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FREE
Educate educatemagazine.com
The Magazine for Parents and Pupils May – August 2011
Free Climatlantic Poetry Book Merseytravel celebrates the launch of environment website
INSIDE
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Summer holidays Fun filled guide
Regal celebrations A right royal party
Spotlight Specialist Science Schools
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Educate Contents Features
Welcome... 16-18
09-11
A taste of power
School’s Out Summer Days Out
20-21
22-23 Meet the Headteacher Christine Rourke, Fazakerley High School
26-29 Divided Opinion English Baccalaureate
42-44 Specialist Science Schools What is the role of Specialist Science Schools
46-47 Meet the Headteacher Jim Donnelly, Litherland High School
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Play fair by farmers
30-32 Camera, lights, action
34-39 F1 students take chequered flag
48 Apprenticeship launches
52 Future foundations Published poets
57 Inspirational awards
67 & 69
61
Bold and Bright Summer fashion for girls and boys
On the cat-walk
Viewpoint Should Church schools limit the number of reserved places for families from the Church to no more than 10%?
74-75 Where can we go? Out and about in Merseyside
Educate meets up with the Headteachers, Christine Rourke of Fazakerley High School who who steps up to the helm after 25 years as deputy. We also chat to headteacher, Jim Donnelly on the new state-of-the-art Litherland High School.
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Our focus group debates the introduction of the English Baccalaureate and its effect on the future of education. We have all the latest school news from primary to secondary, showcasing schools, teachers and students achievements, talents and the Royal Wedding celebrations.
Events
Dear Educate Help & Advice for parents
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Welcome to the latest edition of Educate, this issue we take a look at Summer days out. With the long summer days ahead we have researched a whole range of activities for children, tried and tested by local families.
Talented Merseyside
We take a look at the Specialist Science Schools, their achievements and their links to the community.
62-63
Finally, we interview Katarina Johnson-Thompson, heptathlete supreme and her focus on the 2012 Olympics.
Wedding story
64 West Side Story
Many thanks
65 Our day out
76 Book Review Jennifer Dobson recommends
78 My school days Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Heptathlete
News 12-14 Give a dog a name
Published by Mersey Mirror, 36 Henry Street, Liverpool L1 5BS. Tel: 0151 709 7567 Fax: 0151 707 1678 Email: post@merseymirror.com Executive Editor Kim O’Brien Advertising Sales Manager Andy Rogers Tel: 0151 709 7567 Advertising Sales Jo Tait Tel: 0151 709 7567 Photography Tom Murphy Editorial Alan Birkett, Lucy Oliver, Dina Karim Design & Production Mersey Mirror, 36 Henry Street, Liverpool L1 5BS. Tel: 0151 706 7411 Email: post@merseymirror.com Distribution Barbara Troughton Tel: 0151 733 5492. Printed by PCP. Educate magazine is published by Mersey Mirror. The contents of this magazine are fully protected by copyright and nothing may be reprinted or reproduced without permission. Disclaimer The information contained within Educate we believe to be correct at the time of printing, no responsibility can be accepted for errors or omissions. © Copyright Mersey Mirror 2009.
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L AU N C H I N G
JUNE 2011
www.climatlantic.co.uk is a fun and easy to use website for Primary and Secondary schoolchildren, school teachers, parents and carers in Merseyside, the UK and Europe. The website and interactive games, commissioned by Merseytravel and designed by local agency Splinter Design is for people who want to find out more about the environment and smarter travel choices like using public transport, cycling and walking. Climatlantic is a partnership of European countries (Ireland, UK, Portugal, Spain and France) located along the Atlantic coastline that are working and learning from each other to reduce their collective carbon footprints.
The website details Merseytravel’s partners’ projects like Angouleme in France and how they are using electric cars in the town to reduce the amount of fuel consumption. Examples from other countries are incorporated into the games, stories,
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www.climatlantic.co.uk www.climatlantic.co.uk forum and lesson activities. The aim is to help children share their ideas and activities with classmates locally and abroad. The kids’ section for children and young people includes fun games called Carbon Cycle, Climate Chain and Eco-Explorer that introduce important issues. There is a forum to discuss this term’s hot topics and a chat room where you can go to compare gaming high scores. The games have been designed with help from schoolchildren from Holy Spirit School in Merseyside and Connah's Quay High School in Flintshire. The children chose the style of the website, the animal characters, the names of the characters and helped develop the concepts for the games.
Climatlantic’s eco-guides are called Ollie the orangutan, Ula the parrot and Roofus the polar bear and appear throughout the website and games. In the website’s resource section FREE Climatlantic cross-curricular resources are provided to introduce the key themes of climate change and responsible travel choices. There are plenty of lesson plans, activities, worksheets, plenaries and assembly ideas for teachers to introduce sustainable travel choices and climate change activities into the classroom. The website is being launched in June 2011 and we hope teachers will come to the launch to find out more about how their schools can become involved with this free resource. So expect an invite!
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StCatholic Vincent de Paul Primary School Pitt Street Liverpool L1 5BY “Serving With Love … Striving For Excellence”
❤
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
OFSTED Oct 2007 - ‘St Vincent de Paul Catholic Primary School is an outstanding school.’ Convenient City Centre Location Places Available Breakfast Club: open from 7.30am Range of After-School Extra-Curricular Activities
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
Two Computer Suites Educational Visits in our Private Minibus Healthy Schools Award Activemark Gold Basic Skills Quality Mark Liverpool Hope University Articled School Status Archdiocesan Religious Education Inspection “an outstanding school”
For further details, contact the Headteacher: Mr P Stewart on
0151 709 2572
Fax 0151 707 8942 email: stvincentdepaul@merseymail.com
Belvedere Prep Excellent Facilities
An Exceptional Outstanding School Learning Excellent Facilities Exceptional Learning Since 1880 Belvedere Preparatory School has been providing outstanding education in the City of Liverpool. The School has just received an exceptional Ofsted Report (www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Inspection-Reports) and is one of Merseyside’s most sought after schools. Pupils at our school are motivated and inspired to learn. Our excellent teaching promotes high levels of enjoyment and achievement, ensuring that both boys and girls make outstanding progress. There is a wide range of opportunities for all our children. We offer specialist facilities in Music, Art, Science and Physical Education. We have an international dimension to our curriculum and provide extensive extra and co-curricular activities. Please call us to arrange a tour of our school and to discuss a Belvedere Education for your son or daughter. Miss Jane Humble, Headmistress
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PLACES AVAILABLE FOR BOYS AND GIRLS Admissions Register for next September Also accepting registrations of interest and beyond is now open for 2011 and beyond. Please contact the school for current Please contact the school for current information information.
0151 471 1137 23 Belvidere Road, Princes Park, Aigburth, Liverpool L8 3TF
Email: enquiries@belvedereprep.com
www.belvedereprep.com
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Summer Days Out With long summer days ahead every parent wants to make the most of time off school, but with so many ‘days out’ advertised it’s hard to know where to begin. It’s also worth remembering that, while school is certainly out, the most interesting days can have some educational value and prove the most enjoyable. With this in mind, we’ve researched a whole range of activities for children, tried and tested by local families. We’ve put together some ideas which are value for money and should be a good starting point for a summer filled with memories.
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Summer Days Out Twilight teaser On Thursday nights from March until October, Liverpool’s imposing Anglican Cathedral is offering late night tours up the tower. At 331 ft high, up two lifts and 108 more stairs, the more adventurous visitor can look over the city as twilight falls. From the city’s landmarks such as St John’s Beacon and the Big Wheel, to the River Mersey, across to the Welsh Hills and perhaps even a far as Blackpool Tower, the stunning views lit by neon and halogen will certainly inspire wonder and awe.
Wheely good fun
Festival fever Another inexpensive day out, and one that’s less demanding, is a trip to the International Kite Festival in New Brighton on 11 and 12 June. Kite flyers from across Britain will be entertaining festival-goers in the skies across the Mersey River. Pack lunch and enjoy the colourful spectacle.
For more information visit the website at www.liverpoolcathedral .org.uk/about/the-tower.aspx.
So you’ve spent all your money one ice creams and petrol for the way home…here’s some ideas to keep the children entertained after the holiday’s over. **** GET SCRAPPY Get the children to collect postcards from places you’ve visited, shells from the beach, and create a scrapbook of their memories. Include drawings, photos, and make labels and captions. **** LITTLE CHEF If the children don’t normally help out with dinner, involve them in laying the table, pouring juice and serving one another over the holidays. It’s a simple way to get them interested in the kitchen, and could be rewarded with a baking day...cake tins at the ready! **** WHIZZ KIDS For all the places you might visit or have visited, have the children research them online to find out the history, look up prices, and get directions. It’ll help you out, and teaches them vital life skills. **** TREASURE HUNT If you have friends’ children visiting, have your children create a treasure hunt with clues to find toys or chocolate treats. It’ll keep them busy for a good while. **** BOOKS ARE BEST Plan a weekly trip to the local library, and encourage the children to read and swap their books regularly. Set an example by reading together after tea.
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Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
Dreams come true A special exhibition at the Tate Liverpool presents Rene Magritte: The Pleasure Principle, the first major showcase in the UK of the surrealist Belgian artist for a decade. To celebrate, the Education Studio is running a whole series of family events from Living Wallpaper, where children can try on costumes and be photographed in the dreamlike landscape inspired by the artist’s paintings. Children can design and paint their own faces in Imaginary Faces, Hats Off To Magritte uses recycled materials to make hats. Children can also bring along their own shoes or wellingtons to paint. All the workshops are free, with no booking required, and the dates and times are all available online at www.tate .org.uk/families/events/liverpool. The gallery also provides a free Little Long Large sketchbook for children visiting the galleries. Family tickets to the exhibition itself cost £22, including a Gift Aid donation.
