Awards celebrate excellence in Warwickshire schools

Some of the best and brightest schools gathered for an awards evening at Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club last month to be recognised for their recent Ofsted achievements.

The headteacher, Chair of Governors and pupils from each school attended the Excellence in Warwickshire Awards ceremony on Wednesday 9th November. The awards recognised all schools inspected by Ofsted during the 2015/16 academic year who have improved their performance from their previous Ofsted inspection or maintained their ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ grade. Many of these schools improved from a previous ‘requires improvement’ judgement to a 'good' judgement, and one moved from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’.  

Schools enjoyed a performance from the Warwickshire Music Suzuki group, who delighted with their violin playing.  Some of the pupils there to receive awards also spoke very enthusiastically about their experience of education and why they think their own school deserves to be good.

These schools have played a big part in increasing Warwickshire’s percentage of good or better schools, which went up from 83% to 89% during the 2015/16 academic year. This took Warwickshire above the national average of 86% of good or better schools.

 

Good news for Warwickshire Music Education Hub

The government have just announced a 4 year funding proposal for all Music Education Hubs.

You will be aware that Warwickshire Music is the lead organisation for the Warwickshire Music Hub and this is fantastic news for all young people in Warwickshire as it secures the tremendous range of opportunities on offer to all children through the Hub and its work with partners, schools, parents and young people.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:

"Music and the arts can transform lives and introduce young people to a huge range of opportunities - whether that is learning to play a musical instrument, understanding local heritage or attending a world-famous dance school. We want those opportunities to be open to all, not just the privileged few."

In response to the announcement, Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England said:

"Every child and young person should experience the richness of the arts, no matter what their background. Cultural education helps children develop their knowledge, understanding and skills, and improves their attainment across the school curriculum. This ongoing commitment to invest in high quality cultural education inside and outside of school is good news for children."

For more information about the Warwickshire Music Hub and the experiences available please visit: https://www.warwickshiremusichub.org/

Skills for Employment programme

Build a Business Network grant

25 schools have now received this grant which was launched in May 2016. This £75,000 expenditure takes the total of grants awarded to schools to more than £350,000 since the programme started in 2015.

 

Warwickshire Skills Conference 2017

The third Warwickshire Skills Conference for secondary headteachers, principals and business leaders will take place on 13th March 2017 at 8-10 am at Chesford Grange Hotel near Leamington Spa. The focus will be on identifying the financial benefits of business and education collaboration and highlighting the types of activity that have most impact. For example, a recent ACAS report stated it costs around £5,000 every time a business recruits a new member of staff using traditional external recruitment methods or an agency. However, direct recruitment from a school or college would cost a fraction of that amount.

For more information about the conference or to book your place please e-mail skillsforemployment@warwickshire.gov.uk or call 01926-418027

 

Breakfast meetings build links between business and education

Nuneaton was the venue for the first of a series of Business and Education breakfast meetings organised by Warwickshire County Council's Skills for Employment programme.

A series of breakfast meetings has been arranged following the council's successful Skills Conference in February this year when delegates asked if local events could take place in each borough and district to bring together businesses and head teachers.

As a result, the meetings have been set up to provide an opportunity for business and education leaders to establish relationships and discuss skills issues such as the recruitment of school-leavers.

This first took place on November 15 at Central Site, a Nuneaton firm specialising in off-site construction of homes and school buildings for local authorities.

Six local schools attended and heard Central Site sales director Brian Maunder outline the company's plans for growth.

"We are going to grow from 40 employees to around 160 in the next three years," said Mr Maunder. "And we need your help to  achieve this. There will be jobs in design and also support functions like Human Resources as well as factory-floor jobs in construction of buildings."

Another delegate at the meeting, Federation of Small Businesses member Adrian Young of Abbey Money & Property, said: "This is a triple-win situation. There is a national housing crisis, we have a business that is growing fast and we have local schools and colleges trying to help young people to find work and develop their employability skills."

 

 

Warwickshire children 'graduate' and meet their local explorer at the University of Warwick

On the evening of Friday 25 November, over 200 children from 11 schools across Warwickshire ‘donned their caps and gowns’ to celebrate their achievements watched by their families, at a graduation ceremony with a difference.

At this special event, the children met Mark Wood, Explorer/Speaker/Educator who went to school just down the road in Coventry. Mark is busy planning his next adventure taking 1,000,000 children up Mount Everest through Skype for Schools and Microsoft.

Mission8848 will help enrich the curriculum in the schools who have signed up to be part of this ‘extreme classroom’.

The audience were spell bound by Mark talking about his explorations, life aspirations and thoughts on global warming.

