Bingley Grammar School pupils bring art to new paediatric wards

Creative pupils from Bingley Grammar School have recently had their creative designs brought to life to brighten the stay of young hospital patients.

The pupils have worked on mood boards and features for the new paediatric wards and adolescent lounge for Bradford Royal Infirmary’s new wing.

The idea behind the artwork was to help make the young patients feel at home when at the hospital.

The project was open to all year groups and has taken part in a number of workshops creating themes, colour schemes and coming up with innovative ideas which includes a “selfie” wall where patients can post pictures and notes for other young patients to see.

Friendly St Matthew’s

Pupils and staff at St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School in Allerton have been recognised for their commitment to supporting the speech, language and communications development of every child.

The school has been awarded the “Friendly School Status”, by the ELKLAN Group a specialist in speech and language.

In order to gain the accreditation, four staff gained formal qualifications in supporting speech, language and communication needs.  The training was then disseminated to all teachers and teaching assistants at St Matthew’s, enabling them to support pupils both in the classroom and the playground.

For further information on the work of Communication Friendly Schools contact St Matthew’s via email admin.office@stmatthews.ngfl.ac.uk

School looks forward to bright future after Ofsted report success

Staff and pupils at Hothfield Junior School, in Silsden, are celebrating after receiving an Ofsted report praising it for being good in all areas.

The glowing report praises the school’s headteacher, teachers, pupils and governors for Hothfield’s success.

The school’s leadership and management, quality of teaching and learning, pupils’ results and the personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils are all rated as good.

Pupils are said to be engaged in lessons and respond well to their teachers. Ofsted said their positive attitude to learning helped pupils to make good progress.

The Ofsted report highlights the teaching of maths as a strength of the school and also praises its use of the Reading Challenge Initiative which is said to have  been hugely successful in motivating pupils to read for pleasure.

Inspectors praise children at Hothfield for their behaviour. The report says they are polite and go out of their way to greet visitors or hold the doors open for others.

The school’s Headteacher James Procter said: “I am proud of the school’s pupils, parents and staff who make this school very special for the Silsden community.

“I am particularly pleased that the teaching of the maths has been highlighted as a strength of the school as we are aiming to become a centre of excellence in teaching the subject.”

Later this year Hothfield Junior School and Aire View Infants School, in Silsden, are to merge to become Silsden Primary School.

Mr Procter said: “Aire View Infants School has been inspected by Ofsted recently and was also found to be good. Later this year, our two good schools can come together to form one great primary school for Silsden.”

Coun Imran Khan, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Education, Employment and Skills said: “Hothfield Junior School’s Ofsted report makes great reading. It is positive about the work of the school and the pupils across the board. Huge credit goes to everyone involved in receiving such a good inspection report.”

Educate Positive 15

Welcome…..

Welcome to the fifteenth edition of Educate Positive, a regular publication which highlights excellence in education and across the district’s schools and settings.  In this edition we look at several instances of the impact being made in literacy and how apprenticeships are proving beneficial for the district’s young people, along with secondary students taking part in a Chemistry Festival at the University of Bradford and children reading bedtime stories together.

Literacy Corner – “Poetry in Motion”

Thanks to a literacy project and partnership working, two young people are celebrating winning a poetry competition where they told the story of life in Bradford through verse.  One of the winners was Suma Abdulla from Dixons Marchbank Primary School whose poem “Big Beautiful Bradford” wowed the judges of the “Love Bradford” poetry competition, run by the National Literacy Trust Hub in Bradford, First West Yorkshire, the Telegraph & Argus and the Kirkgate Shopping Centre.

The winning poems are displayed on the walls of 100 local First West Yorkshire buses.

More than 100 budding bards across Bradford entered the competition whose aim was to inspire and motivate reluctant writers, especially boys, to do more creative writing.

The National Literacy Trust Hub in Bradford is all about providing fun ways to improve literacy skills across the area.  Poetry is a powerful way for young people to express themselves which is why we are working with children and families through events, programmes and campaigns to inspire them to explore creative writing.

Impact of Roald Dahl Day at Thornton Primary

Pictured are children in their various costumes celebrating Roald Dahl stories.

Roald Dahl is always a popular choice for children and spending two days studying his work was an inspiration for the pupils at Thornton Primary School.

The children experienced his style of writing in different ways, with staff planning lots of exciting activities. There were many opportunities for classes to develop their writing skills and the work produced was wonderful, ranging from exciting description and marvellous recipes to play scripts. The children enjoyed the days and have been inspired by a well loved author.

Bowling Park Primary hosts “BD5 Bedtime Stories”

Almost 500 children and their families have taken part in the BD5 Bedtime Stories event.  Nine schools in BD5 have worked together on this exciting project to encourage families to read at home. Reading every evening, even for just 10 minutes per night, can dramatically improve children’s reading ability and foster a life-long love of stories.

The group of schools is keen to maximise this potential, and inspire even more children to pick up a good book and share it with their families, hence the sessions which took place at the National Media Museum and in the City Library.

The aim is to develop a passion for reading, and encourage families to enjoy books together. There will be interactive shows from a variety of high quality authors, poets and illustrators, as well as tours of City Library and the Museum. Children were invited to wear their pyjamas for the bedtime event and a donation from a local company, Kemira Chemicals, meant that every child received a free book!

