AN INDEPENDENT school in Sunninghill has been shortlisted for two national education awards.

The Marist School is up for two gongs in the Times Educational Supplement (TES) Independent School Awards 2016.

The shortlist, published last month, includes Marist nominations for best independent-maintained school collaboration and marketing/communications campaign of the year.

The all-girls’ school is being recognised in the former category for its partnership with several state schools, including St Francis Catholic Primary in South Ascot, in order to raise educational standards in the Ascot area.

It is also being honoured in the latter bracket for its summer learning campaign which began last year to encourage self-driven study throughout the long summer holidays, going beyond topics taught in class.

At the heart of this venture was the belief that while school may be out for the summer, learning definitely is not.

Marist teachers used the expertise of the school’s marketing department to ensure maximum impact.

Principal Karl McCloskey was very pleased for everyone involved both within the Marist and at its partner schools.

He said: “As teachers we entered the profession to inspire a generation.

“Recognition at this level from the Times Educational Supplement serves to affirm and inspire staff to provide further learning enrichment opportunities for all.”

The winners of the TES Independent School Awards will be announced at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, on Friday November 25.

The Marist was established in 1870 as a convent and boarding school in Richmond, before it moved to the present site in Sunninghill in 1947 following the air raids of WWII.

While it is ostensibly Catholic, it welcomes girls aged between two-and-a-half and 18 of any Christian denominations or any other faiths, provided they are in sympathy with the school’s ethos.