The children also experienced the brand-new building at the University of Warwick called ‘The Oculus’, dedicated completely to teaching with two large state-of-the-art tiered lecture theatres and flexible teaching spaces. The Outreach team at the University of Warwick are committed to raising aspirations in young children and their Warwick Ambassadors had the chance to talk to the children about their life choices whilst ensuring everything ran smoothly.

The children received their awards from the Chief Executive of Children’s University, Helen O’Donnell together with Mark Wood. The children graduated, having voluntarily completed a wide range of extra-curricular activities that have earned them the privilege of receiving their Children’s University Award.

Schools attended from the north to the south of the county with the youngest from Whitestone Infant School to the eldest at The Coleshill School. The other schools attending were Abbots Farm Junior School, Bidford on Avon Primary School, Cawston Grange Primary School, Eastlands Primary School, Michael Drayton Junior School, Middlemarch Primary School, Stockingford Primary School, Wembrook Primary School and Woodloes Junior School.

Also graduating were some Looked After Children who attended ‘The Great Children’s     University Adventure’ delivered by the University of Warwick earlier this year. They were supported on the night by Steve Pendleton, Head of Vulnerable Groups and the Virtual School whose team had organised this special activity.

The Children’s University is a charity that works in partnership with schools to develop a love of learning in children aged 5 – 14 years old. We do this by encouraging and celebrating participation in extracurricular activities in and outside of school. The impact of these activities is proven to be positive which is why we're committed to creating a level playing  field of opportunity and opening access to children of all backgrounds.

Carolyn Lloyd, Coventry Children’s University Manager said, “This graduation ceremony was both aspirational and an unforgettable experience for these children. Not only did they receive their awards in this incredible new building on campus but also learnt about global issues which affect their futures.”

Mark Wood, said:

‘As a Coventrian who has worked in the very extremes of our planet I am proud to venture home and support such an inspiring educational organisation’. 

Helen O’Donnell, Chief Executive of Children’s University Trust said “

“One of the highlights of my job is meeting children and their families at Children’s University Graduations. It’s a chance for children to get recognised for all they do, and a great reminder as to why I love my job. Children’s University works with over 1,000 schools, and the children of Warwickshire Children’s University are a shining example of why.”

Learning opportunities at Coventry Music Museum

Coventry Music Museum welcomes groups of visitors of all ages & with a wide range of interests & needs.

Since opening three years ago, we have welcomed thousands of visitors from around the globe.

This has included a range of groups carrying out educational activities from pre-school age to University students and many with particular education needs. Indeed, education is a key part of the mission of the Museum and this has in part contributed to the range of awards and accolades it has received including recently the bestowal of a British Empire Medal on its creator, Pete Chambers and a visit from the CEO of the Arts Council.

We can offer a substantial range of learning opportunities:

• An overview of the musical heritage of Coventry & Warwickshire from Roman times to the present day
• Specific foci on eras within the timeline such as the modern era, the Two Tone phenomenon, the 1950s, 60s, 70s etc
• More detailed input on significant figures from the local area such as Delia Derbyshire, the creative genius whose work underpins so much modern electronic music.
• A key focus we are very proud of is to look not just at the Two Tone Movement but the context & philosophy behind it: its impact on society, its role in challenging racism and even the part it played in raising awareness of the plight of Nelson Mandela.
• More hands-on activities include the opportunity to play a wide range of actual instruments such as theremin, acoustic & electric guitars, a bass guitar, mandolin, tuned percussion etc.
• As can be imagined, there are many things to listen to as well as watch and observe.
• There are a number of identified art activities and several carefully worked out photo opportunities to provide material for use back in the classroom etc.

In addition, led by Pete Chambers, a team from the Museum has created the Heritage Lottery funded “Articles in Sound” project, capturing the history of Coventry & Warwickshire music & offering further resources for use in education. The strands of the project are

• A book (available from the Museum)
• A three hour film featuring original material such as new interviews with leading local musical figures (available free online). Since this consists of a series of foci, it lends itself to watching in episodes rather than a single three hour viewing.
• A website
• A free App which can support field work in terms of visits to key landmarks in local music history
• A mural outside the Museum which lends itself to a variety of learning opportunities

As regards the National Curriculum, the Museum offers valuable learning opportunities in these areas:

• English
• Art & Design
• Citizenship
• Design & Technology
• History
• Music

Outside the National Curriculum, we can tailor packages for various learning projects, to meet the needs of visitors with specific learning difficulties and we can support Further & Higher Education research.

For further information, please contact Pete Chambers (tencton@hotmail.com) to discuss your specific needs.

The nature of the Museum’s environment is such that subdividing groups into smaller units means that each member gets the most out of their visit, especially in the more interactive activities.

Equally, planning is helpful in terms of access too: the Museum is on two levels & we facilitate access upstairs for those visitors with mobility issues with use of a stair climber.