A South Bristol school has been named the second best in the world for overcoming adversity.
Venturers Academy, which is based on the Merchants Academy campus in Withywood, hit the headlines when it was named in the top ten schools in the world in the T4 Education World’s Best School prizes back in June, and in the top three in September, and now the winners and runners up have been announced.
The winner, and named best school in world, has now been announced – it was the First Ukrainian School in Poland, which was set up as a charity after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and has now grown to three sites and 1,500 across Poland.
But named in joint second place, alongside the Rising Academy Waterloo in Sierra Leone, is the Venturers Academy, a special school which has recently been taken over from the Venturers Trust to be run by multi-academy trust E-ACT.
Trystan Williams, executive headteacher of Venturers’ Academy, said the entire school community felt ‘honoured and humbled to have stood beside two such inspirational schools in the top three’.
Immediately after the winning school was announced, Mr Williams spoke to all the students: “Even though we are a runner-up, I want you all to know that reaching this stage in a global competition – being named one of the top three schools in the world for our ability and approach to overcoming adversity – is an amazing achievement and we can all feel incredibly proud.
“As all of us know, overcoming adversity is not merely about facing challenges – it’s about transforming them into opportunities for growth. You, our wonderful students, embrace every challenge as a stepping stone rather than a barrier and you inspire us daily with your determination to show that everything really is possible.”
At a special assembly to announce the results, Mr Williams also spoke about the many occasions throughout the World’s Best School Prizes competition, when he’s been asked what it takes to overcome adversity. He said that he’s explained to people that it takes ‘courage, the support of a resilient community, and the ability to see potential where others might only see limitations or setbacks’. He said that every achievement a student accomplishes, ‘no matter how small, builds the foundation for something greater’.
“We are one of the top three schools in the world, and you are all amazing,” he said. “Our school community is absolutely brimming with pride and excitement at the incredible achievement.
“This really is a massive achievement for a school in South Bristol that champions children whose unique strengths, talents and abilities might otherwise be overlooked.
“This accolade says so much about our amazing pupils and staff, as well as our wonderfully supportive parents and carers, governors, sponsors and the wider community who are so supportive of our determination to create life changing opportunities for each and every one of our brilliant students,” he added.
“The platform this competition provides is all about impact and scale, and working with like-minded schools from all over the world to share best practice and collaborate together.
“Already we’ve been taking part in the most inspiring conversations with schools from all over the world, sparking ambitious ideas of how we can transform the lives of even more young people who face adversity in their lives for a variety of different reasons. The demand for special school provision significantly outstrips the number of places available, but the international recognition of the work we do at Venturers’ Academy, will help us to deliver bright futures for even more children,” he added.
In 2019, the school led the ‘Wettest Classroom on Earth’ expedition where a ship was sailed around the coastline of Britain over two months with pupils and teachers on board.
The school plans to send pupils on a ‘Driest Classroom on Earth’ trip in the next academic year to walk across some of the deserts in Oman.
When the school was originally shortlisted back in the summer, Mr Williams said: “It shows my colleagues how brilliant they are about what they do on a day-by-day basis and these trips are just one intervention that the school has.
“The adults here will literally go to the ends of the earth to transform a child’s life,” he added.