Bradford headteacher puts city’s education on the world stage at major Chinese conference

A headteacher from a Bradford primary school has helped to put the city on the global education map as she appeared as a keynote speaker at a major education conference held in China.

Gill Edge, co- headteacher of Killinghall Primary School, was invited by the Chinese National Institute of Education Sciences to speak at their fourth China Future Schools Conference.

She spoke about how technology is used to assess, support and improve teaching at her school in Bradford, which has recently been rated as Good by Ofsted inspectors.

She told the conference in China how software is used to provide feedback and assessment to her staff to help with their professional development and to raise standards at the school.

The conference was attended by more than 1,000 delegates from across China and other international speakers who were attending as members of the Future School Laboratory.

Membership is based on meeting entry criteria and then being regularly re-assessed and only the best performing schools in China qualify. The Future School Laboratory was established by the Chinese Government to identify how to improve curriculum, learning spaces, educational technology and assessment. Its role is to support the government in its decision making and provide practical solutions for schools in China.
Gill gave her perspective as head of Killinghall Primary to demonstrate how the effective use of education technology in the UK has helped to identify strengths and weaknesses in the teaching in school and how working together with her staff they have been able to make rapid improvements.
She said: “It was a massive event and I was talking to an audience of more than 1,000 people. I was very proud to represent Bradford as I feel we are often not recognised for the excellent work that goes on in our schools across the district.

“There are currently no established teaching standards in China. I was able to explain how teaching standards are used nationally in the UK and how supporting and challenging teachers through appraisal has improved the quality of teaching and learning in our schools.”

She also took part in a roundtable discussion with leading educators from Finland, Hong Kong and China to discuss individualised learning and how it was implemented in each of their countries. She said that “individualised learning is well developed in Bradford where education is about the whole child – we aim to build resilience and empathy as well as ensuring children are competent in basic skills. Being ready for the world of work and prepared for future employment we may not yet be able to imagine is our aim.”

She was accompanied at the conference by James de Bass, chief executive officer and founder of Educate, the UK company that produces the Standards Tracker software which Killinghall Primary School use.

Parents reminded to apply for primary school place

Parents and carers of children in Bradford who are set to start primary school in September this year are being reminded to ensure they apply for a school place before the deadline.

People whose children were born between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014 have until midnight on Monday 15 January to submit an application for their child’s primary school place.

Bradford Council has written to all parents whose children are on their database with information on how to apply online. However, parents do not need anything from the Local Authority to register their child and apply online at www.bradford.gov.uk/admissions

Parents and carers can log onto the online system, register their details and make their child’s application. They will not require any further information to apply online but may need to send the local authority address proof of address or additional information if they have recently moved house.

Applying online is safe and makes the application quicker and easier. All parents who applied online will be emailed about their child’s place on the National Offer Day on April 16.

To make the application process as simple as possible and give parents and carers the best chance of sending their child to a preferred school, Bradford Council suggests five key steps to take:

1. Make sure you check the criteria that your preferred schools set for admissions. You can do this by visiting each schools website or reading the Guide for Parents, available online at www.bradford.gov.uk/admissions

2. Read the guidelines set out in the Applying for Primary School booklet sent to parents in November 2017.

3. Complete the on-line application form using all five preferences and fill in any required Supplementary Information Forms, by the deadline.

4. Make sure that you submit your application before the end of January 15 2018.

5. Only submit one application – do not apply online from multiple email addresses.

Coun Imran Khan Executive Member for Education, Skills and Culture, said: “Starting primary school is a big step for every family. We make the application process as simple as it can be. The easiest way of applying is to do so online.

“To give your child the best chance of getting a place at a school you have chosen we strongly recommend parents choose five preferences. If you only apply for one school, you will only be considered for that school and will be wasting the opportunity to be considered for any others if that one does not have a place available.

“Its also important that parents read the admissions policies of the schools they are applying for so that they understand their child’s chances of getting a place there. We do our best to accommodate all applications but parents should not assume they will definitely be given one of their five preferences.”

