Historic find of Roman Coins on display at Cliffe Castle Museum

A collection of more than a hundred Roman coins believed to be over 1500 years old which were found locally can now be seen in a display at Cliffe Castle Museum.

The collection of Denarii currency was unearthed locally with the oldest of the coins dating back to AD 78 during the reign of Emperor Vespasian.

Initially a few coins were unearthed by local detectors. One of the finders reported the discovery to the Portable Antiquities Scheme’s local Finds Liaison Officer who arranged for an archaeological dig, which resulted in the rest of the hoard being located in 2014.

Because the coins are over 300 years old, they were declared as Treasure under the terms of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and subsequently purchased for Cliffe Castle Museum with help from the Friends of Cliffe Castle.

Maggie Pedley, Bradford Council’s Head of Service for Museums and Galleries, said: “This is an amazing find and we are delighted that one of the detectors, Stephen Auker, brought his discovery to the attention of the Scheme, meaning that a full scale archaeological dig could take place.”

Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Environment, Sport and Culture, said: “This is great news for the Museum and for the district. We believe this find is part of a much larger find initially made in the 1770s.

“We hope that many people will visit Cliffe Castle Museum and witness these historic coins known as the Riddlesden Hoard.”

Follow us on Twitter:  @BradfordMuseums

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

 

Tour de Yorkshire Roadshows starting in Bradford

The first of four Tour de Yorkshire roadshows in the Bradford district will take place at Bradford City Hall on Thursday 2 February from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

The roadshows give local residents and businesses everything they need to know to make the most of this year’s race.

Bradford Council is working with Welcome to Yorkshire to run the roadshows to share information on how to get involved, build excitement and maximise the benefits of the global media coverage.

Stage Three of the Tour de Yorkshire starts in Bradford city centre and goes through the district on Sunday 30 April.

Other roadshows in the district are at:

• Ilkley King’s Hall on Tuesday 28 February from 6pm to 8pm
• Victoria Hall in Saltaire on Wednesday 1 March from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.
• Victoria Hall in Keighley on Monday 6 March from 2pm to 4pm.

Details on road closures, the annual sportive and Welcome to Yorkshire’s various cycling legacy projects will all be discussed, along with ways people can become an official Tour Maker or take part in the popular land art competition.

Bradford schools helping pupils become ambassadors for Anne Frank exhibition

Bradford secondary schools are being encouraged to take part in a programme which allows young people to train to become ambassadors for an exhibition honouring the life of the famous Jewish diarist Anne Frank.

The work encourages young people to engage in challenging issues such as human rights, prejudice, discrimination, extremism, and to look at what history tells us about the consequences of intolerance, hatred and division.

The Anne Frank History for Today is a touring exhibition which introduces young people to the lives of Anne Frank’s Jewish family in Nazi Germany, and looks at both the rise of institutional anti-semitism and the tragedy of the Holocaust.

Through Bradford Council’s Stand up, Speak out, Make a Difference programme schools can choose to host both the Anne Frank History for Today and an exhibit called Remembering Srebrenica, which has been developed by the council honouring the Bosnian Muslims killed in a massacre in 1995.

At each school up to 20 young people will be trained, by members of the Council’s Diversity and Cohesion staff, to be ambassadors who will explain the significance of these events to their peers and to pupils from visiting primary schools.

These ambassadors are also given further training with the Anne Frank Trust to allow them to act as guides for a major national touring exhibition Anne Frank and You which will be hosted in Bradford during March this year at Kala Sangam.

Geraldine Cooper, Bradford Council’s  Acting Head of Diversity and Cohesion said: “The programme uses the exhibitions as a stimulus to allow young people to take part in workshop discussions about difficult issues around prejudice, hate crime and modern day genocide.

“It is a powerful education programme because it is peer led. Young people are helping other pupils to learn about history and to challenge intolerance in a way that is relevant to them. A strength of the programme is that there is no criteria for who should take part.

“Schools decide themselves which pupils should become ambassadors. Pupils can be put forward for a number of reasons and we know it can have a real impact on their confidence and the rest of their education.

