Pupils at Shirley Manor Primary Academy were rewarded for their Community Project following the support they provided to people in a local care home suffering with Dementia.
They won the Young Active Citizen Award in the Telegraph & Argus’ Community Stars Award at the end of last term.
The school’s Year 4 pupils (now in Year 5) had been taking part in the Archbishop of York scheme which required them to do a Community Project. This coincided with a visit to the school from Dementia Friends who taught the children about the effects of the condition and how to help sufferers.
Following the visit one of the pupils, Jake Lee, discussed this with his mum who works in a Dementia Care Home. Mrs Lee asked school if they would assist Rastrick Care Home with its Doll Therapy Scheme for Dementia sufferers – a non-pharmacological intervention aimed at reducing behavioural and psychological disorders in patients who are institutionalised.
The children originally chose to collect dolls and donations of money in order to buy some dolls for the home’s Doll Therapy scheme.
The School’s Learning Mentor nominated the class for the award which was presented to them by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Coun Geoff Reid and Lady Mayoress, Chris Reid.
Welcome to the fourteenth 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 look at the impact being made on young people’s literacy, two teachers from Steeton Primary who have been learning about the education system in Italy, as well as a Titus Salt student achieving the highest score in the country in Chemistry.
Titus Salt student receives top award
This publication has previously reported about the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) provision and success at Titus Salt School.
Another example of how this provision impacts on its students is the success of Year 12 student, Nicole Mitchell, (pictured) who not only received the highest possible award in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, but also achieved the highest score in the country!
The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge aims to stretch and challenge students interested in chemistry. The challenge takes students significantly beyond the syllabus and encourages them to think about science in the way they would at university. Nicole’s first rate performance enabled her to attend a residential Chemistry camp at the University of Cambridge during the summer holidays. Well done Nicole.
Quality Mark awarded to Visual Impairment Team
Bradford Council’s Visual Impairment Team which is part of the sensory service was awarded a quality mark for the work they do in supporting children and young people with visual impairment across the Bradford District.
The award is made by regional heads of visual impairment services across Yorkshire and the Humber. It follows a lengthy assessment process which includes self evaluation and a whole day assessment by four external assessors.
There are 39 visual impairment staff working across the District. Pupils with the severest vision loss attend two special centres which have additional resources at primary and secondary level. The team works with 179 children on the active caseload. The team also supports children and young people whose vision is less severely affected. Pictured above is the Visual Impairment Team.
For further information please contact Anne Lomas, T 01274 439266.
Impact of the National Literacy Hub in Bradford
Standards in literacy are on the up says the National Literacy Trust, the charity behind the National Literacy Trust Hub in Bradford.
Bradford is one of three hubs set up with the National Literacy Trust to provide coordinated literacy provision at a local level to drive up literacy levels in order to increase educational attainment, employability skills and improve health and wellbeing outcomes for our young people.
A report published by the charity shows that more of the Bradford district’s young people wrote either on a daily basis or a few times a week outside of the school day, which is higher than pupils regionally and nationally:
The National Literacy Trust Hub in Bradford has engaged with the media on a number of elements showcasing the work being done to improve literacy across the district. The involvement with the media is an opportunity to increase awareness about the importance of literacy and to engage parents in their children’s literacy development. High profile figures in the district including the Chief Executive of Bradford Bulls, a Bradford City player and a local boxer have all played their part in communicating the importance of improving children’s reading and writing skills.
Some of the Teen Reading Group with authors at last year’s Ilkley Literature Festival.
For almost nine years teenagers in Bradford have been able to improve their reading skills thanks to the Bradford Libraries Teen Reading Group which was started back in December 2007. The scheme was as a result of the Fulfilling their Potential (FtP) Project, which looked at ways to engage young people in libraries. At the time there was no other such reading group targeted specifically at teenagers (12 – 14 year olds) and certainly none that brought together teenagers from various backgrounds and age groups. Adult book groups had proved to be very successful and the need for teenagers to have their own book groups became apparent, through consultation work undertaken with teenagers in five secondary schools in Bradford since June 2005.