Parents who do not have an email address and are unable to apply online can contact Bradford Council’s Admissions Team on 01274 439200. If parents have an email address but are experiencing issues, they can contact the team to make an online application at Margaret McMillan Tower with an officer.

If parents and carers have any queries, they can visit the Council’s website: www.bradford.gov.uk/admissions or contact the Admissions Team in the following ways:

• Email primaryadmissions@bradford.gov.uk
• Call the School Admissions Team on 01274 439200

 

Education Covenant to be topic of next public forum

Bradford’s Education Covenant will be the topic at the district’s next Public Forum for Education. The Education Covenant is a district wide initiative focused on engaging the whole community to play a part in helping young people to succeed in life.  The Covenant is about keeping education a top priority to: •           Help schools and teachers raise standards. •           Support parents to get children ready for school, work and life. •           Work with businesses and colleges to boost career options. •           Champion the district’s unique art and culture. The forum will take place on Wednesday, 29 November 2017 from 4.30pm to 6.30pm in the Hockney Room, Margaret McMillan Tower, Princes Way, Bradford BD1 1NN. Speakers will include Leigh Taylor, Regional Director North East & Yorkshire Commercial Banking – Lloyds Bank. Leigh will explore how businesses can better support children and young people to help improve their educational outcomes and make successful transitions into work, and the business rationale for doing this work. Staff and children from a local primary school will talk about their involvement in the launch of the Inspiring Bradford event. Local magistrate, Gill Arnold, will talk about the work of the Bradford Community Champions. There will also be an update on how the Education Covenant is being put into practice and how businesses and parents can make a difference. The presentations will be followed by round table discussions and an opportunity to share your ideas with the panel and ask questions. The Public Forum for Education (PFE) is an open and free forum where everyone with an interest in education is welcome to come along and contribute. Coun Imran Khan, portfolio holder for education, employment and skills, said: “The idea behind the Education Covenant is to focus the efforts of everyone on how we can raise education standards. We want to bring together the whole community to support Bradford’s children: businesses, public services, parents, and communities, all have a role to play. Michael Jameson, strategic director of children’s service, said:  “We know just how hard schools work to improve the outcomes for our children and education attainment is improving in our district. But we have more to do and we believe the whole community needs to be involved in young people’s education. That is why the Education Covenant is so important, so I’d urge parents, young people, teachers and businesses to come along and find out how they can be involved.” To book your place, please email Public.Forum.for.Education@bradford.gov.uk or contact Heidi Hardy on 01274 434335.

‘Reading Matters’ brings together those passionate about Closing the Literacy Gap

A locally-based charity who work to improve reading skills and life chances for young people held their annual literacy conference last week.

This year’s conference was created to address the issue of ‘Closing the Literacy Gap’ and how to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve the same as their more fortunate peers.

Popular children’s authors, Tom Palmer and Andy Seed both presented at the conference speaking about ways to make reading more accessible for all children and the role that authors can play in igniting a love of reading.

The conference keynote speech was delivered by Bradford-born Matt Bromley, a leading education writer and consultant who was able to raise his own aspirations and academic achievement above those expected by his circumstances by becoming an avid reader.

Matt spoke of the importance of reading for pleasure on social mobility and how the “word rich” will inevitably become more affluent and the “word poor” more impoverished. He implored teachers, as those who have the “superpower” of being literate and loving books to pass it on and stressed the value of parents reading to their children at home.

The highlight of the day was when children from two Bradford schools – Dixon’s Kings Academy and Bowling Park Primary School spoke to the enthralled delegates about how their Reading Leaders training had helped them to improve the confidence and reading ability of their younger reading partners.

The Reading Leaders training which prepares older pupils to provide effective one to one reading support to the younger ones is a great way to engage children from disadvantaged backgrounds who often learn better from other young people.