“There is still some availability to have the Anne Frank History for Today exhibition come out to Bradford secondary schools this year and we would strongly recommend getting involved.”

Coun Imran Khan, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Education, Employment and Skills said: “We can be proud of the way this programme allows our young people to learn about challenging issues around intolerance and helps pupils to educate their peers about the importance of rejecting hatred.

“This programme not only allows pupils to learn important lessons from history but also helps to develop their confidence and maturity and gets them to consider the importance of the society they grow up in.”

There is limited availability for further secondary schools in the Bradford district to participate in Stand up, Speak out, Make a Difference 2017.

Two Bradford nursery schools celebrate being outstanding for 10 years

Staff at two nursery schools in Bradford are celebrating being given a top grade by Ofsted for the fourth inspection in a row – meaning they have been rated as outstanding for ten years.

Lilycroft Nursery School and Midland Road Nursery School have both been judged to be outstanding in new reports praising the quality of early years education they provide.

For both nursery schools it is the fourth consecutive time they have achieved this – having first been rated as outstanding back in 2007 in their first inspections after this top grade was created by Ofsted.

Ofsted inspectors praise Midland Road  for using its funding innovatively “through dance and outdoor play and teachers have woven the areas of learning skilfully into these session”.

The school employs a dance specialist and a  forest school specialist to deliver these sessions and was able to demonstrate the significant impact on children’s learning and progress.

Parents say the nursery school is “brilliant” and staff are “excellent at treating children as individuals, developing their interest and helping them to make progress.”

Headteacher Sharon Hogan said: “I was delighted that the inspector recognised that the staff team is a strength of the school. We have a great mixture of experienced and younger colleagues who together ensure that Midland Road not only continues to be outstanding after so many years but has also been able to grow and expand the work that it does.”

Lilycroft Nursery School is also given glowing praise in its new report published today. Inspectors say the school provides high quality teaching and provision for three and four-year-olds.

The report says Lilycroft staff have created “a safe, warm and exciting place for children to be. Parents say how excited their children are about coming to school.”

It adds: “Teachers plan effectively to offer open-ended activities which allow children to take their learning as far as they are able, and children have the confidence to do this.”

It also praises the school for working hard to involve parents in their child’s reading and supporting them to do this effectively. Inspectors say parents have valued this support and comment on how well their children are progressing, particularly with language development.

The two inspection reports mean that more than half of the nursery schools in the Bradford district are judged to be outstanding with the others all judged to be good.

Two other Bradford nursery schools have been rated as outstanding by Ofsted. Canterbury Nursery and Centre for Children and Families, was given this rating earlier this year and St Edmunds’s Nursery School and Children’s Centre was rated as outstanding at its inspection last year – for the third time in a row.

Anne-Marie Merifield, who is executive head at both Lilycroft and  St Edmund’s said: “Our successful Ofsted reports show the impact nursery schools can have. For us it shows the importance of having qualified teachers working with children to give them a good grounding so that they are able to make the most of school when  they start their formal education.”

Coun Imran Khan, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Education, Employment and Skills said: “These reports are a credit to everyone involved at Lilycroft and Midland Road Nursery Schools.  It is great to see that all of the nursery schools in the Bradford district are rated as good or outstanding giving us a great foundation to build upon.”

Travel Training – a step towards independence

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Bradford presented awards to two young people who have used a special travel training course to support their independence.

Kieron and Harris, who are both 17 years old and attend Beechcliffe Special School, undertook travel training with Travel Training Unit based at Shearbridge and have now been travelling independently for six months.

The Lord Mayor presented Kieron and Harris with a special ‘six months safe’ award at Beechcliffe Special School in Keighley on Tuesday 19 July.

Travel training is a structured and planned course of training which helps children and young people make their first step towards independence.

The Travel Training Unit works with disabled and non-disabled children and young people who require support, assistance, mentoring and training to plan and use walking routes and all forms of public transport including buses and trains.