This group of schools works together on a number of projects that help to raise achievement in the BD5 area, including their training of Newly Qualified Teachers and the organisation of an annual Literacy Festival.

For more information please contact Fiona Phimister at Bowling Park Primary School, T 01274 770270.

Apprentice of the Year

Councillors Alex Ross-Shaw and Imran Khan with the winners at an awards ceremony for Bradford Council’s Building and Technical Services’ apprentices. (James is second from left in the second row.) Photo by Jamie Dobson Photography

James Scaife, a 19-year-old apprentice from Bradford Moor, is testimony to the value of Apprenticeships as he has won Apprentice of the Year for Bradford Council’s Building and Technical Services.

James is in his third year of his apprenticeship working on Council buildings.  He was one of 16 winners at the awards ceremony held at the Banqueting Hall in City Hall, including carpenters, joiners, engineers, bricklayers, plasterers, painters, decorators and plumbers.

The awards were given for four categories which were Most Improved, Outstanding Effort, Best Portfolio and Trainers Choice, for each year from 1-4.  James won the three categories of Most Improved, Outstanding Effort and Trainers Choice for year 2 and also achieved more points than anyone else to become Apprentice of the Year.

Duke of Edinburgh success at Parkside

Students at Parkside School have been put to the test both physically and mentally recently as the school not only introduced the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, but it also became a licensed organisation.

A number of Year 10 students have almost finished their award and have successfully completed their expedition section at Bronze Level with many more set to join this academic year.

As part of their team building skills, 14 Duke of Edinburgh groups from the Bradford area took part in the 34^th annual Lane Fox Challenge event in Tong Woods. Parkside School entered a team of five students, who went on to be the champions completing the course, very wet and muddy, in the fastest time.  Well done everyone!

For further information please contact Headteacher, Andy Taylor, T 01535 272752.

 

Students on a virtual expedition

Pupils experimenting with the Expeditions, a virtual reality tour of sights and locations, to help them engage with their learning in a new project launched by Google.

Students at University Academy Keighley were the first in the district to be given an exclusive opportunity to try Expeditions, a virtual reality tour of sights and locations, to help them engage with their learning in a new project launched by Google.

History, geography and science became a lot more interactive when the students visited marine life in the Great Barrier, toured The Palace of Versailles, climbed Everest and finally landed on the Moon – all without leaving the class room!

The event was arranged by the Academy’s Strategic Leader for e-Learning, Mr Turvey, who said: “This was an amazing opportunity for our learners not only to try new technology, but to experience a wide range of locations and places to help open their eyes and minds to the wider world. The students’ reactions have been a joy to see.”

With smartphones being such an integrated part of our lives, the Expeditions software runs as an app on a smartphone. The students get a 3D experience once the phone is inserted into a headset worn by them.

Pupils in “Battle of the Somme” project

Thirty pupils from Cullingworth Village and Farnham Primary schools will learn about their own history and any ancestral involvement with the Battle of the Somme by taking part in a new project.  The “Children of the Somme” is a BBC Radio Leeds project which will allow pupils to explore the History of the Somme.

The sessions include workshops about writing, learning about poems and stories as well as listening to educational talks and learning instruments and dance routines with a South Asian influence.

A final concert at Bradford Playhouse on Thursday 17 November, will see both schools perform together to showcase what they have learnt.

People can listen to BBC Radio Leeds for extensive coverage on the “Children of the Somme” with Look North, The BBC Asian network and BBC World Service briefly covering it.

 

Engaging Families accreditation is a “mystery”

Not only has Thornton Primary School been awarded the prestigious Engaging Families Award, the school actively put this accreditation into practice when it invited parents to come into school to help solve murder mysteries.

School ran a Murder Mystery Week in the summer term and was able to display its engagement with families by allowing parents to help their children solve the murder.

An assembly was held to explain how the police needed the pupils to help solve the crime.  The pupils became detectives for the week and took part in a range of Science and English activities such as fingerprint analysis and creating Newsround reports from the scene of the crime.

The rationale was that the week would create an engaging and exciting opportunity for children to enjoy the problem solving elements of the Primary Maths Curriculum and was a week which was enjoyed by all.

For further information please contact Liz Davison, Headteacher, T 01274 833839.

Picture shows Zaynab Butt, Bethany Rowell, Paige McBride and Ellie Dimbleby.

The chemistry’s right for crime-busting Parkside students

Chemistry skills helped Parkside School during their prize-winning visit to the University of Bradford.

The four Cullingworth students had to uncover what happened in the salt cellars when they took part in the Salters Festival of Chemistry.  The students from Year 7 also had to create a rainbow of colours and colour chemistry section during the action-packed day.

They were finally treated to a ‘chemistry WOW’ show which included banana freezing and spooky smoke.

The “Parkside quartet” was specially invited take part in the festival, a competitive chemistry competition held across the UK.

Parkside chemistry teacher James Windle said: “Our students were exceptional in their performance on the day, really working together as a team and showing a real flair for chemistry.

“It was this high standard of performance that led to Parkside being crowned the winners of the competition, beating the other 15 teams who were taking part.”

Mr Windle confirmed that during the last 16 years over 44,000 students have experienced the fun of practical chemistry through the Salters’ Festivals.  Sponsorship in support of the festivals has been raised from over 50 companies.

For further information please contact Headteacher, Andy Taylor, T 01535 272752.

Educate Positive – Issue 13

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