René Magritte - Man with a Newspaper 1928 © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2010
Cycling is an excellent form of exercise, and we’re lucky to live in a region filled with fantastic green cycle tracks. If you don’t ride, walkers are also welcome. Pack up a picnic, suntan lotion and waterproofs, and choose your route. The Mersey Forest covers 465 acres in Merseyside and Cheshire, and their website has a wide selection of routes on an interactive map. See www.discovermerseyforest.co.uk. Examples of walks include Formby Red Squirrel Park, Lewis Carroll Centenary Wood, Woolton Woods and Camphill. The site also has designated traffic-free cycle routes like the Wildflower Line, Halewood Park and the Whitegate Way from Winsford to Cuddington. The walks and cycle routes are graded with information such as distance, length of time, terrain, accessibility and amenities on route such as toilets. For the first family outing, you could ask another responsible adult to drive and park near the starting point, and inform them of the finishing line. Reward cyclists with a picnic lunch and ice cream.
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Summer Days Out Our city, Our story.
The sky’s the limit
For parents with busy jobs, the school holidays can add to the pressure to keep everyone happy. Don’t panic, and follow our guide to getting the most out of your holidays.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year is the Southport Air Show on 23 and 24 July. The jaw dropping red arrows never fail to impress all the family and it’s a great way to start the summer holidays. It’s the biggest aviation show in the North West. Under fives go free and advanced tickets are £7 per ticket.
Traditional treats
Top tip: There are premier tickets available but a standard ticket gives full access to see all the show.
Showstopper The walled garden of Norton Priory, a stone’s throw from Cammell Laird, is the venue for some outdoor family theatre this summer. The Cambridge Touring Theatre Company presents the classic family tale ‘The Wind in the Willows’ on 15th July at 6pm. Families are welcome to bring their own refreshments, blankets and cushions. For the full programme over the summer, see the website, www.nortonpriory.org/whatson.
Global treasures The World Museum is hard to beat for its variety of activities. From the aquarium where you can see fish from Anglesey to Australia (without getting wet!) and the ever-popular Ancient Egypt gallery space there’s plenty to interest your little ones from across the globe and throughout history.
Telling the tale of Liverpool’s fascinating history and culture is the focus of the new Musuem of Liverpool on the waterfront. Opening on 19 July, with galleries entitled Wondrous Place, People’s Republic, Global City, Little Liverpool and the Skylight gallery. The striking new building at the Pier Head is the largest newly built museum in Britain for more than a century, situated at the core of the World Heritage site. This landmark is a must-visit destination for every family this summer. In truly celebratory style, the four main themes of the museum are Liverpool’s port, its creative and sporting history, its people, and its global significance.
****
Don’t feel the need to plan every single day you have together. It’s good for children to make up their own games. ****
Alternate a fun day out with a more relaxing day at home. ****
Do make some quality time where you can all sit down, and read a book or watch a film together. ****
Do invite around friends and family, and make some food together. ****
Don’t expect to keep the house as tidy as you would normally. Stick to simpler rules such as, no shoes in the house/tidy away one box of toys before opening another. ****
Travel back in time to visit Southport’s Victorian pier, and enjoy some traditional entertainment at the newly refurbished attraction. As Britain’s second oldest and second longest pier, at 3,6000 ft, Southport pier boasts a tram ride for the mile long journey out to sea and a pavilion with a collection of old-fashioned games and entertainments. Change your money into old English pennies to play. The views outside over the sea are spectacular, and there’s also a café, toilet facilities and a half-hourly tram return journey at quarter to and quarter past the hour (£2 adult/£1.50 child return).
Wonderful wilderness No guide to interesting and educational days out would be complete without reference to Martin Mere wetlands. It’s rare to find an environment where families and keen bird watchers can rub shoulders. While a family day ticket for four costs £26.50 (including voluntary Gift Aid donation), this venue offers value for money with a range of activities for a full day out. There are a number of paths to wander, birds to feed, otters and beavers and family outdoor activities from pond dipping to the imaginative outdoor play area. New for this year is the canoe safari, which costs £5 per boat and offers families a fun, and safe, way to explore the reedbed habitat. Look out for water voles!
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Primary News
Give a dog a name Tex signs-up with the police force Pupils from St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School, have been helping Merseyside Police’s latest recruits, seven new German Shepherd puppies. As part of a literacy lesson, children in Year 3 were asked to name one of seven new puppies from the ‘T litter.’ The children were asked to think about how the name would sound when it was shouted by a police officer and were also told the name had to start with the letter T. Dog Section Inspector, Matt Boyle was given some great ideas, but chose pupil, Elizabeth Craig-Tyler’s suggestion of Tex. Elizabeth picked the name Tex because she felt it sounded like a really strong name, which is what a police dog needs to be and also because it would be an easy name for a dog handler to shout out. Inspector Matt Boyle took Tex, along with one of his brothers, Tango into St Matthew’s school to present Elizabeth a certificate of thanks and to let the children meet the latest recruits. Inspector Matt Boyle said: "It was a difficult decision, but we went with Tex because we agreed with Elizabeth, it's a good strong name and also because we haven't had a dog named Tex on the force for 15 years.
Inspector Matt Boyle with Elizabeth Craig-Tyler and Tex
Dame Kelly in Kirkby
The staff and pupils of St Laurence’s Primary School, Kirkby, were delighted when Dame Kelly Holmes paid a visit. The winner of double Gold at the 2004 Olympics, Dame Kelly first befriended the school last year when it received an 12
award from the TES for Outstanding Sporting Initiative. She showed great interest in the school’s Globetrotter scheme, which promotes health through physical activity, and was invited at that time to pay a visit. “It turned out that she was filming in
Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
Liverpool and decided to take up our invitation and visit,” said Headteacher, Paul Cronin. “We had a fantastic morning as she toured the classrooms; the children, though highly excited, were a credit to the school. She’s a great role model and ambassador for sports”.
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Primary News
School signs up for Green Drama scheme A Sefton primary school has become the first to sign up to a novel scheme using drama to drive home messages about recycling and resource management. The ‘Waste Not Want Not’ project will help pupils from five primary schools across Merseyside create their own performance pieces to promote green messages and Our Lady of Walsingham in Bootle is the first school to sign up. The project, funded by Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority’s Community Resource Action Fund, is the brainchild of the Black Box CIC theatre group and will end with a show combining performances from all five schools taking part. Neil Metcalf of Our Lady of Walsingham School, Bootle, said: “Black Box are an amazing resource for our school. The quality of their work is superb and we had no hesitation in accepting their invitation, through MWDA, to engage with the Project. It should be of immense benefit to everyone”.
Actor Keith Joseph delights the children from Rimrose Hope Primary School on a visit to the Liverpool Empire
Dressed in a coat of dreams Ribbons of hope Children from Rimrose Hope Primary School in Bootle met the star of the famous production, Joseph and the Techni-coloured Dream Coat at the Liverpool Empire recently. Keith Jack, who came second in the popular TV show ‘Any Dream Will Do’, wore a different Dream Coat to the conventional one seen on stage; this coat contained the dreams of the children of Bootle. This all came about after Ykids, a Bootle-based children’s charity, worked alongside local primary schools to run a project which sought to raise the aspirations by encouraging them to
dream for the future. As part of the workshop, children were asked to write their dreams on coloured ribbons. Ykids then created – ‘The Multicoloured Dream coat’, which carries over 3000 ribbons. CEO of Ykids, Claire Morgans, said: “We want children to realise that they can achieve great things whatever their circumstances. “It is a great honour to see Keith Jack wear our Multi-coloured coat which features the dreams of Bootle children. “We hope that this project will encourage the children to go on and achieve their dreams.”
Brookside wins International Schools Award Brookside School in Stockbridge Village, Knowsley has spent the past two years extending and developing the curriculum they offer the children, and have been rewarded with the Intermediate International Schools Award for their efforts. The school have incorporated French as their chosen foreign language and widened teaching and learning to include international and global dimensions and links. The school have also adopted a thematic approach to teaching learning with a real emphasis focussing on the acquisition of basic skills through exciting and enjoyable activities. Congratulations must go to their Head Teacher Karen Evans and her staff for developing the curriculum and making this possible.
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Primary News
Pupils in a spin
New primary school to be the root of the community
Novel way of raising funds
Pictured left to right: Dante Sofia, Shiel Singhania, Gerard Gilbertson, Neal Anderson, Collin Birch, Srijan Seth, Kieran Devine, Perez Yusuf, Boyan Bhebe and Farice Ejimofor. The members of the pupils’ School Council at St Vincent de Paul’s, Liverpool came up with a novel and fun approach to fundraising recently, when they launched a fiercely contested Beyblade tournament to raise money for two deserving charities. The pupils organised a Beyblade tournament, Beyblade is a spinning top that was inspired by a series of Japanese ‘manga’ cartoons of a decade ago, and has proved highly popular with children across the country. “It was a full-scale tournament,” said Headteacher, Phil Stewart. “It was 14
run over two Fridays, with knock-out rounds in between.” The pupils eventually raised around £100 to divide between both the Abaana Missionary Project, Abaana is involved with many projects including building schools, water wells and homes for street children across Africa, and the charity Wateraid, which helps to improve water and sanitation for people in some of the poorest countries in the world. “It was a very unusual way to raise funds. But it was a great deal of fun, and helped to raise funds for some worthy causes too,” said Headteacher Phil Stewart.
Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
Knowsley Council is opening a £6.5m newly built Greengates School which has been named as Yew Tree Community Primary School. The one form entry school will be a 21st learning environment, capable of providing many different educational experiences. As part of a campus arrangement with Halewood Centre for Learning, the new Yew Tree Community Primary School will offer: • A 210 place primary school • A 52 place nursery for children aged between 3-5 • Designated special provision for 32 pupils • Outreach provision offering services to children who live across the borough • Extended services providing extended activities for both pupils and the local community. Knowsley Southern Primary Support Centre will close in August 2011 and its pupils will transfer to Yew Tree Primary School. Matthew Copping, Head Teacher of Yew Tree Community Primary School, said: “I am really delighted with the name of the new school, chosen because the land the new school is being built on was once part of Yew Tree Farm. It also paints a picture of the school being at the root of the local Halewood community.” Damian Allen, Executive Director for Children & Family services, said: “The new school will serve both pupils and the local community, providing excellent facilities and a first class educational environment. We look forward to its opening in September.”
