areas including healthy eating, physical activity, emotional wellbeing and PSHE.

The award recognises our commitment to helping pupils make informed, healthy choices and develop positive habits that support their physical and emotional wellbeing. We will continue to build on this work as we progress through the Healthy Schools London programme.

Maths No Problem Beacon School

Aragon is a Maths No Problem Beacon School, recognising the quality and consistency of our approach to mathematics teaching.

To gain this recognition, we embedded the Maths No Problem mastery approach throughout the school and invested in sustained professional development for staff. Pupils explore mathematical ideas using practical equipment, visual representations and abstract methods. They are also encouraged to discuss, explain and justify their mathematical thinking.

As a Beacon School, we share our practice with other educators and support the development of high-quality mathematics teaching beyond Aragon.

OPAL Platinum Award

The OPAL Platinum Award recognises the exceptional quality of our outdoor play and learning provision. Platinum is the highest level of the award and places Aragon among the leading schools nationally for the quality of its playtimes.

To achieve the award, we transformed our approach to play through whole-school training, careful planning and a detailed programme of development. We introduced a wide range of inclusive opportunities for pupils to be active, imaginative, creative and adventurous.

Our play provision supports children to develop confidence, independence, resilience, cooperation and problem-solving skills.

Wellbeing Award for Schools

The Wellbeing Award for Schools, developed by Optimus Education in partnership with the National Children’s Bureau, recognises whole-school work to promote positive mental health and emotional wellbeing.

To achieve the award, we completed a detailed review of our provision and gathered the views of pupils, parents and staff. We developed and implemented a whole-school action plan and provided evidence of the impact of our policies, curriculum, staff training and pastoral support.

The award recognises that wellbeing is embedded within everyday school life and forms an important part of the support available to our pupils, staff and families.

Working Towards

Historical Association Quality Mark

We are currently working towards the Historical Association Quality Mark, which recognises high-quality history teaching and provision in schools.

As part of this process, we are reviewing and strengthening the history curriculum, teaching and learning, subject leadership, pupil outcomes and enrichment opportunities. We are also gathering evidence of the impact of our provision across the school.

Our aim is to ensure that pupils build secure historical knowledge, develop strong enquiry skills and learn to think critically about the past.

Continuing to Improve

These awards recognise the work taking place across Aragon while also helping us identify further areas for development. We regularly review our provision to ensure that each accreditation continues to have a meaningful impact on our pupils and wider school community.