Reading helps young people to cope with the pressures of life, feel better about themselves and boosts confidence – all of which the Teen Reading Group can offer. This group has proved to be a success story for Bradford Libraries. It has met regularly every month since 2007, maintaining a core group of between 6 to 9 teenagers, meeting on a monthly basis. The initial cohort did fit the age group of 12 to 14 years but then many of the group wanted to continue. It was decided to open up the age range to older teenagers and now the group is open to 12 to 18 year olds. Both this and the fact it offers a reading group for teens from all over the district and from different backgrounds has increased its popularity and success.
In October 2016 the Teen Reading Group is going to Ilkley Literature Festival and also the Alhambra to see “A Tale of Two Cities”, so another busy year is on the horizon. The group will reach its 10th Birthday in December 2017 and we look forward to celebrating ten years of supporting teen reading.
For more information please contact Christinea Donnelly, T 01274 433915.
When in Rome…..
Teachers Diana Linford and Wendy Hardcastle from Steeton Primary School in Rome
Pupils in Steeton are learning about education in Italy following a job-shadowing visit by two of their teachers to a school in Rome.
Teachers Diana Linford and Wendy Hardcastle from Steeton Primary School visited a school in Rome to see what schools in Italy are like. They worked with three Roman schools: IC Ferraironi, Romolo Balzani and Pisacane on a number of international eTwinning projects over the last few years.
Their pupils have studied ‘Farming around Europe’ and the two World Wars together. The teachers received funding for the visit from Erasmus+, which provides money for staff and students to visit other schools in Europe, for education and training.
For further information please contact John Cooper, headteacher, T 01535 653315.
Travelling safely students are awarded
The Lord Mayor visits Beechcliffe Special School
Two students from Beechcliffe Special School are now able to travel alone following training they attended which taught them the tasks and skills associated with travelling independently.
Kieron and Harris, who are both 17 years old, attended the Travel Training at Bradford Council’s Shearbridge Depot.
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 picture shows Kieron and Harris being presented with a special ‘six months safe’ award by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Coun Geoff Reid and the Lady Mayoress, Chris Reid. You
Riddlesden St Mary’s CofE (Aided) Primary School has been judged to be good following its recent Ofsted inspection.
The school was judged to require improvement when it was previously inspected in March 2014.
In a very complimentary report, the inspectors said: “The headteacher has high expectations of pupils and staff. As a result, pupils’ outcomes and the quality of teaching have improved over time and are now good.Headteacher, Linda Wright, said: “We are delighted with Ofsted’s findings as they recognised the amount of work which everyone has put in to bring about this positive outcome.
“We are particularly pleased they recognised the robust systems which we put in place to support improvement are proving efficient and that our Governors are well informed and pro-active.”
Michael Jameson, Bradford Council’s Director of Children’s Services, said: “This is an excellent result for Riddlesden St Mary’s. Pupils, staff, parents, Governors and the wider community who have all contributed to this achievement should be very proud.”
Other comments in the report include:
Leaders are passionate about the school’s values and promote them exceptionally well. As a result, pupils develop a clear understanding of democracy, law, freedom, liberty, tolerance and respect.
Governorshave sought good training opportunities to ensure they have the necessary skills to fulfil their statutory responsibilities.
The school is promoting reading well.
Staff believe behaviour is good in school. Parents agree and believe that their children enjoy school.
Welcome to the tenth edition of Educate Positive, a monthly publication highlighting excellence in Bradford education and other topical news from across the district. In this edition we bring you details of Steeton Primary’s international work, schools recognised for their e-safety, collaborative working on Artsmark and Bradford Business Managers leading the way.
Primary’s International Success Pupils working in collaboration with their international peers has resulted in Steeton Primary School being awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.
The International School Award is a badge of honour for schools that do outstanding work in international education, such as through links with partner schools overseas. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need to live and work as global citizens.