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Primary News
A taste of power Pupils debate at Liverpool Town Hall Two School Councillors from Springwood Heath Primary School, Liverpool took a lead role in a debate at the Town Hall. Thomas and Heather both aged 9, represented the school at the Lower House of the Liverpool Schools’ Parliament; playing the part of the Government they re-enacted a debate as if at the House of Commons, having been chosen from many different Liverpool schools. They planned and prepared their own speeches for the motion: “School uniforms restrict students from showing their personalities; schools should allow students to wear their own clothes’. To give their persuasive argument a visual element, they decided themselves to conduct their speech in their own clothes. Everyone was very impressed with their contribution and their wide ranging and convincing arguments, delivered to an audience of over 150 people in the awe inspiring City Council Chamber at Liverpool Town Hall. Diane Hedditch from the Outreach Department of Education of the Houses of Parliament came up from London to help organize the day alongside Jeff Dunn co-ordinator of the Liverpool Schools’ Parliament.
Thomas and Heather debate their point
Headteachers mission to Africa Ian Price, the Headteacher of St John’s C.E. Primary School Waterloo, has recently returned from a visit to Sierra Leone. Ian’s visit came about because of the schools link to Bread of Life Mission School Sierra Leone. St John’s raised money by holding an example of a school day in Sierra Leone. Everytime the children went to the toilet, used electricity, washed their hands - they had to pay a 1p fine. This went on for the whole day and then at home for one week. One child, who has three sisters, also charged her sisters at home. With the money raised St John’s were able to purchase a lap top for Bread of Life of which they were delighted. As well as raising money for the school, after seeing photos of Bread of Life school, the children in St John’s realised that their friends in Sierra Leone had no playtime equipment and decided that they wanted to collect small playtime equipment for their friends. They collected skipping ropes, yo-yos, small card games, frizbees and many more small toys. Whilst in Sierra Leone a group of teachers helped to run a National
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Literacy Conference. They held workshops for the teachers who attended. In the workshops they delivered training on how to use books to structure the curriculum. The three days were a great success with
many of the teachers commenting on how they will use the training in their classroom. The whole visit was a great success and the school have just put in another bid to visit again next year.
Headteacher Ian Price and pupils with some of the toys that St John’s collected for children in Sierra Leone schools
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Primary News
Marking progress To mark the progress of the new Stockbridge Village Primary School, local pupils and dignitaries took part in a steel signing event. The new building will house both a primary school and a children and family centre, opening in September. After enjoying a tour of the new building, pupils from Nine Tree and Brookside Community primary schools (which will come together as Stockbridge Village Primary signed the steel girders that will form the skeleton of the new school. “I think this is excellent,” said seven-year-old Lewis Cass, who is currently at Brookside school and was among the four children who signed the steel posts. “It will be great to have a new school – and this one has got an upstairs – I’ve never been to a school with an upstairs before.”
Pupils get their skates on Pupils of St Nicholas CE Primary School, Blundellsands got their skates on after The Friends of St Nicholas Association organised an Ice Skating Spectacular in the school hall with an indoor ice rink. The children had been watching “Dancing on Ice” and it made them realise just what a difficult but enjoyable sport it is. Headteacher Becky Woods said: “This was a lovely experience that the children thoroughly enjoyed. Many thanks to all the families who attended and to the Friends for raising so much money for school.”
(Left to right) Sarah Tomlinson, 11, (Nine Tree primary) Lewis Cass, 7, (Brookside primary) Jill Albertina, the head teacher of Stockbridge Village Primary, Edward Anderson, 11, (Nine Tree primary) and Paige Rimmer, 10, (Brookside) signing the steelwork at the new school site.
School tops athletics event Pupils are champions for the second time A team made up of eight and nine year olds from St Margaret Mary’s in Huyton have won the Liverpool City School Sport Partnership Athletics Final. It’s the second time the team of eight boys and eight girls has won the event which was held at the Everton Park sports centre. St Margaret Mary’s were representing the Central Liverpool Sport Partnership in the contest and fifty other schools took part. The Central Liverpool Sport Partnership links a number of schools with sports colleges in the area. St Margaret Mary’s work with Cardinal Heenan sports college in Liverpool and won through earlier events to represent the partnership at the Finals. The team practice after school and during dinner times and it was drawn from a wide group of children who volunteered to take part. Claire Finnegan, PE Coordinator, at St Margaret Mary’s, said: “The team’s success is mainly due to their commitment towards each other.” “They praise and encourage each other and above all really enjoy what they do.” Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
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Primary News
School set to Go and Grow Greenfingered pupils blossom
Pupils at St Albert’s Primary School in Knowsley have benefitted from a delivery of gardening equipment and advice to enable them to create their very own vegetable patch. The school is one of ten across Merseyside that has been picked from hundreds of entries to receive the equipment, donated by retailers in Liverpool city centre, as part of a competition to encourage children to grow their own vegetables, herbs and flowers. Hundreds of pupils and teachers nominated their schools to take part in the Big Go and Grow, which is being run jointly by St Johns and Clayton Square shopping centres, City Central Businesses and Arriva Buses. Schools taking part will each receive enough gardening equipment, seeds and compost, to enable them to grow their own produce. They will then spend the next three months furiously growing vegetables, flowers and herbs to sell at a special market garden event to be held in Williamson Square on 13th July. On that date the square will be turned into a giant allotment and green-fingered children will sell their produce to raise funds for their schools. They will also win prizes for the largest vegetables and tallest flowers as well as the vegetable that looks most like a celebrity. Jackie Edwards, a teacher at the school, nominated St Albert’s to take part. 18
She said: “We wanted our pupils to have the opportunity to take part because they are kind, caring children who work very hard and this will give them the chance to try something totally different to the school routine.
“They’ll also have the chance to learn new gardening skills and how to grow their own fruit and vegetables. They can’t wait to get started and are all very excited about taking part in the event in Liverpool in July”.
A passion for music
Pupils from Year 4 at St Paschal Baylon School, Childwall performed at this year’s Liverpool Performing Arts Festival at St George’s Hall in the city. Yet until as recently as last September, many of the young musicians had never played any instruments before. Teacher Lucy Woods, said: “They’ve been receiving instrument tuition and the loan of either a clarinet or a flute, as part of their involvement in a project run by Liverpool Music Support Services at Notre Dame, and the 53 children involved have flourished and have helped to make our involvement in this project a resounding success. “We hope that many have discovered a hidden talent and will continue to play in the future.”
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LIVERPOOL COLLEGE Year 5 Activity Afternoon
Wednesday 22nd June 2.00pm - 4.30pm We extend a warm welcome to Year Five pupils from around Liverpool to find out more about life at Liverpool College Please return the reply slip below as soon as possible to secure your place ✄ Child’s Name
Address
School Contact Number: Please choose 4 of the following Activities
✓
Everyone will be able to take part in 3 of them
Art
Construct, Connect & Collapse (DT)
Drama
Create Your Own Dance Track (Music)
Cadet Force Activities
Chemistry
Sport
ICT
Maths
Modern Languages
PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM BY 14th JUNE TO: SALLY LOVERIDGE, REGISTRAR, LIVERPOOL COLLEGE, QUEENS DRIVE, LIVERPOOL L18 8BG or either telephone: 0151 724 4000 ext 228 or fax: 0151 724 3154
✓
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Primary News
Play fair by farmers Schools show their support to cotton farmers School pupils in Kirkby want the public to play fair by cotton farmers in the developing world. They’ve been highlighting the need for a fair price to be paid to those who grow and pick cotton in West Africa and India. They say subsidies to farmers in rich countries and competition from synthetic fibres means the farmers get little for their crop. But farmers involved in the Fairtrade initiative get paid a fair price for their cotton and a premium which is then invested in their community. The Kirkby Collaborative of Schools want people to buy goods made from Fairtrade cotton and have been decorating Fairtrade cloth to create the world’s biggest ever piece of bunting. “We want to highlight the injustices that make Fairtrade a vital lifeline for cotton farmers,” said the collaborative’s development manager, Steve Dixon. “The pieces of Fairtrade cotton we’ve decorated are to be joined together and sent off to the Fairtrade Foundation to create the longest piece of bunting ever, to get the message across. “Some people may feel the issues and lives of these farmers don't have much to do with us but it is so easy to help them – all we have to do is buy products with the Fairtrade label.” The strips of bunting made by the various schools in the
Head girl at Eastcroft Park primary school in Kirkby, Caitlyn Santangeli, aged 11, with the Fairtrade cotton bunting. collaborative were joined together in a ceremony at Kirkby City Learning Centre.
Pupils celebrate the start of work To mark the start of work on the new Croxteth Community Primary School, pupils penned a special song and also helped with the ground breaking and planting a time capsule which will be opened in 50 years, so that future generations are reminded of the significance of the day. One of the most distinctive features in the school will be a high tech room featuring a projector which can transmit images and film across an entire wall. Combined with special mood lighting, the “immersive learning space” enables teachers to literally transport pupils to anywhere in the world. There will also be library, art and music rooms and a synthetic area for sport and games, a large community room and a crèche.
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Outside, there will be an allotment for growing vegetables, playing fields and space for children to eat outside. Head Teacher Karen McBride said: “This is a fantastic day and everyone associated with the school is tremendously excited that our dreams are starting to turn into reality. “The new building will be a fantastic place for children to learn and make sure they get the best possible start to their education. “Our pupils have been able to have a say over the new building and we have been very keen to get them involved in the start of the work.” Items in the time capsule include photos of children learning, items of school uniform, a newspaper from March 2011, coins and photographs and drawings of the current school.