The other expert speakers were Dr Paula Clarke of The University of Leeds who shared strategies for teaching language comprehension to support those that struggle, Deborah Bullivant of the Grimm and Co social enterprise in Rotherham that uses an apothecary shop as the inspiration for creative writing and Rachel Van Riel who shared tips on how to make library spaces for children as attractive and accessible as possible.

Workshops covered topics relevant to ‘Closing the Literacy Gap’ including the best support for those with English as an additional language and using comics to enhance learning.

Over 150 people attended the conference, mainly teachers from primary and secondary schools along with librarians, learning mentors and other education professionals with some travelling from as far as London to be part of this motivating event.

Rachel Kelly, Chief Executive of Reading Matters said: “It was a really inspiring and enjoyable day and it’s so great to bring together all these people who are dedicated to doing their best for children and helping them to reach their potential”.

Reading Matters has been helping young people to read with confidence and enthusiasm since 1997 and provides schools with Reading Mentors in South and West Yorkshire. Their accredited training courses are available nationwide for peer mentors, education professionals and parents.

The charity, which specialises in one to one reading support for young struggling and relucatant readers currently helps around 6,800 children each year with an average improvement in reading age of 13 months in just 10 hours.

For more information please see the charity’s website: www.readingmatters.org.uk

Follow Reading Matters on Twitter:  @reading_matters

 

 

District looks to develop its Early Help arrangements for families

Bradford Council plans to work with agencies across the District to extend ways in which it can provide Early Help for families who are in the greatest need of support.

Early Help is a way of giving families the support they need as quickly as possible when problems emerge. It means services working together to find solutions to small problems before they become big ones.

By taking this approach, the Council and its partners are able to:
• Provide the right help for those who need it most.
• Help families to help themselves where this is possible.
• Make sure limited resources are used in the best way possible.

The Early Help approach has already been developed for some services. The new proposals would look to extend this for a wider range of services for families and children and young people. This would include maternal health, parenting support, and early education take-up and ensuring young people have positive things to do. It would also look to tackle problem areas such as parental mental ill health, domestic violence and substance misuse

The proposals would look to bring different services closer together to improve information sharing and reduce duplication. This would provide clearer access to families most in need and would help them get more effective support. It would do this by:
• Improving how we deliver help so we can stop families getting stuck and help them make clear progress towards improved lives.
• Improving family support by making it clear what help is available.
• Making it easier for families to find services so they only have to tell their story once.
• Building on the Council’s Families First approach so we have one family, one plan and one key worker so we help families to receive the right support at the right time.
• Finding more ways to help families and communities help themselves.

The new model will look to deliver services more locally across a number of ‘clusters’. This is an approach that is already in place for some services such as children’s centres.

The Council plans to engage with families, partner organisations and staff over the summer about the best ways to deliver services before a more formal consultation on proposals takes place in the autumn.

Coun Val Slater, portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, said: “There are many families across our district who need help and support. Demand for this help is growing at a time when funding is reducing. This means we will need to do things differently in the future if we are to deliver the services that our communities need.

“These proposals will look at how all the agencies who deliver services can work together to provide better targeted help at the earliest opportunity when problems first emerge in a person’s life. This can offer better outcomes for children and families and can also help us avoid expensive care at a later stage. We want to talk to families and providers about the best ways we can deliver services.”

Winners revealed at the Bradford School Awards

Hundreds of teachers, support staff and representatives of the district’s schools attended the Telegraph & Argus School Awards Ceremony to celebrate the stars of Bradford education and the good work being done in Bradford’s schools.

The Leadership Award went to the late Gareth Dawkins, who passed away last year. Mr Dawkins had worked as principal of Bradford Academy since 2007 and previously led Challenge College in the city. The award was presented to his two sons and Bradford Academy’s current principal Tehmina Hashmi who paid tribute to him.

