Welcome to the thirteenth edition of Educate Positive, a regular publication which highlights the educational excellence in education and across the district’s schools and settings. In this edition we bring you news about Addingham Primary’s E Safety Award, Killinghall’s fantastic improvements to bring them above the national average, Steeton Primary’s international and e-twinning success and the Lord Mayor of Bradford at the Woolsack Debating Society.
Ambassadors Making A Difference
Thanks to a peer education project hosted by Bradford Council’s Diversity & Cohesion team for the last eight years, more than 200 students from eight of the district’s secondary schools are carrying out their duties as Anne Frank Ambassadors at the sixth Anne Frank + (You) Exhibition. They have been guiding visitors around the Exhibition at Kala Sangam, St Peter’s House, throughout April and May sharing their knowledge of the project which tackles prejudice based on the life and experiences of the young Jewish diarist.
The Exhibition and training is supported by an educational workshop on the theme of Stand Up, Speak Out, Make a Difference (SUSOMAD).
This year the Diversity & Cohesion Service has developed the “Remembering Srebrenica” Exhibition which charts the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the event which led to the genocide of Bosnian Muslims. Secondary pupils have used the Exhibition to explore the causes and consequences of genocide in Srebrenica, Rwanda and Darfur and to identify the potential impact of contemporary events. The schools involved are: Beckfoot Upper Heaton Academy, Bingley Grammar, Bradford Grammar, Dixons City Academy, Dixons Kings Academy, Eternal Light Academy, Laisterdyke Leadership Academy and Tong High School.
For further information about the Diversity & Cohesion Service and its projects please contact Alina Khan, T 01274 439384, Mobile 027582 103098.
Accreditation for Apprenticeship Scheme
Keighley College has now received accreditation from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (iMechE) for its Engineering Advanced Apprenticeship Scheme run through its Industrial Centre of Excellence.
This followed a strict audit by iMechE and means that the centre is one of a select group of training organisations whose students get free access to a range of support including:
- Supported access to the world’s largest engineering library sited at Institute of Mechanical Engineers
- Bursaries and other financial support
- Opportunities to attend free engineering events and talks
- Newsletters featuring the latest developments in the sector
One of the key benefits to the College being approved by iMechE is that all students coming through the course will be able to fill in a short application form to become professionally registered as EngTech. This simple process can make all the difference to an engineer’s career with many major employers such as BAE, the MOD and Rolls Royce insisting that all staff are professionally registered and often using this as a criteria when filtering job applicants.
This will help our students stand out from the crowd and demonstrates the College’s continued commitment to the success of its apprentices and demonstrates the quality of our training provision to students and employers.
For further information please contact Chris Stott on 07825 058 223.
Addingham Primary School receives award for E-Safety
Pupils at Addingham Primary School have increased their understanding of e-safety and keeping safe on the internet. They are the ninth school in the district to have achieved the 360 Degree Safe E-Safety Mark.
The pupils have a very good understanding of all the major issues regarding e-safety and know how to report any incident that they are concerned about. The pupils came up with the idea of providing e-safety information sessions to parents at its school Christmas Fayre which was very well received.
The pupils, staff, Governors and the wider community are delighted with this accreditation as it gives recognition to the school’s commitment to safeguarding of both its pupils and staff.
For more information about the E-Safety Mark, please contact Steve Dale, in our Curriculum Innovation Team, T 01274 434825.
Killinghall Primary School celebrates excellent pupil progress figures
Excellent improvement at Killinghall Primary School is better than the national average when looking at the 2015 results, says headteacher, Gill Edge.
85% of the school’s children reached Level 4 or above in all subjects combined, compared to 80% nationally. 95% of the school’s children achieved expected levels or above in maths, 92% in reading and 87% in writing.
This is a great achievement for the school when many children come into school in nursery with well below age related expectations. Only 3.6% of the children from last year’s Year 6 were at age related expectations when they first started school and this was only in writing; but by the end of Year 6, 87% of these children were at national average or above.
These results were a massive improvement on the previous year and the school is keen to stress that they are thanks in no small part to the families of the children. When parents value education and support the school by ensuring that their children attend and complete homework, results improve. This specific group of children were very fortunate in the support they had from their parents and from some excellent and outstanding teaching across the years. This is testimony of how well children can achieve by everyone working together in partnership.
For further information please contact Gill Edge, Headteacher, T 01274 771166.
Steeton Primary School’s project wins award for its impact
Steeton Primary School has won a national ICT (the Early Years and Primary Impact) award for its “Christmas Truce” eTwinning Project which involved combining a variety of digital tools with eTwinning and using a history and current context.
Pupils in ten countries used a number of IT tools to communicate and collaborate with other schools across Europe. This included a video conference call in commemoration of the Christmas Truce of 1914. During this call, the children sang Silent Night together in all the languages of the project. Through their work in the project, they also learned about World War I and shared their research. They brought the work up to the present day by exchanging Christmas cards and ecards using the coding programme Scratch. An e-book of the project has been made.
