Welcome

The Independent School Awards™ (ISAs) celebrate excellence in the strategic and financial management of independent schools in the UK. They are organised by the team behind Funding for Independent Schools magazine (www.fismagazine.co.uk). The ISAs provides benchmarks for the sector as a whole and networking opportunities for schools to learn from each other. All shortlisted schools are also able to demonstrate value for money to their parents.

Applications for 2013 have now closed. Click on the "How to Apply" button on the left.

The award categories, judges and judging criteria are listed on the buttons on the left. Here's a brief video of the latest awards presentation evening:

The winners for 2012:
Outstanding Strategic Initiative: Hill House School
Outstanding Financial/Commercial Initiative: Beachborough School
Outstanding Fundraising Initiative: Chetham’s School of Music
Outstanding Community Initiative: Sheffield High School
Best Independent-Maintained School Collaboration: Windlesham House School
Education Initiative of the Year: Harrogate Ladies’ College
Special Needs Initiative of the Year: The Royal Blind School
Outstanding Senior Leadership Team of the Year: Surbiton High School
Outstanding Governing Body of the Year: The Grammar School at Leeds
British International School of the Year: Brookstone School (Secondary), Nigeria
Lifetime Achievement: Lillian Croston (Westholme School)
Independent School of the Year 2012: Hill House School

Speaker at the ISAs 2013

John McCarthy CBE, journalist and broadcaster, became the story himself when he was taken hostage in Lebanon by Islamic Jihad, a fundamentalist Shi'ite group. John endured 1,943 days of captivity and confronted mental and physical torture, boredom, self-doubt and despair.

When finally released, John tried to return to normality, but his experiences had had a profound and enduring effect on him. An account of his captivity, Some Other Rainbow, which he co-wrote with his girlfriend Jill Morrell, became a bestseller and was described as "an astonishing achievement".

John's other books are Between Extremes, an account of a Patagonian journey with fellow-hostage Brian Keenan and A Ghost Upon Your Path, in which John investigates his Irish roots. In Island Race, which was also a television documentary, he gives an account of a circumnavigation of Britain with his friend Sandi Toksvig.

John's numerous television and radio appearances include Out Of The Shadows, an emotional return to Beirut, and Faultlines, which examined the roots of conflict. In It Ain't Necessarily So, John searched the Middle East for archaeological evidence of the bible stories. He is also a regular contributor to the BBC World Service and to Radio 4, where he presented A Place Called Home, Bible Journey and is a regular presenter of the travel show, Excess Baggage.

John will describe how, in captivity, he had to find supreme levels of self-motivation and courage to stay alive and sane. He then explains how these qualities can be harnessed and used to winning effect in life and in business. 
 

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