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Education News
From Bootle to the British Library To celebrate World Book Day, The Reader Organisation marked the launch of Our Read. There were 50,000 copies of a brand new book, The Unforgotten Coat, written especially for Our Read by Frank Cottrell Boyce which were given away. The Unforgotten Coat is about a young girl from Bootle, who begins to see things differently after she befriends two new Mongolian boys, who turn up suddenly at her school and tell her of their travels, was written especially for The Reader Organisation. To celebrate the start of the world’s largest shared-reading
project, The Reader Organisation took 25 young people from Liverpool to London onboard a Virgin Train, accompanied by Frank Cottrell Boyce who read the story aloud to them for the very first time. Many of these young people had never travelled outside Liverpool before, let alone visited London. The journey culminated in a trip to the British Library. Frank said: “I'm not sure what it is about trains maybe it's that sense that you're going somewhere, or maybe it's that your time is limited, or maybe it's that magical thing of the world rushing past your window
Cash boost for cycle training Merseyside will retain its status as home of the largest schools’ cycle training scheme in the UK after being awarded £420,000 in government funding to continue its Bikeability programme. The cash boost comes from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) dedicated cycle training fund and will ensure the continuation of Bikeability in Merseyside despite the abolition of Cycling England, the quango that established the scheme five years ago. It will ensure that schools can offer cycle training to an additional 10,500 Year 5 and 6 pupils from April 2011. Neil Scales, Chair of Merseyside Transport Partnership, said: “As the provision of a dedicated budget makes clear, encouraging more people to cycle more often is high on the government’s agenda. We have worked long and hard to promote the economic, environmental and health benefits of cycling in Merseyside, joining with a wide range of organisations to share knowledge and pool resources. “By clearly demonstrating our strong commitment to delivering cycling initiatives over the last few years, we are delighted to have attracted more funding to Merseyside. Continuing the Bikeability cycle training programme will enable us to continue to equip more children with the vital skills they need to cycle confidently and safely.” For more information on cycling in Merseyside and to find out if your child’s school offers Bikeability training, please visit www.LetsTravelWise.org/cycling or call 0151 330 1253.
while you are sitting still which is a bit like dreaming. Whatever it is, I always have my best ideas on trains.” Aimed at encouraging more young people between the ages of 10-16 to read for pleasure, and share reading with others around them, Our Read began with a huge book giveaway and a chain-read of the book at the Bluecoat in March. Director of The Reader Organisation, Jane Davis, explained that the project is a hugely exciting new venture for the charity: “Ever since 2003 we have had an annual book give-away, and this year, we can share our Liverpool-grown project with the rest of the country,
Frank Cottrell Boyce
which makes it very special indeed.” “We really want people to read and share The Unforgotten Coat with friends, family”.
Enterprise-led education RDPO Enterprise Education (part of the RDPO Enterprises Group) is a well respected and experienced company that has a proven track record of delivering quality enterprise education, to the primary, secondary and college sectors. They offer a range of unique enterprise programmes tailored to schools individual needs. The programmes are delivered by a wide variety of business professionals from many different walks of life, all of whom have been, and in many cases still are, very successful themselves. They pride themselves on offering realistic enterprise programmes that educate and empower students, enhance their knowledge and improve their life and business skills. Programmes are not designed to be effortless and fictitious, instead they are live, demanding and thought-provoking projects that encompass the skills which are displayed on a daily basis by business professionals. As well as ensuring their enterprise programmes offer great quality, they also strive to ensure that they are affordable and this is helped by their ‘sponsorship programme’; the ‘sponsorship programme’ involves them approaching local businesses and asking them to make a financial contribution towards the programme in return for a bespoke marketing opportunity. Kath Coyle, Headteacher at Aintree Davenhill Primary School, Aintree, said: “RDPO Enterprise Education are an exceptionally professional company providing an excellent, value for money service for schools. I used them during an Enterprise Week and was impressed at every stage: the thoroughness of their planning and communication; their ability to enthuse and engage with children; the quality of feedback and summary information. I would not hesitate to recommend them to colleagues. I am now using them for regular PPA cover”.
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Meet the Headteacher Christine Rourke, Fazakerley High School
After 25 years as deputy at Fazakerley High School, Christine Rourke stepped into the headship last year following the passing away of the previous headmaster. Armed with a traditional ethos in a school with all the latest technology, she is determined to keep the school “the jewel in the crown of North Liverpool.”
The BIG School “One of the things I’ve worked hard at is the positive ethos of the school,” she said, “because to me it’s the way the children behave, talk to each other and their manners that underpins academic achievement.” 25 years at the school as a deputy Headteacher, Christine took over in June of last year, following the sudden passing away of the previous Headteacher Nick Fleming, who championed the community and improved the school’s examination results. In September 2003, the school was moved into a brand new building located behind the original school, with all the latest technology and was awarded the specialist engineering status. It is now listed in the top five engineering schools in the country - and the only one in Merseyside - as well as being awarded numerous accolades including most improved school year on year in the last four years. It has also just achieved an overall ‘good’ rating from the most recent Ofsted inspection; the school has also recently won the coveted Rolls Royce 22
award for sustainable engineering and manufacturing. Christine is determined to continue the work she had started with the former Headteacher - “if there was anything distinctive about my leadership style, it would be that I’m very keen on ethos, values, sense of duty and without all of that I don’t think the academic success will follow.”
“
I’m very keen on ethos, values, sense of duty and without all of that I don’t think the academic success will follow
”
Christine was born in Ormskirk, and attended Ormskirk Grammar School. After completing her postgraduate teaching degree at Oxford, she taught there initially, later moving to Queen Mary Girls School as Head of Religious Study. She was promoted to Head of Year at
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the school and within five years she became Senior Teacher (Assistant Head Teacher). “I’ve been determined not to become detached from the centre of the school; I think there’s a danger with any headship of that happening. So, on a day to day basis I make sure I engage with a cross-section of staff and children, I’m in and out of class, and I think as a result standards have visibly risen. After our recent bereavement, I am committed to building upon past success and leading the school with Mr Fleming’s vision at the core of everything we do. With our latest achievement at GCSE in mind (93% of pupils gaining 5 or more grades A-C and 48% with Maths and English), I believe that the school community is perfectly poised to do this.” Engineering might not seem an obvious specialism for a school to have, but with a strong engineering industry in the North West, engineering students in high demand at universities, and with the government promoting traditional subjects for GCSE and A-Levels, the
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specialism gives Fazakerley High the edge over other schools. They are now linked with Jaguar and run a young apprenticeship scheme with Scottish Power, based in Hoylake. “Whilst a lot of schools are specialist, it’s important for me to be specialist in a hard-edged academic subject. At the heart of our curriculum we have traditional GCSE subjects, when we heard recently that the future gold standard might be the English baccalaureate immediately we could see how our curriculum could be adapted. Previously there’s been a great shortage of apprenticeships but that is changing. We had a great success last year when one of our year 11 boys who had done engineering
managed to get himself an apprenticeship. So, he’s now living in Birmingham and achieved that against tremendous competition. Pupils study engineering here from Year 7, so when it comes to choosing their topics they are not daunted by the subject.” The future for Fazarkeley High is very much in Christine’s hands, where she plans to continue moulding the students and school in a traditional way whilst maintaining high standards and new technology. The school is recognised locally for its diverse curriculum, as a place of high academic achievement and for its varied programme of extracurricular activities. The specialism for the school may be
engineering but she continues to uphold a well-rounded education. With first class facilities, the newly built school also has a refurbished Sports Centre providing even better sporting and leisure facilities for pupils, staff and the community. “I’m very keen to promote sport and the performing arts, and the cultural side of the school because at the end of it what you want is a balanced individual. It gives people confidence and sense of security to have a rounded education. We’ve all heard of The Big Society, what we’re doing here is The Big School because everyone says ‘right what can I offer the school?’; everyone is expected to do their bit.”
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FOCUS GROUP
Educate’s roundtable The coalition government’s introduction of the English Baccalaureate will encourage students to study six GCSE core subjects including maths, English, two science awards, a foreign language and either history or geography. Toasted by ministers as a benchmark for success, critics however have highlighted the political incentives behind the E.Bacc and the division created. Two senior management team members from Merseyside secondary schools met to debate the issue; Anthony Millington, assistant to the headteacher at St Ambrose Barlow Catholic College in Netherton, and deputy head at Alsop High School, John Patino. They were joined by Deirdre Lynskey, assistant director at AimHigher Greater Merseyside, a project to increase diversity in higher education which ends in July due to the withdrawal of government funding and support.
Divided opinion: English Baccalaureate What’s your perspective on the English Baccalaureate for the future of education? JP: We’re going back 20 years. Michael Gove’s agenda seems to be to turn the clock back completely. There have been huge advancements in recent years, which have catered for a wide range of abilities and interests, and we’re now in danger of losing that. DL: It feels a little like when I was at school. There’s a difference being created between those that can, and those that can’t. AM: I agree, Michael Gove is looking back and not forwards. The current government is trying to discredit much of the work done by the previous government, and the retrospective introduction of this table is designed to skew the figures and show the new government in the best light possible. Are there advantages to the ‘newer’ subjects which are being overlooked by the English Baccalaureate?
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AM: These aren’t ‘new’ subjects, they’ve been studied for 20 or 30 years and they offer a broad and balanced curriculum to students. R.E, sport, P.E, Art and Design, Technology, ICT - they’ve just been left out of the E.Bacc for Michael Gove’s own reasons. JP: Think it’s about more than the subjects – it’s about the methods of assessment and the broader range of qualifications. He’s adamant about the GCSE, it has to be ‘one size fits all’, but we’ve moved away from that in recent years. Gove wants just one way forward. Whichever subjects you included in a system like the English Baccalaureate, there have to be different ways to assess, so that you can tap into the different abilities and interests of different students. AM: Like John, our school has been focused on delivering a curriculum that gives everybody within the school a chance of success, and I feel that the E.Bacc does not give everyone the same chance if it’s used as a benchmark.