 The Secondary Teacher of the Year was awarded to Zaheer Jaffary, a PE teacher at Carlton Bolling College.  Zaheer was nominated for his work with its girls’ cricket team in the school. Since he set up the team three years ago, it has achieved numerous awards, as well as breaking cultural stereotypes.

The Primary Teacher of the Year was awarded to Elizabeta Butkovic, of St John’s CE Primary in Bierley.  Mrs Butkovic fled her home during the Balkan crisis in the 1980s, ending up in Bradford. A teacher in her home country, she dreamed of once again teaching, and learned English, gaining qualifications and securing a job at St John’s 18 years ago.

Elizabeta Butkovic, who fled Balkan crisis in the 1980s, wins Primary school teacher award

The Community Involvement Award, which recognises the work schools do to create stronger links with the wider community was awarded to  The Syrian Action Team, pupils and staff at Dixons City Academy who organised events for refugees living in Bradford.

The School Improvement Award went to Farnham Primary School, an inner city school where many pupils start not being able to speak English, after being ranked as “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors last year.

The Achievement Award went to Horton Park Primary School, which has become one of the best performing primary schools in the district for the progress its pupils make.

Horton Park Primary wins achievement award at #bfdschoolawards

The Newcomer of the Year Award went to Naomi Simpson, who works at Hazelbeck Special School in Bingley and is in her first year of teaching.

The Support Staff Member of the Year was awarded to Lynne Dobson, who has been teaching the children of Peel Park Primary School art for years.

The Voluntary Contribution Award went to Lesley Matthews, a Beanstalk reading volunteer at Atlas Primary School.  Lesley said she hoped to encourage other people to become volunteers.

The Business in Schools Category was awarded to The Business Friends of Haworth Primary School, a project that sees the school working with local businesses to give children real world business experience at an early age.

The Science and Technology Award went to Joe Ryan and Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College for the work being done to boost Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths at the school

Finally, the Governor of the Year Award went to Jackie Walters, who has been on the governing body at Newby Primary School for over 25 years.

#bfdschoolawards

Parkside School teenagers host birthday tea for 90-year-old villager

Sixth form students from Parkside School laid on afternoon tea for Jeffrey Roberts, one of Cullingworth village’s oldest residents to celebrate his 90th birthday.

A few days before the event the students assisted Jeffrey’s wife, Audrey, with the preparations for the celebration which was held at Cullingworth Thursday Club.

The students involved in the preparations were Cameron Allatt, Sophie Tankard, Charlotte Burton and Sophie Wood.

Parkside School sixth form has a long connection with the village’s club for senior citizens, and took over responsibility for running it when it was threatened with closure after 50 years. Students volunteer their time each week to help run sessions.

Follow us on Twitter:   @ParksideCulling

 

Working together to improve education

Headteachers, businesses and community leaders from across the district met at a special breakfast conference this week to look at practical ways of working to together to raise education attainment.

The conference focused on Bradford’s Education Covenant, which looks at how everyone in our community can work together to help drive up education standards across the District.

The covenant sets out what the Council needs to do to raise education achievement, and where the community can help. The covenant’s education ‘ask’ wants schools, pupils, parents, governors and businesses to see how they can help in supporting children and young people’s education.

The conference looked at practical steps that businesses, schools and the community can take to make a difference, whether it’s providing work placements or helping with volunteering.

Coun Imran Khan, Portfolio Holder for education, employment and skills, said: “We’ve made good progress on many areas of our education covenant and the Government has recently recognised Bradford as a place of educational opportunity. We need to live up to this expectation and this conference is about bringing together sectors of our community to look at practical steps we can all take to help raise education standards. We have a young and vibrant district with huge potential and whole of Bradford needs to come together to realise that potential and play a part in the districts education success.”

Michael Jameson, Strategic Director of Children’s Services, said: “Learning starts at birth and continues for life, both inside and outside the classroom. The covenant is a way in which we can make sure we have a joined up approach to the whole range of education our children receive.  It takes a community to raise a child and everyone has a role to play.”