Tag Archives: Education

Ofsted hands out a glowing report

A Rugby infant school has been praised by government inspectors for its pupils’ high achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.

‘Bawnmore Blackbirds’, the school's KS1 cheerleading squad won the Eastern Warwickshire Pom Dance Competition at the 1st March. The squad will now go on to defend the school’s county title at a competition to be held at North Leamington School on 6 July.

Following an Ofsted inspection last month, Bawnmore Infant School, on Bawnmore Road, was judged to be ‘good’ in all areas assessed. Inspectors found high achievement, strong leadership, and good teaching with some features of outstanding practice.

The Ofsted report noted ‘overwhelming positive views about teaching expressed by all parents and carers’. It highlighted a well planned curriculum with learning experiences that have a positive impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It also said that ‘all groups of pupils, regardless of gender, ability or background, learn well.

The school benefits from very good leadership and management with a successful partnership between Headteacher, staff and governing body. Inspectors noted that ‘the headteacher communicates a clear and ambitious vision for the school, and continuously looks for further improvement’.

The positive report outlines recommendations to help the school perform even better. To develop outstanding teaching in all areas, inspectors advise that ‘teachers become more consistent in planning opportunities for developing pupils’ skills as independent learners and using carefully planned questions to increase the level of challenge for pupils’.

Headteacher Debra Wade said: “We are very pleased with this report, it is testament to the hard work of the staff and governors. This is a high-achieving school that continues to make good progress and it is very rewarding to receive such a stamp of approval from the Ofsted inspectors.”

The school also offers Early Years Foundation Stage education through Bawnmore Cygnets Pre-school. The pre-school was also inspected with good judgements resulting from all areas of inspection (outcomes for children, quality of childcare provision and effectiveness of leadership).

 

Work officially begins on UK’s first standardised school

Work has started on a new £2.2m primary school in Rugby, Warwickshire.

The first turf has been dug to officially mark the start of construction of Oakfield Primary School’s new building.

The school is the first to be built in the UK using a new standardised system that uses ‘off-the-shelf’ designs to reduce costs and construction time.

Construction firm Willmott Dixon and Scape, a local authority controlled company, launched the system, called Sunesis, last year.

Warwickshire County Council is the first local authority to commission Willmott Dixon and Scape to build a new school using Sunesis. The new building will be constructed using the Keynes model from the Sunesis standardised range and will replace the school’s exisiting 1950s buildings, which the school has outgrown due to increased demand for places.

The cost savings delivered by Sunesis – up to a third of the cost of a bespoke design – meant that the school could have an entire new building instead of just adding an extension.

The building is scheduled to be completed in time for the new school year in September.

Councillor David Wright (Con, Bilton), portfolio holder for resources and corporate governance for Warwickshire County Council, and chair of governors at Oakfield Primary School, attended the ground-breaking ceremony along with Peter Owen, Willmott Dixon’s managing director for the Midlands, Mark Pawsey, MP for Rugby, and Mark Robinson, chief executive of Scape.

Cllr Wright said: “Sunesis has enabled us to reduce fees associated with legal issues, feasibility studies and design processes so we could afford to build a new structure, rather than a small extension on the existing building. There’s no other comparable product that can deliver a fully designed school to meet the fast track programme we need and we’re pleased to lead its implementation in Warwickshire.”

Peter Owen said: “This is a great example of how Willmott Dixon is tackling the ‘more for less’ agenda to help our clients make their budgets go further. We are delighted that Warwickshire can achieve an entire new building when previously their budget would only have delivered a refurbishment.

“That is just how the proactive approach both Willmott Dixon and Scape are using is helping to deliver real value to our customers’ investment.

“We’re also using Sunesis in new sectors like leisure and aim to save the public sector purse nearly £30 million in the next few years without compromising on quality or operating costs, which will be low based on the high energy efficiency of our Sunesis buildings.

“Warwickshire Count Council is a trailblazer for the new era of innovative thinking and we must applaud them for having the foresight and imagination to be the first to use our standardised concept; while others will follow, you need a leader and Warwickshire Council have shown leadership that has made it possible to be here today to mark this ground-breaking event.”

The Sunesis range includes the Newton, Paxton, Dewey and Keynes, which are aimed at primary schools, and the Mondrian for secondary schools.

The Design Council CABE has endorsed the Keynes model. The Government body, which promotes design and architecture for the public good, said it was a “valuable response to the challenges of delivering new schools.”

 

Young politicians elected to Parliament

Last week’s youth election day saw four budding politicians win seats at the UK Youth Parliament.

Rebecca Urosevic from Rugby, Abigail Jackson from North Warwickshire, Mohammed Mamsa from Stratford, and Hannah Flower from Tanworth-in-Arden, were elected as the county’s new Members of UK Youth Parliament (MYPs) on Thursday 15 March.

Their four elected deputies are George Thomas from Stratford, Lukas Colledge and Zain Khan from Nuneaton, and Qasim Mian from Rugby.

This year there were 40 Warwickshire youngsters contesting to be Members of UK Youth Parliament.14, 634 votes were cast during the elections at schools, colleges and youth centres so 34.5 per cent of the young population aged 13-19 took part in this year’s elections.

During their term of office, the youngsters will represent the views and interests of young people in their constituency, both locally and nationally, by meeting councillors, MPs and other decision makers to take forward issues of local importance.