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DL: You have to go back to what the role of education is and should be, and it’s not about passing particular exams to enable a certain group of people to go to university. It should be about offering a broad education that gives everybody confidence and selfesteem to go into the line of work and life that they wish. Instead, this system is creating the sort of divide that existed 20 or 30 years ago. It really will draw a distinction between those with the ability to succeed in the E.Bacc route and those that don’t. For those bright young people who go to schools that don’t or can’t deliver the E.Bacc ethos will be prevented from being able to progress when universities get selective about their intake. How will schools approach the English baccalaureate? AM: Schools will have to go down the route of identifying a cohort of students with the ability to succeed in the E. Bacc, at the age of 14 or younger.
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DL: For those who are confident and focused, it will be ok, but different students progress at different ages. I do a lot of work with Looked After Children (LAC), and they are renowned for not developing at the same age. The E.Bacc will exclude bright but vulnerable young people and limit their future life chances. JP: When we’re talking about how to define success, we need to be clear, is it about achieving a C at GCSE? We’re setting up students to fail. DL: Yes, and without any opportunity to move forwards – there is no other viable route being recognized by the government here for students who don’t achieve a raft of GCSEs. Are there not advantages to the system? Perhaps for the more able students with the E.Bacc, giving them opportunities to learn a language or study one of the humanities? DL: They’re already able to do this now. The E.Bacc hasn’t brought in any new opportunities, apart from Classics perhaps. AM: We may see expected rises in literacy, numeracy and science – but these were coming in anyway due to the previous government’s focus on these areas. I don’t feel the E.Bacc is the right way of going about this. DL: I think that the focus on learning a language is really good, but there needs to be a change in how that’s delivered. On the continent, children begin learning English at a very young age but our primary education system does not make learning a modern foreign language a priority in the same way. We should be celebrating other languages and cultures right from the beginning. This should be an opportunity for every pupil, not for a cohort. It’s as though the E.Bacc is putting certain subjects on a pedestal when everyone should be able to access them. JP: That’s the point isn’t it, the selection of subjects is an arbitrary one. Why are some and not others being pushed? DL: From my own experience now, I’d have loved to learn Latin, but whether it’s right to impose that on a 13 year old is another question. JP: It’s politically driven isn’t it? There’s no educational rationale behind any of it. We need a broad curriculum to prepare students going out into the world of work – and that has changed significantly in the last 20 and
30, even 10 years. That’s what education should be about.
“For those bright young people who go to schools that don’t or cant deliver the E.Bacc ethos will be prevented from being able to progress…” Deirdre Lynskey assistant director at AimHigher for Greater Merseyside
Critics of the recent government highlighted the increase in vocational qualifications taken by pupils. Will the E.Bacc redress the balance? AM: One thing that came out of the Wolfe report spoke about the abuse of vocational qualifications, by some schools, in very provocative language. It highlighted how some schools replaced a valid GCSE route for some students with a vocational route to boost their own figures. We teach vocational qualifications in our school, but we haven’t abused that system. I agree with the report to condemn that sort of behaviour, but as a result of that report the pendulum has swung too far the other way. In a school like mine, where vocational qualifications have played an important role in providing an alternative pathway for some students, then something crucial will be lost. JP: In the White Paper, it came out that in 2005 15,000 pupils were doing vocational courses and in 2010 that figure was 585,000 – that’s a 3800% increase. That rise hasn’t been because it was best for the kids – it pushed up the league tables. But then, why are we so worried about league tables? AM: I agree, but to totally degrade these qualifications is wrong when it removes a viable route for candidates who would succeed and achieve in those areas. Is there anything we can learn from European models for our education system? DL: Yes, definitely – the importance of play, and of not trying to make children learn as soon as they go to nursery. Play is the most important learning tool. AM: I feel that there is a lot we can learn from Europe. I think we should take the best of what’s out there and tailor it to suit pupils’ needs. We’re in a unique position in Britain. JP: That’s right. The position on learning a language has changed a lot over the last few years; it was compulsory, then it wasn’t… DL: A lot of university language departments have closed. Why does Gove want to push languages? He thinks that these GCSEs will allow pupils to go to the ‘best’ universities to study the ‘best’ subjects – it seems to be about finding an elite rather than encouraging the love of a subject.
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FOCUS GROUP
“ We didn’t want to create a stream of students who will be forced down that route, but we have made them aware of the issues John Patino deputy head at Alsop High School
AM: I agree with John on Latin – I don’t feel it has a place in the modern world. Mandarin, or Spanish on the other hand, I could agree with. JP: Why choose these five subjects – it’s an arbitrary choice of five subjects. DL: For a child who wants to study history, geography and art, may lose the opportunity to make an informed choice about what they enjoy. I’ve heard that the Australian model offers a very broad education right up to A Level, and it’s only after that at university that students have to narrow down their options. You can study history and geography and still want to be a doctor – you get a broader education. It seems a lot fairer and doesn’t pigeonhole people. AM: That’s the intention behind the International Baccalaureate – to offer a broad education. It isn’t just five subjects, and can be tailored to the individual student. With the retrospective introduction of the English Baccalaureate, is it really a useful table to measure and compare schools’ attainment? AM: To put this in context, for our school, looking at last year we have a figure of 1% achieving the English Baccalaureate. That’s because in a year group of 100 pupils, one pupil had taken another language! The only reason this has been introduced retrospectively is to skew the figures and make the previous government look bad – especially if the media use this table. JP: Yes, the government wants to show an increase in ‘achievement’ over the next
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couple of years. That’s all it comes down to. In the meantime, it’s making all the work that’s been done over the past ten years look meaningless. Two or three years ago, we were fully committed to diplomas, as that was seen to be the way forward. We put huge investment into that, through teachers and equipment – now we’re thinking we’ve put pupils onto the wrong course, but we did it in good faith. AM: One point worth making here is that diplomas received cross-party backing – what happened to that? JP: The repercussions for the kids haven’t been thought about – they were put on a pathway leading to a brick wall. DL: Universities haven’t quite worked out their attitude to diplomas and whether they’ll accept them, or at what level. Now they don’t need to accept them, and it’s become a problem for the young person rather than the institution. JP: Other school building work will have seen huge amounts go into delivering new facilities to deliver diplomas, and the waste of all of that is criminal. Who knows, in two or three years’ time when Mr Gove becomes a foreign secretary or something, what will come in to replace the English Baccalaureate? How will the E.Bacc decrease diversity at later stages, at university and the workplace? DL: It’s been proven that students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds quickly catch up and even overtake their
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peers at university, no matter what their GCSE grades were, and this new system will only hinder those students from an opportunity to develop. AM: A divide is being created. JP: We’re going back to the academic/ vocational divide that everybody’s been working so hard to overcome. DL: With the increase in fees (the majority of universities charging £9,000) and the cap on numbers for university places, universities will need to be selective and will be more likely to use the E.Bacc as a way of limiting students. It’ll discriminate against certain students and against certain schools. The repercussions in the workplace follow on from this. AM: A lot of grammar schools and those that model themselves on that curriculum are set up to deliver the E.Bacc, but for other schools it could take up to 18 months for schools to be able to do this properly in terms of recruitment, training and timetabling – given current financial circumstances. Some departments will really suffer. JP: For a school like ours with 128 teachers and 1800 pupils, we have the staffing in place to deliver but it’s impossible to plan for the future. AM: We’re in the opposite situation, as we’re the smallest school in Sefton with fewer than 500 pupils and we currently have one history teacher and one geography teacher. The logistics of delivering the E.Bacc to a whole year cohort would be impossible without deploying staff from other areas. DL: It’s not just the schools seeing radical change, it’s the whole of the education system. Funding is being cut at colleges, and they’ll need more staff to deliver Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications now because pupils may not be able to access those qualifications at school. JP: It’s such a narrow offer, limiting success to GCSE. In our context, we achieve 87% of students get 5 A*-C. This year, around 50% will get 5 A*-C with English and maths, looking towards the new benchmark. Now, looking at the E.Bacc, last year’s pupils ‘succeeding’ totaled one per cent. You’re going from 87% to one per cent – it’s a nonsense. Are they telling me that only one per cent of our kids are successful? The reality is that, when you look at our broad intake from north Liverpool, pupils are coming in at 11 years of age with reading
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ages of seven and eight, 44% have special needs, and we’re doing what we can to build their self-esteem and confidence and go on, not necessarily to university, but to success in future life. Are we now saying that that doesn’t count any more? Unless you are capable of getting the E.Bacc, you’re being marked out as a failure. From our intake, we’re unlikely to get more than 25% of our pupils to attain that – what are we saying about the other 75%? With R.E not being included on the E.Bacc, how will that affect faith schools? AM: I think the key issue is that while all schools have an entitlement to deliver R.E. it’s a difficult subject to teach. It’s undervalued by a number of pupils, and that’s compounded now because we can’t even say to pupils, you’ll need to work at this because you’ll need it for an exam. It’s as difficult and challenging, and stimulating a subject as history and geography – and many students enjoy it. As a Catholic school, we have a commitment to delivering it and developing out ethos – with it not being part of the E.Bacc, it’s making our job 20 times harder. It’s a humanity. There’s been a push to convert a number of faith schools into academies – and I think that leaving R.E out of the E.Bacc is also politically motivated. DL: R.E. develops, aside from the religious aspects, critical thinking, value analysis, moral judgements – all of those things which build a good, solid society. It’s crucial for a rounded education.