For more information please contact Diana Linford: diana.linford@steeton.bradford.sch.uk
Information on e-Twinning can be found at: https://twinspace.etwinning.net/248/home
FAST Success at Parkwood Primary School
Twenty-seven families from Parkwood Primary School graduated after completing an eight week “FAST” (Families and School Together) programme.
FAST is a ground-breaking programme which has been developed to improve relationships, within families, between parents and schools, and also between parents themselves to build a stronger community. The families graduated at a celebration event in March for the completion of their involvement in this pioneering new education scheme which is proven to help children achieve more in schools and dramatically improve their relationships with their families.
Each week approximately 150 people attended the session with over 200 graduating wearing “mortar boards” and gowns made by the children.
This initiative has taken relationships between schools and families to a whole new level. So many people have put so much energy and enthusiasm into this, including families, staff, governors and community partners. Children and families have looked forward to FAST every week and it has not disappointed, we have grown as a community as a result of this and would recommend it to any other school, which is happy to commit to it wholeheartedly.
For further information please contact Richard Ballantine, Headteacher, T 01535 603832.
Shirley Manor Primary Academy celebrates prestigious national science award
Pupils and staff at Shirley Manor Primary Academy are celebrating the outstanding science teaching which they have access to.
Science teacher, Judith Carnelley, has been chosen to receive one of the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT) Awards which celebrate the outstanding teachers in primary science doing incredible work in inspiring children at schools across the country.
Judith is a Specialist Leader in Education (SLE) for the Bradford Birth to 19 Teaching Alliance and has had responsibility for planning and delivering the science teacher training modules for Initial Teacher Trainees in 2015 and 2016. This has involved four cohorts of trainees attending Shirley Manor for hands-on science training and active learning with pupils.
Teachers who win the award support colleagues in their own and other schools either locally, regionally or nationally to raise the profile of science.
In 2012, Judith led the school in achieving the Primary Science Quality Mark at Gold standard making them the first Bradford primary school to achieve this status.
For further information please contact Maureen Neill, Headteacher at Shirley Manor Primary, T 01274 679320.
Haworth Primary School Business Friends
A joint venture between Haworth Primary School and two local businesses has allowed a number of pupils to have access to Clever Touch Interactive Screens in their classrooms.
“The Business Friends of Haworth Primary School” project is being developed by Governors and teachers at the school so that local businesses can work in partnership with the school to help promote the school and strengthen business growth in the area.
Wydean Weaving and A1 Stairlifts have both donated the screens, and a further eight local businesses are expected to join the initiative who will be providing sponsorship and support in a number of different ways.
The new project was launched when local businesses were invited to an evening in school. During the evening the head boy and girl gave a presentation along with the headteacher and one of the Governors. Invitees then went on a tour of the school to look at the provision and learn about the school’s values and ethos. The values are based on “REACH” (Respect, Engage, Ambition, Care, Happiness) and “LOVE” (Living, Our Values Everyday).
A second evening in the Summer term is planned, where our current partners will be presenting the impact to other businesses to encourage further development of this.
Pictured are: Robin Wright (MD of Wydean weaving), John Brownless (School Governor) , Simon Harrison (MD A1 Stairlifts), Robert Dunne (A1 Stairlifts) and the pupils are our head girl and head boy; Minnie Waddington and Alex Lindsey.
Pupils debate at Cartwright Hall
Pupil Voice has been extremely strong this month due to the second Woolsack Debating Competition which took place at Cartwright Hall.
This involved seven teams from 16 primary schools taking part in the debating process which saw the two teams with the highest score going head-to-head for the final debate which was “The Olympic Games are a waste of public funding.”
The winning team, an alliance of pupils from Heaton St Barnaba’s, Rainbow and Saltaire Primary schools, was presented with the Winners’ Trophy by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Geoff Reid. Before presenting the winning team Coun Reid, took a very small trophy out of his pocket and said that he had been given it as part of the winning team in a national Methodist debating competition 49 years ago.
He congratulated all the finalists on the quality of their arguments and the civilised nature of the debate as to whether or not the Olympics were a waste of public money. “But,” said the Lord Mayor, “what really impresses is me is that all these confident public speakers are from Bradford primary schools. I was a 21-year-old university student when I won my little trophy. I wouldn’t have dreamed of attempting anything like this when I was your age.”
Schools which took part in the debate were:
Whetley Primary Academy, Atlas Community, Green Lane, Dixons Manningham, Bowling Park, Ben Rhydding, Burley Oaks, Addingham, Eldwick, Crossflatts, Parkwood, Eastwood, Holycroft, Heaton St Barnaba’s, Saltaire primaries and Rainbow Primary Academy.
Take the opportunity to share your best practice and recent achievements – to submit an item for publication please contact 01274 434673 or email: FHCommunications@bradford.gov.uk
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