The Travel Training Unit supports children and young people on a one-to-one basis or in small groups planning and practising journeys. They also help with learning associated tasks and skills to enable students to travel independently to and from school.

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Coun Geoff Reid, said: “It’s a real privilege to be presenting these awards to Kieron and Harris. They deserve great credit for completing the training and putting into practice what they’ve learnt.”

Debbie, Kieron’s mother, said: “Travel Training has really helped Kieron. His trainer put him at ease and explained things really well. The team work in partnership with parents so they let me know how things were going. All in all it was a great experience.”

Karen, Harris’s mother, said: “Travel training has really paid off. Harris is now able to travel independently getting two buses, going into Keighley bus station and then out to school. He has managed in all sorts of weather and even got to school on a snowy day!”

Coun Val Slater, Deputy Leader of Bradford Council and portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, said: “Congratulations to Kieron and Harris in gaining this award and travelling independently for six months. Travel training is a great way in which we can help young people gain skills that give them independence.”

Low Ash Primary School is praised by Ofsted as Good

Pupils and parents are rejoicing at news their school has been judged good by Ofsted following its recent inspection.

Inspectors visited Low Ash Primary School last month for their first examination in two years.

Their report, published last week declared the school to be good across all areas and said: “Leaders, managers and governors are very ambitious for the pupils.  They have very high expectations of pupils and staff.  As a result, pupils’ outcomes and the overall effectiveness of the school have improved and are now good”.

The report also says that:  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school.  The curriculum promotes the school’s values particularly well and is preparing children to become good citizens”.

They also noted that the quality of teaching across the school has been tackled successfully, by the headteacher and other leaders.

Headteacher, Terry Woollin said he was “delighted” with the result.

“This is a very positive report.  It’s testament to the incredible hard work that the whole school community – staff, governors, parents and, of course, the pupils have put in to making Low Ash Primary School the fantastic school that it clearly is.”

Michael Jameson, Bradford Council’s Strategic Director of Children’s Services, said:  “This is a great achievement for Low Ash Primary School and one of which they are rightly proud.  Congratulations go to all who have worked so hard to bring about this positive outcome and achievement.”

Now is the time to foster

Bradford Council’s Fostering Service is appealing for people who can provide something very special to a teenager and child – a loving and secure family home that will allow them to flourish and thrive.

The Fostering Service is looking to find 30 new foster families to care for Bradford’s teenagers as they mark Foster Care Fortnight, a nationwide campaign run by the Fostering Network. This year’s campaign theme is ‘Time to foster, time to care’ which recognises that people take a long time to contact fostering services due to other commitments in their busy lives. But Bradford’s Fostering Service wants to get the message across that now is the right time to find out more about fostering.

They are looking for people who are skilled and experienced at working with or caring for teenagers; who are passionate about inspiring and supporting them and can provide them with a great family life.

Although teenagers are the focus of this campaign they are also looking for carers for:

*  Children aged five to 18.

*  Children with disabilities.

*  Large groups of brothers and sisters.

*  Part time foster carers to provide short breaks – regular overnight stays, weekend breaks, care during the school holidays and sometimes weekday care.

Foster carers receive a weekly fee based on how many children they care for and an allowance to cover costs.

People can be married, single, unmarried couples, gay or lesbian, have their own children, a homeowner or living in rented property – all are eligible.  All children are different so a wide range of people will meet their needs.  But all applicants need to be over 21 and have a spare room.

Michael Jameson, Bradford Council’s Strategic Director for Children’s Services, said:  “We currently have a great network of foster carers but we always need more.  It is a challenge but a really worthwhile role that can have a real impact on a child’s life.”

Anyone wishing to find out more about becoming a foster carer can visit www.fosterbradford.co.uk contact the recruitment line on 01274 434331 or email adoptionandfostering@bradford.gov.uk

The fostering service is available for informal chats and advice over the next two weeks at:
•    Bingley town centre/ library Monday 23rd May 11.30am to 1.30pm
•    Keighley town hall Tuesday 24th May 11.30am to 1.30pm
•    Ilkley library Wednesday 25th May 11.30am to 1.30pm