This year MYP elections took place alongside elections for VOX, the county’s youth council, which saw 15 successful candidates from around Warwickshire take seats. The panel will represent the voice of youth by addressing issues affecting young people on a county level.

Cabinet member Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Families, said: “The outgoing MYPs and VOX have had a great year and should be proud of their achievements. They have set a high standard for our new young politicians and panel members to follow but I’m confident they will all rise to the challenge.

“These young people are our future and having met them I know it is in safe hands, I wish them all the best for their year in office. “

Supporting excluded pupils

Warwickshire County Council Cabinet last week (Thursday 15 March) agreed proposals to establish a framework for alternative education for pupils at risk of exclusion.

In December 2011, Cabinet authorised proposals to close the county’s Pupil Referral Unit and adopt a new approach to prevent permanent exclusion from school. Unless any serious objections are lodged by 13 April the unit will close as scheduled at the end of the summer term.

Under the new approach funding is devolved to schools who will work together in Area Behaviour Partnerships (ABPs). These partnerships will use the funding to provide support earlier and where appropriate, secure alternative education. As a result it is expected that the number of permanent exclusions will reduce.

On Thursday, Cabinet agreed to open a process to invite education providers to be on the county council’s framework contract. They are now being asked to submit their plans and procedures for delivering alternative provision to pupils at risk of exclusion.

ABPs will choose from providers who meet local authority requirements where they feel a pupil will benefit from alternative education. The process is scheduled to start this month with provision in place from 1 September 2012.

Funding has been devolved to partnerships as part of a pilot since September 2011. Warwickshire County Councillor Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Families said: “Our focus is on engaging young people in a varied curriculum and managing behaviour so excluding children can be avoided.

“We have been trialling this approach with success since September 2011 when we devolved funding to schools to allow them to play a more active role in managing exclusion. This time last year, 60 pupils had been permanently excluded, this year for the same period the new methods have brought exclusion rates down by over 60 per cent with only 22 pupils excluded.

“Keeping children in school and engaging them with a relevant curriculum is our goal. The use of alternative providers is already common practice and the framework approved by Cabinet will just formalise this.”

This week the Children’s Commissioner, Maggie Atkinson, published a report encouraging schools and policymakers to focus on preventing exclusion from school, just as the council is doing.

 

Become a history detective this Easter

Warwickshire County Council’s Heritage Education Team bring the past to life for children in Warwick this Easter.

Children can join the History Detectives Club at St Johns Museum and the County Record Office in Warwick and start investigating the past. With a different case each day, history detectives unravel the clues from the past using real and replica objects and documents in the History Detective’s vault.

Books are being taken now for sessions on Tuesday 3 April to Thursday 5 April, and the following week from Tuesday 10 April to Thursday 12 April, 9.30am – 4.00pm each day.

Full listing of the Easter Holidays History Detectives course:

  • Tuesday 3 April – Crime and Punishment: How were criminals caught and punished in the past? (Event takes place at the County Record Office, Warwick)
  • Wednesday 4 April – Feasts & Treats: What strange and unusual things did our ancestors eat?
  • Thursday 5 April – Caveman Capers: It’s a mammoth task! A day in the life of Stone Age man.
  • Tuesday 10 April – Art Thieves: Can you forge a painting?  Get crafty with pictures.
  • Wednesday 11th April – Onions and Bunions: Discover all about health and food in the past.
  • Thursday 12 April – Jurassic Warwickshire: What would you find if you went back in time?

The History Detectives Club is suitable for children aged 6 – 12 years and places cost are £22.00 per day long session. A 20 per cent discount applies for siblings or if three or more sessions are booked in advance (discounts cannot be used together).

To make a booking or for further information please telephone Heritage and Culture on 01926 412069.

Improving the Health of People in Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Council have made a pledge to tackle health issues such as smoking, obesity and alcohol dependency as part of a drive to improve health and well being across Warwickshire.

The pledge was made during a full council meeting at Shire Hall on Tuesday 23 February 2012.  The public interest debate provided county councillors, health practitioners, district councillors and members of the public with an opportunity to discuss how health care will be developed in Warwickshire in light of the national proposals for Public Health to be integrated into local authorities.

Key speakers at the debate included Bryan Stoten, Chair of the Shadow Health and Well Being Board, Alison Gingell, Chair of the Arden Cluster, Dr John Linnane, Director of Public Health and Wendy Fabbro, Strategic Director for the People Group at Warwickshire County Council.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Public Health, Councillor Bob Stevens said:

“The public debate gave us a real insight into the challenges we will face as we move forward with the transfer of public health to the local authority.

“All parties have agreed that we need to take a more assertive role in addressing health inequalities within the county. However, we recognise that this can only be achieved if all agencies dealing with health including district and boroughs, clinical commissioning groups and our NHS colleagues are working together with common aims of improving the health and well being of the residents of Warwickshire.”

Director of Public Health, John Linnane said:

“The Government have reaffirmed their commitment to tackling inequality in public health and as Public Health transfers to Warwickshire County Council, we need to ensure that commitment to address inequality is at the heart of everything we do. This will include ensuring that we have a fully integrated policy to tackle smoking, obesity and alcohol dependency in order for residents to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.”

As part of the pledge, Warwickshire County Council will now establish a programme of work to actively engage with key groups across Warwickshire.