“ The subjects which employers wants aren’t being pushed, along with the skills that are needed for jobs that are being created and will be created in the future.” Anthony Millington Saint Ambrose Barlow Catholic College
What would be your advice to parents of pupils choosing their options and pathways? AM: I’d like to say to parents, choose what’s right for your child and their future. As a school though, we would be naïve to discourage anyone who’s capable of achieving the E.Bacc from taking that route, as it will be used as a benchmark for their university applications. Could you imagine the guilt for the teachers and the school if the child wasn’t able to get a place? I do feel our advice will have to be that if you’re capable of doing the E.Bacc, then do it – although I feel it’s very sad. JP: We invited parents in as part of the options process. We used data to identify the cohort we feel could realistically achieve the E.Bacc and we’ve informed parents about it and about how it can affect future life chance – but we’re leaving them to make the choice. We didn’t want to create a stream of students who will be forced down that route, but we have made them aware of the issues. I think that’s been the right approach. AM: We’ve done exactly the same, now we just need to agree on the numbers following the E.Bacc. We’re such a small school then one or two pupils makes such a difference to our overall statistics. JP: We’ve also have identified 16 students in Year 10 who, by coincidence, have chosen to follow the E.Bacc. There’s another 25 who chose all but the language, and another 10 who chose all but the humanity, so we’re now offering them the opportunity to take up that extra qualification in just over a year through extra classes. The students, bar two or three,
welcomed that opportunity, and have taken us up on it, and have been catching up quickly. The parents were invited in, and they’re pleased with what we’ve done. DL: One point I’d like to make here is that this divides those parents who are articulate and know what they’re talking about, with those who don’t understand or who are afraid of approaching teachers. My concern here is for Looked After Children and vulnerable learners who don’t have a champion at home to support them and guide them in these kind of decisions. At AimHigher, we have been working with pupils who never thought they’d get to university, but now universities will be taking responsibility for increasing diversity themselves. The message they’ll send out to schools will just be to encourage students to complete the E.Bacc. How can diversity and wider participation increase when for pupils, like Looked After Children, who don’t develop at the same rates as others, aren’t selected for the E.Bacc cohort? One of the other great things about AimHigher was that it gave pupils a chance to see opportunities and ways of life they’d never otherwise have been able to access. JP: There’s been no long-term view or strategy with the English Baccalaureate, and that’s the problem. What are the repercussions for employment and the workplace? AM: David Cameron says he wants to get us out of recession, but the subjects which employers want aren’t being pushed, along with the skills that are needed for jobs that are being created and will be created in the future. There are a surprising number of entrepreneurs of the previous generations who’ll say that they left school with nothing and later went on to become very successful. They left school with no qualification, not because they weren’t clever, but because they system just didn’t cater for them to succeed. The qualifications and training that has been put in place in recent years to help those business-minded people, is now being discredited. DL: Everyone expects young people to know what they want to do, but you don’t have to know at 14 what job you’re going to have. Working life has changed so much that people have to expect to change jobs and careers several times, and prepare to work in jobs that haven’t been invented yet. How does going back 20 or 30 years help prepare students or employers for that?
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Secondary News
Camera, lights, action Archbishop Beck shine on TV Archbishop Beck has recently won a competition run by Teachers TV to find the most creative school in Liverpool and The North West. The judges, who included ITN journalist Charlotte Hume and children’s TV personality Neil Buchanan, looked at the creative work done in school concerning learning and teaching and curriculum design. In assessing their winning entry the judges stated: ‘Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College has creatively designed it’s curriculum so that it focuses on content and skills surrounding different themes. A more traditional subject led curriculum has been replaced by a focus on ‘Creative Literacy’ and ‘Logical Thinking’ involving exciting themes that inspire a different approach to learning. Their exploration of many forms of creativity and technology such as animation, comic strips and films is brilliant.’ Their prize was the opportunity to have their excellent work showcased on Teachers TV. Filming took place in and around school early in the year with three different classes being filmed: Mr
Left to right: Nathan McLoughlin-Miller, Reah Bentley and Liam Collins
Begusch’s Year 11 Spanish group, Miss Lund’s Year 7 Creative Literacy class and Miss Pritchard’s Year 8 Logical Thinking class.
The film about the school can be found at the following weblink : http://www.teachers.tv/videos/creativeliteracy-in-the-classroom
Reach for the stars Students from Notre Dame celebrate International Women’s Day
The Lord Mayor Cllr Hazel Williams led celebrations for Liverpool women on the centenary of International Women’s Day in March, with women from across the city gathering to enjoy the performance by the choir and band from Notre Dame Catholic College for the Arts. The choir marked the 100th International Women’s Day by leading 30
doctors, judges, cleaners, barristers, shops assistants and teachers, to name just a few, in singing and dancing along to S Club 7’s “Reach for the stars’. The event celebrated inspirational Liverpudlian women such as Bamber, the suffragette and social reformer, and her MP daughter Bessie Braddock. The Liverpool Discovers statue of Bamber was on proud display inscribed with the
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names of Liverpool women who have fought for women’s rights throughout history. Director of Arts at Notre Dame Catholic College, Lesley Bentley commented; “St George’s Plateau was a great destination for the choir to surprise and entertain the crowd. They really brought the celebrations to life – with the whole crowd joining in with the dance moves.”
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Patience pays off for Laurence Replica to go on show It took 10 months and 10,000 pieces, but Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School pupil Laurence Duncan has finally finished a painstakingly detailed replica of his School in Lego form. Twelve year old Laurence from Crosby likes to build things and eventually wants to be a Structural Engineer. He has always enjoyed Lego but his love of building far more detailed structures than your average twelve year old began whilst constructing a 2,500 piece kit of the Eiffel Tower two years ago. Following an inspirational trip to Manchester’s Legoland Discovery Centre he was considering buying the 6,000 piece kit of the Taj Mahal when his father set him the challenge to construct a Lego model of his own design, from scratch. Passing by Merchant Taylors’ on their way home Laurence decided his next project would be the iconic tower, built Laurence Duncan proudly shows off his school masterpiece
in 1878, that now constitutes his school in Crosby. All of the pieces were individually sourced from the internet and specifically chosen to match the unique colour and design of the old Victorian building. Headmaster of Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, Mr David Cook, said: “The scale and attention to detail of the model is outstanding. “I believe most replicas of this kind are bought as professional kits with complex assembly guidelines so it makes Laurence’s work of art all the more amazing when you consider he worked purely from photographs, guesswork and general observation.” Laurence has now lent the model to Merchant Taylors’ to go on long-term display at the School. He commented on how he was pleased to have space back in his bedroom in order to make room for his next building project – a motorised scooter!
Learning mentor Dena Kay with Halewood Centre for Learning’s ‘Green Team’.
Top pledge by eco warriors A Halewood school is making a pledge to help save the planet. The ‘Green Team’ at Halewood Centre for Learning has developed a pledge for the pupils, teachers and governors at the school who are promising to: • reduce their waste, energy and water use, • support projects to reduce their impact on the environment, and • share the pledge with families and community members. These aims will be promoted across the school on plasma screens and in pupils’ lesson planners, and complimented by weekly environmental awareness sessions. Supported by Knowsley Council’s Directorate of Neighbourhood Services, the school’s eco warriors are aiming to boost recycling, and work towards an Eco Schools Award, Healthy Schools status and even grow their own food. The centre already has a Sustainable Travel Plan which encourages staff and students to travel in an environmentally friendly way. The drive to increase recycling across the school will see the ‘Green Team’ weighing a day’s worth of recycling and setting targets for improvements. “The work going on at Halewood Centre for Learning is amazing,” said Cllr Graham Morgan. “It’s a real team effort too. Our environment officers are working in partnership with everyone at the school to help them take small steps which will make a big difference.”
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Secondary News
Bosco take a bite of the Big Apple
As part of a combined Business Studies and ICT trip 19 St John Bosco Arts College Year 12 students enjoyed an amazing visit to New York. The students flew from Heathrow and experienced a whole range of activities. During the visit students went on an audio tour of the United Nations Headquarters, had an interactive experience at the Sony Wonderlab and a spectacular view from the top of the rock. The visit also included seeing some of the historical sites New York has to offer with a cruise past Lady Liberty! Headteacher, Ann Pontifex, said: “The students had a fantastic time, this was a great opportunity which they fully embraced”.
Fashion for funds
An extremely keen Year 11 Young Enterprise group called “STRIVE” hosted a highly successful "Charity Shop v High Street" Fashion Show. Twelve models, all fellow students at Archbishop Blanch School, "strutted their stuff" on an elegant catwalk under the spotlights to the delight of an enthusiastic audience. The onlookers were given the opportunity to vote for the winning collection which ended in a draw. The evening made a profit of over £800 and the Young Enterprise company are sharing the profits between relief aid to the victims of the Japanese earthquake and to the Anthony Walker Foundation.
Mel C kick starts event
Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm (Mel C) with exAlsop pupils and brothers Ryan and Craig Manville
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As part of Comic Relief former Spice Girl Mel C kicked off the event by taking part in a mixed martial arts session at Alsop High School. The Red Nose Day Community Cash grants will give grassroots-level clubs and societies the chance to apply for pots of money worth between £500 and £1,000 for the first time ever. The Widnes-raised pop star, who is the official community cash champion, was the guest of Sports Alive. The company was founded with Comic Relief cash by ex-pupils, brothers Ryan and Craig Manville. Ryan and Craig created Sports Alive to teach mixed martial arts in schools across the city and keep teens off the streets at night. The brothers and all the lads in the Tuesday night class were impressed with Melanie’s down-to-earth attitude and kickboxing ability. Ryan, 18, said: “Melanie has got on with all the lads and she looked like
she had done this before. “We appreciate her support tonight. “I started Sports Alive to teach mixed martial arts in schools and help keep the city’s kids off the streets at night. “I grew up in Walton and I know it is more dangerous now than it was 10 years ago.” Melanie said: “Ryan and Craig Manville are a credit to Alsop High, the community they grew up in and this city. I really enjoyed tonight’s kickboxing class and although everyone knows that I once challenged Liam Gallagher to fight at the Brit Awards, I am not a violent person. “Mixed martial arts is still great because it boosts self-confidence, which is so important for kids. “I was really lucky when I was growing up because I was involved in local dance groups, which helped me achieve the career I have today. “It really is great to be back home in Liverpool and spend time with great people all for Comic Relief”.
