Bradford SEND Conference is hailed a success

A major education conference held in Bradford focused on serving the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND) has been hailed as a big success.

More than 600 representatives from schools across the district attended the event, which was organised by Bradford Council.

The audience at Bradford City’s Northern Commercial Stadium at Valley Parade heard keynote speeches from a panel of experts from the sector.

The “Putting Children at the Centre” – Bradford SEND conference 2017 also allowed the council to set out its vision for the district where Bradford moves towards a sector-led self improving model of SEND provision where best practice is shared between schools.

The event was aimed at headteachers, SENCOs (special educational needs co-ordinators) and SEND governors of all schools in the district, parents, partner agencies as well as staff from the further education sector.

Welcoming delegates to the event Bradford Council’s Strategic Director for  Children’s Services Michael Jameson said he believed that working together schools, the local authority and parents all had the expertise to provide the best possible support and education for pupils with SEND.

Bradford Council has well-developed relationships with schools and believes that continued collaboration will help transform the way in which specialist provision and support for SEND pupils is delivered.

The audience then heard from three top national speakers in SEND education.

Jane Friswell, a former chief executive of the Nasen (National Association of Special Educational Needs) charity and director of SEND Consultancy, focused on why “Good practice for students with SEND is good practice for all.” 

She told the conference that she was very impressed with the “quality of ambition” she had seen from Bradford for SEND provision.

Jean Gross CBE spoke about how to support learners with SEND through quality first teaching and Simon Knight, from the London Leadership, talked about School Based SEND Review, a nationally recognised review tool for evaluating how well a school is meeting the needs of SEND children which is being rolled out across the Bradford District next term.

The event also included a market place which allowed the council to promote the additional services that are available to support pupils with SEND in schools.

Coun Imran Khan, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Education, Employment and Skills said: “We are delighted with how this conference went. We have received so much positive feedback both from our schools and from the expert speakers who were kind enough to share their experience with us.

“Colleagues have told us that they were inspired by the speakers and that the event was a good opportunity to refresh their knowledge and learn new things. It gave people the chance to pick up on strategies to use in the classroom and the chance to network and share ideas with other colleagues.

“Bradford has a growing population and we know that there is a growing need for more specialist places in our schools. But what the conference shows is that there is a shared commitment from the council and schools to ensure that across the district the needs of these pupils can be met.”

St Matthew’s CE Primary pupils get taste of what the college has to offer

Year 6 pupils from St Matthew’s CE Primary, Bradford, were given a real taste of what’s on offer at Bradford College when they visited the campus.

Some 60 Year 6 pupils, 30 on each day, were given an extensive tour of the College on Thursday and Friday 13 and 14 July. They met with students who they had previously spent time with at school in November, 2016 and February this year. Known as College Ambassadors, they helped the pupils gain insights into a range a courses and careers, and into the general life of post-school study.

The pupils saw the engineering and technical workshops, science labs and library. From the top floor of the main building, they were able to see the Bradford cityscape. The day ended in a media studio where groups of pupils made a talk show video. They took on the roles of either hosts, guests, camera operators, sound engineers or directors. They are looking forward to seeing the short films.

Included in the tour was a visit to a hair salon, a boxing gym, and a statue of Sir Edward Appleton, who won a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947 while working at the former Bradford Technical College, which later became Bradford College.

Last November students from the College answered questions from pupils about life as a student as part of a Year 6 Careers Week. The event was organised to encourage the pupils to have high aspirations and consider further and higher education once they leave secondary school.

A second session, called Your Future and Higher Education, was held at the school in February. It gave pupils an insight into studying Higher education and the students answered frequently asked questions about courses, entry requirements and the costs involved

The events were part of Bradford College’s Get Involved scheme which runs the College’s Further and Higher Education Progression Packages.

Picture shows pupil Aaqib Zaman on camera.

‘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

 

 

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

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.”

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

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.”