The school’s international work includes Skyping schools in Finland, Poland and Italy; cross-curricular international projects on geography, festivals, history and the environment; Fairtrade School activities and a video-conference call carol concert with schools around Europe to commemorate the 1914 Christmas Truce.
Pictured above is Diana Linford, the school’s International School Coordinator receiving the prize for the best e-Twinning project for 2014/2015 from George Glass at the national awards ceremony in Nottingham.
Collaborative working towards Artsmark
Eldwick Primary School and Bingley Grammar are working collaboratively with five other schools in their area (cluster) in a bid to achieve the new Artsmark standard. They are one of only two clusters of schools, nationally, undertaking joint working towards this new accreditation, which is awarded by Arts Council England and designed by schools to help deliver high quality arts and cultural education. Seven schools in our district are involved. Schools are working towards different levels of accreditation within Artsmark and Eldwick Primary and Bingley Grammar are leading the collaboration and providing assistance to help colleagues develop.
The schools which Bingley Grammar and Eldwick are working with are Beckfoot School and Crossflatts, Priestthorpe, Oldfield and Saltaire primaries. All schools have an individual action plan. The project is in association with Cape UK.
Janice Kershaw, Headteacher at Eldwick Primary School is a Specialist Leader in Cultural Education. Her school is in its second year of the programme. Eldwick Primary is also working with the Northern Ballet and Bingley Grammar has been working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and involves primary schools.
For further information please contact Janice Kershaw, Eldwick Primary School, T 01274 568361.
RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) Programme in Schools
Schools in Bradford which have taken advantage of the free RSE programme say it has helped them in addressing the needs of parents and young people in discussing issues of personal safety and relationships and sexual and reproductive health choices.
The Ur Choice programme is delivered in Years 9 and 10 in secondary schools and is coordinated by the Public Health Sexual Health Team. It is delivered by teachers, school nurses and health professionals with a pilot programme for Years 7 and 8 starting in January 2016. Tong High School was commended for its delivery of this programme when it was inspected by Ofsted. The free parents and carers programme, Speakeasy, is primarily delivered by the Council’s Family Learning Service. This programme was developed by the Family Planning Association with promotion and coordination from the Sexual Health Team.
For further information or to sign up for this free programme please contact Nicola Corrigan, Lead in the Sexual Health Team, T 01274 432097.
Schools recognised for their e-safety
As a result of four of our schools recently being awarded the E-safety Mark recognised by Ofsted as signifying a high standard of their provision within school, more pupils across the district are accessing the internet and technology more safely and effectively. This brings the total number of Bradford E-safety Mark accredited schools to 7.
Titus Salt, Green Lane Primary, Shirley Manor Primary and Burley Oaks Primary have all provided a curriculum which ensures that young people are effectively educated on the safe, responsible and legal use of connected technologies used at and beyond school. Photo shows pupils from Shirley Manor Primary.
For further information on E Safety Mark please contact Paul Scott in the Curriculum Innovation Service, T 01274 434831.
Bradford Business Managers leading the way
The School Business Management Leadership Group has been working with the National Association of School Business Managers on a course they deliver to School Business Managers throughout England in connection with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting.
Following much hard work and negotiation, Bradford will be in a position to provide training for the whole of the North of England as well as local practitioners to ensure we are delivering an outstanding service to the City’s schools and the children attending them. This will commence in January 2016 and will put Bradford well and truly on the map for delivery of such a high calibre of training.
Previously the programme has only ever been delivered in London which has restricted access to the training for Business Managers in the North due to the cost of travelling and accommodation.
For further information please contact Lesley Burton, at St John’s CE Primary School, T 01274 681959.
Take the opportunity to share your best practice and recent achievements – to submit an item for publication please contact the Education Communications Team on 01274 434673 or 435634.
Pupils working in collaboration with their international peers has resulted in Steeton Primary School being awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.
Bradford Parents On The Go 