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Celebrating 160 Years of Notre Dame tradition ‘Educating for life’ in Liverpool
A Sp Specialist pecialist Language Collegee
With excellentt examination resu With results ults and a div diverse erse curriculum, St. Julie’ Julie’s ’s is proud pro oud to be continuing continuin ng the Notre Dame Dam me tradition of teaching ‘what is necessary n for life’
“
Lessons ar aree welll planned & structur structured ed to build learning... learning...Students Studentss ar aree assessed regularly progress monitored effectively.. regulaarly & pr ogress is monito ored effectively Ofsted, June e 2010
”
lea Visit www www.stjulies.org.uk .sstjulies.org.uk to to learn arn more about our anniversary a anniv ersary
Speke Road, Woolton, Liverpool L25 7TN t. 0151 428 6421 f. 0151 421 1399 e-mail reception@stjulies.org.uk Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
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Secondary News
F1 Students take chequered flag Team race forward to finals Recently a group of A-Level Physicists from Chesterfield High School undertook an exciting challenge organised by Formula One, supported by the Ecclestone Foundation. Under the banner of F1 in Schools, the competition is a truly international venture featuring entrants from thirty countries worldwide. The task facing the team is to design, build and race an F1 car for the future. Manufactured in miniature, these cars were raced at regional venues around the country. Winning entrants will then be invited to the World Championships in Abu Dhabi, later in 2011. The committed and driven Chesterfield team developed a strong brand identity. The team, Velox Racing, has already completed the first phase of the project. They created a successful design and portfolio for the North West Regional Finals on a very limited budget. They achieved an outstanding result for their professional approach and were invited to represent the North West at
Recieving the Best Rookie Team Award are Velox Racing, Chesterfield High School, Liverpool
the Big Bang Fair at the Docklands International Conference Centre. They have high hopes for the National Finals and, given enough support, they
are hopeful that their designs will be sufficient to propel Velox Racing into the World Finals and all the way to Abu Dhabi.
School secure league victory Fazakerely High School are on a high after a successful year in the Liverpool’s Schools’ netball league. After a successful season last year and finishing third in the league, the Year 8 team has exceeded all their expectations. The team have worked hard to develop and work together, and this has resulted in an unprecedented ten match unbeaten run to claim the championship! The last time Fazakerley High School achieved this was over 25 years ago. Mrs Whittle, the girls’ coach commented, “We are very proud of the girls’ hard work and commitment and also the sheer determination shown to improve on each game. Our team talks always finished with the phrase “just enjoy the game”. The girls are a credit to the school.’ It has also been a good year for the School’s Year 7 Netball Team. They immediately showed commitment, determination
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and drive. Week in, week out, the girls assisted each other by ensuring that they all attended practice in full school kit and they also supported the Year 8 Netball Team, aspiring to be as good as them. The team played to the best of their ability for the duration of every match. As a result of this, they remained unbeaten for the whole of the season and have recently been crowned Liverpool’s Schools’ Year 7 Netball Champions 2010-2011. They demonstrated fantastic passing, defending and shooting techniques and always remained level headed showing great sportsmanship throughout the season too. Miss Smith, the Year 7 coach commented, "I am extremely proud of the girls. They have shown all of the qualities required to be a success and truly understand what it means to be part of a team."
The Year 8 team
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Olympic hopeful visits school
Athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson on her visit to Parklands High School
Liverpool School Sports Partnership arranged a South Liverpool Leadership Academy Event recently at Parklands High School, Speke, and was awarded by a visit from Liverpool-born athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson to attend as a guest speaker through Wells Sports Foundation, Athletes 4 Schools scheme. Katarina is a Heptathlete, and won the World Youth Championships in 2009 and is working towards the European Youth Championships this year in Tallin. She is hoping to be selected for the London 2012 Olympic Games squad on
the back of a good performance in 2011 and still took time out to attend the event. Katarina said: “I really enjoyed taking part in the Sports Leaders event. I feel I can really relate to these individuals as we are from the same place, around the same age and are all taking on responsibilities in and around sport”. Katarina talked about her life as an athlete, aspiring to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics and took part in some of the practical sessions in the afternoon too.
Silver for All Saints students
Students from All Saints’ Centre for Learning, Kirkby were presented with Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards Certificates, after completing a two programme Skill Force Development Course. Adam Ward, Sophie Jones, Liam Malkin, Damian Chadwick, Steve Jarvis, Shannon Phillips and Elliot Duncan were all presented with their certificates in the presence of Skill Force instructor, Mike Newton. ‘They each had to put in a lot of hard work to earn their certificate from the Duke of Edinburgh Awards,’ said Lisa Farrell of the Work Based Learning Department.
Sporting triumph at Belvedere The Belvedere Academy, Liverpool are celebrating after they hosted the Key Steps Gymnastics competition for Years 3 & 4 at Belvedere recently. Children from Lawrence Road, Northway, Phoenix and Kensington Primary Schools all took part in the competition and were judged by members of the Year 10 Belvedere Gymnastic club. Belvedere Academy’s 1st Netball team have won the Liverpool Teachers’ Association City Tournament, organised by and played at Childwall Sports College. The team, just two weeks earlier were runners up in the county Preliminary tournament held at Merchant Taylors’ and St Mary’s, Crosby with schools competing from Sefton, St Helen’s, Knowsley and Liverpool. The Year 10 Netball team are also celebrating after being named as the Premier League Champions, having won every match throughout the season. After their City tournament success they have now achieved the “double” – quite a rare accomplishment. The team consisted of Annie May Walsh (Captain), Amaya Carney Smith, Vienna Berndt, Sara El Beshri, Imaan Guleid, Sophie Lavelle and Chloe Nezianya.
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Specialist Media Status for De La Salle De La Salle College, Liverpool has been granted the status of Academy, after a £10 million government grant to upgrade its buildings and teaching facilities. De La Salle now holds the status of Specialist Media Academy, and is the first of its kind in the city. Liverpool actors, Jack McMullen and Josh Bolt were at a special Launch Day to volunteer their time to help the students. “De La Salle has a proud Catholic heritage whose success is underpinned by traditional values and excellent teaching,” said Principal Patrick Ferguson. “The Academy will retain these values and build on our academic success, while using the funding to update our buildings and deliver a dynamic curriculum fit for the 21st century.” The Academy’s facilities will also be open to use by the local community for sports and evening adult educational courses.
School sings its way to medals De La Salle Principal, Patrick Ferguson (centre) with guests at the Launch Day
Weighty fundraiser Kind hearted students at Childwall Sports and Science College came in fancy dress on Red Nose Day and also raised large amounts of money through a series of activities including cake selling and competitions. The entire school was involved in Red Nose Day as it always is for fundraising activities. The arrangements for the day where made by Mrs Allward who is the schools Citizenship Co-ordinator. During the course of the day students were delighted to be part of the audience for a special concert put on by students for their peers in the Schools Drama Studio. The concert was very well received with youngsters performing to a very high level in a range of skills including dancing, singing, juggling and a variety of acts all of which supported the fundraising activities. Right: Pupils join in the fundraising fun day 36
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Delight at choirs medal haul At Liverpool’s performing Arts Festival in March, Bellerive‘s choir celebrated winning both a gold and a bronze award, in the Secondary School Choir Class they won a Bronze Medal. In Religious Singing Class, where they sang ‘The Lord bless you’ and ‘The Lord’s prayer’, the choir and Head of Music, Mrs Winstanley, were delighted to gain a gold medal. The judges commented: “Well done - a most musical performance. All the detail was in place and you rose to the technical demand of the piece and you gave them full musicality.” Bellerive’s choir also performed in ‘Peter’s Passion’, by Bernie Egan, in April at The Capstone Theatre, Hope University (Everton campus).
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Comic Relief cash in action Cast of Ghost the Musical visit Academy Taking time out of their busy rehearsal schedules, cast members of ‘Ghost the Musical’, Richard, Andrew and Adebayo joined pupils at The Academy of St Francis of Assisi who are involved with the Comic Relief funded project, Clapperboard UK. The actors saw firsthand how Comic Relief cash is helping people in Merseyside. With the help of Comic Relief cash, young people at the school are working with Clapperboard UK to produce a film which tackles the issue of hate crime and the negative effect it has on the whole community. Many of the young people that Clapperboard UK works with are from deprived communities. The project helps young people to develop new skills and enables them to translate their own views on issues affecting them into films, which are used to help educate young people from different cultural groups. The film is at the rough edit stage of the filmmaking process and speaking after the first screening, Richard said: "I
loved the film, it's great to see all the guys involved this committed. They've all worked so hard after school and the
result is a really positive film, which shows how young people can be affected by their parents' prejudices."
