Awards

The school has fully embedded the ethos of the Fairtrade organisation into the daily life of our school. We strive to raise awareness of Fairtrade in our local community.

Design Mark

Cardinal Allen was awarded the Design Mark for good design practice from the Design Council and the Design and Technology Association. The Design Mark is a quality standards system that is awarded to primary and secondary schools that can demonstrate excellence in their teaching of design. The award was achieved due to the shared design ethos from the Head teacher, Business Manager and Design and Technology Department. The results are reflected in curriculum activities available to view on the school website and physically in the design of the school garden by the D&T Department.

In recent years the department has moved with the ever changing Technological society. We have updated our equipment by adding several CAD/CAM machines, such as a Laser Image Transferring machine, Laser cutter and several 3D printers. Our projects now consist of the use of Smart materials, such as Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTC), live edge acrylic and several more modern innovations in the word of Smart materials. Our aim is to provide our pupils with the experience to become confident technologists of the future.

In Catering and Hospitality and Food Technology we are constantly providing our pupils with the experience and knowledge of all aspects of the food industry. We keep up to date with this demanding industry by giving our pupils the opportunity to experience this subject from a domestic and industrial angle.

International School Award

The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. For outstanding development of the international dimension in the curriculum, Cardinal Allen has held "Full International School Status" a prestigious accolade reserved for schools that fulfil very exacting criteria established by the British Council since 2012. Cardinal Allen has partner schools in Nepal - Galaxy High School and Sudesha School, Kathmandu, Tanzania -Kilimanjaro Academy, Moshi and Indial - Birla High School, Kolkata. These partnerships are linked through Connecting Classrooms and are engaged in a wider field of mutual support including looking at systems of assessment, curriculum content as well as the opportunity to share cultural experiences and work on collaborative projects which widen horizons for teachers as well as pupils.

Geography Award

Cardinal Allen High School has held the Geographical Association Secondary Geography Quality mark from 2013. It has held the Geography Centre of Excellence award since 2016. This prestigious award recognises the department’s contribution to quality geography at the highest level. To hold this award schools must demonstrate that they disseminate quality practice in geography locally or in a wider context, embed impactful, regular and quality fieldwork experiences and use geography in school to lead global learning across the curriculum.

Fairtrade Fair Achiever Award

The Fairtrade organisation has awarded Cardinal Allen High School its highest award. This represents the fact that school has fully embedded the ethos of the Fairtrade organisation into the daily life of our school. Cardinal Allen High School strives to raise awareness of Fairtrade in our local community through an annual conference for local Primary schools.

Eco Schools

Cardinal Allen is proud to be a holder of 8 Eco Schools Green Flag awards which demonstrates our commitment to environmental issues. In 2014 we were awarded Eco-Schools Ambassador status and in 2019 were awarded Eco schools National Secondary school of the year.

DofE

Cardinal Allen High School holds Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Licensed Organisation Status.  All students have the opportunity to participate in the DofE Award Scheme at Bronze and Silver levels.