From classroom to sweat shop Child labour tackled by pupils Year 13 pupils from Sacred Heart College, Crosby, recently attended a two day course to pass their National Open College Network (NOCN) Level 2 in General Religious. The theme of the workshops was Child Labour and in order for the Sixth Formers to fully understand and appreciate the scale and intensity of the problem of child labour, they took a different route to learn about the issue. They spent a day in an assimilated ‘sweat shop’ making jewellery out of recycled waste which was sold on at the superb
Rags to Riches evening. However, the work proved dull, repetitive and, as Leanne Ellard (13A) remarked: “This is doing my nails in, Sir!” After day one, the Year 13 pupils returned to their Blackberries, cooked meals and comfortable beds. However, that is not the experience of 250 million children who are born into child labour and never know a single day in the classroom. “I have learnt that there’s a large amount of child labour in the world and that it is a very important social issue that is often ignored,” said Laura Haines (13C). On day two, the students completed a written assignment on the issue of child labour, focusing on the possible causes and the involvement of British stores. This proved to be extremely thought-provoking, leading Mica Chin (13S) to say: “I will now consider where I buy things”. Similarly, Liam Donaghy (13A) added: “The child labour days have taught me how severe and widespread the issue is, and how it plays an active part in my life.” Former students Sue Moore and Eleanor McGill returned to talk about their recent trip to Uganda in Central Africa, where they assisted in the building of a water pipe and helped a community that relied on making jewellery from magazines in order to feed their children. It was a fascinating talk and several students are now investigating the possibility of making a similar trip to help build a maternity hospital. The final part of the day involved making protest banners to raise awareness for justice and a solution to child labour.
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Bumps and Jumps
A song for charity Students step up to the mic
St Ambrose Barlow Catholic College in Netherton launched a brand new track, which features bumps and jumps, at an event recently. The school received ÂŁ2,000 towards the track from Bike Club, a UK-wide project that supports cycling-related activities for children. Sarah Troke, Bike Club's national manager, said: "It is important that worthwhile learning experiences are not limited to those whose parents can afford them. Cycling offers so many positive benefits to people's lives, such as increased fitness, independence, confidence and reduced risk of obesity. "We're very pleased to be making a range of activities available to thousands of children and young people, encourage learning, health and leadership."
Year 8 students from Broadgreen International School recently recorded a song for charity in a professional studio Tonewood in Bootle. The song written by Mr Frank Duffy, a history teacher at Broadgreen raised money for Claire House on the Wirral. The students were invited to an Open Day at Claire House were they were asked to sing the song live, not once but twice! Copies of the CD sold like hot cakes so much so that more copies have been cut. The girls have been invited back to the Summer Garden party. Anyone who would like to buy the CD can purchase one from Broadgreen International School priced ÂŁ1, ring 254 6824 for more details.
Romanian visitors Among the first visitors to the brand new Litherland High School building were staff and students from their link school in Bucharest, Romania. They travelled across Europe to see the new school and the wider Liverpool area. The link developed when two staff from Litherland High visited Romania under the Government's international professional development programme. This scheme provided the funding for teachers to visit other countries and to share classroom expertise. The group have gone back to Romania with a very positive picture of Liverpool and of the education provided in British schools.
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The track at St Ambrose Barlow College will be used during an after-school club as well as providing an alternative to traditional sports during school hours. Niall Neenan, school sports co-ordinator at St Ambrose Barlow, said: "My goal is to make sure this track is used as widely as possible, which is why I'm talking to groups such as the police and the Positive Futures team about using the facility with more young people who will really benefit from it. "Traditional after-school sports like football are great, but not all children like them. With clubs like Bike Club, the children who aren't into football can get a positive sporting experience rather than heading straight home to watch TV after school. "I'm really pleased we're seeing girls as well as boys coming along. Earlier I spotted a year 11 girl managing a tiny jump on the off-road track. It was only a few inches off the ground, but she was really enjoying it."
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Musical hub for young talent Saturday morning music making Notre Dame Catholic College for the Arts was host to the Liverpool Music Support Service’s Saturday Morning Music Centre this weekend. With high attendance of people on the open morning, it was a great opportunity for pupils and musicians to show family and friends how they put their skills into practice. Saturday Morning Music Centre provides opportunities for youngsters aged 3 – 21 years throughout Merseyside with well known and established ensembles like the 80 piece Liverpool Youth Orchestra and the Liverpool Youth Choir rehearsing alongside early years music making, jazz groups, brass and windbands. The centre runs from 9.20am to 12noon with staff from the Liverpool Music Support Service (LMSS) leading rehearsals. Based at Notre Dame Catholic College for the Arts in Everton Valley, LMSS has certainly made North Liverpool a focal point for arts and music education. Jonathan Dickson, Head of the service comments: “Saturday Morning Music Centre is Liverpool’s centre for excellence for many of our region’s most talented young musicians and we are proud of the positive impact it has on the young people of Merseyside. “With regular ensemble tuition, concert experiences and the chance to tour overseas, youngsters can experience first hand, the range of musical activities we offer including early years music making, wind bands, string and brass groups, choirs, jazz ensembles and the acclaimed Liverpool Youth Orchestra, to name but a few, which all take place during term time.” Louise Hough, Co-ordinator for Saturday Morning Music
Centre was delighted to have the full 80 piece Liverpool Youth Orchestra at the event. “In light of the Liverpool’s 87th Performing Arts Festival just round the corner, the Youth Orchestra took the opportunity to put in some more practice, as well as putting a great show for our guests, who were happy to go around the college to see the open rehearsals of all the ensembles we offer. We have mentored many great talents here and I hope the Saturday Morning Music Centre will continue to be a destination where musical aspirations come alive.”
£9,000 “Going rate for a Degree” Poorer students priced out The public service union, UNISON is calling on the Government to give disadvantaged students a fair chance at a degree. As universities across the country announce their fees, the union is warning that many young people will be priced out of education, with the going rate for a degree standing at £9,000. UNISON’s Head of Higher Education, Jon Richards, said: “Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds deserve a fair shot at getting into any university in the UK. With the going rate for a degree now at £9,000, the danger is that many will be put off. “Even universities who have set lower fees are still pricing them way above the Government’s recommendations. “Higher Education cannot be
done on the cheap, universities need funds to deliver high quality services. But huge fee increases and Government cuts are leading to job losses and a lack of resources that is leaving the service struggling . “The Government must think again about the new fees, which will plunge thousands of young people into serious debt. We know there is an alternative to fee hikes and service cuts.” Any university or college that wants to charge tuition fees for fulltime home/EU undergraduates above the basic level must have an access agreement approved by the Director of Fair Access. This sets out its fee limits, its plans for bursaries and other financial support and, in many cases, outreach work for underrepresented groups.
Improving quality and vision in education The International Coaching Academy (ICA) has been improving people’s skills and performance for over 12 years. It was set up by John Haynes, Director of Coaching, to inspire, motivate and develop 1 million people to realise their full potential. The ICA is an accredited Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) study centre and also an accredited Institute of Leadership and Development (ILM) training centre. They are dedicated to providing an effective, quality learning experience which is also fun and uses Accelerated Learning techniques. They also recognise the new framework by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and their Education programme has been carefully designed to deliver the generic skills identified for success in life, learning and work. Stephen Cox, Deputy Headmaster, Liverpool Blue Coat School, said: “The ICA coaching programme for Sixth Formers requiring extra support has been very favourably received. Students were inspired, more positive in their approach to their studies and, I believe, developed a more confident perspective at an important stage in their education.” www.internationalcoachingacademy.org Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
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Alsop High School, Queens Drive, Liverpool L4 6SH Telephone: 0151 235 1200 Email: office@alsophigh.org.uk
Providing Outstanding Facilities For The Future
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SPECIALIST SCIENCE SCHOOLS
SPECIALIST SCIENCE SCHOOLS BY DINA KARIM
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SPECIALIST SCIENCE SCHOOLS
The establishment of specialist schools status has a strong reinforcing and positive effect upon school ethos. It significantly enhances the school’s appeal within the local community and is associated with raising academic performance. As part of a special series, we have been looking at specialist status schools in Merseyside, their achievements and their links to the community.
There are five designated specialist science colleges in Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton, each at the forefront of innovation in science with its own distinctive ethos, but all working towards raising standards of achievement and the quality of teaching and learning in science and mathematics. The science specialist schools provide a centre of excellence in scientific, technological, enterprising and vocational education, encouraging young people to pursue science and mathematics beyond 16. The aim of the Government's science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programme is to ensure Britain's future success as a major centre for science, engineering and innovation. They promote science and mathematics to all students, offering triple science to all pupils achieving level 6 or above at the end of key stage 3. Specialist science colleges are expected to have strategies to increase uptake at GCSE and post-16 participation in STEM subjects in their own school and in partner schools. With school staff championing the sciences at school, and with high profile scientists such as former pop star turned professor Brian Cox, science as a profession is becoming ever more popular with the younger generation. Brian Cox, who teaches
****
I'm trying to get viewers to feel my first reaction to science, which was awe at the universe and astonishment at what we've learned. I felt so energised by the process of learning – the intensity of learning – you don't get that very often. **** PROFESSOR BRIAN COX, OBE ****
at the University of Manchester, recently gained popularity with a young audience, with his BBC show Wonders of the Universe. In an interview, in The Guardian, he commented: “I'm trying to get viewers to feel my first reaction to science, which was awe at the universe and astonishment at what we've learned. I felt so energised by the process of learning – the intensity of learning – you don't get that very often. Britain is squandering its lead in science and engineering. We once led the world, and we can again.” Although the science specialism was first introduced in 2001, there are still only five specialist science colleges in Liverpool, with Bellerive Catholic College becoming the first school in Liverpool to be awarded the status. The school is under the trusteeship of the Society of the Faithful Companions of Jesus (fcJ), who began work in Liverpool in 1844, which had encouraged girls to take up science from the early days, becoming the first science specialist school built on that ethos. The funding that accompanied the specialism has enabled the college to enrich the learning experiences with crosscurricular themed science weeks, a space camp week, trips out and visiting speakers.
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SPECIALIST SCIENCE SCHOOLS
Bellerive has established strong connections with all three local universities, for example, the college worked with the University of Liverpool when they were establishing a schools lab for local use. Students continue to visit the university to take part in master classes, lectures and competitions. The school also has good links with local scientific industries, with tours and health and safety studies. Large science organisations such as the North West Science Learning Centre and the Association for Science Education also base the delivery of some of their courses at Bellerive. Students such as Hayley Morson, who joined the sixth form, and went on to study Aerospace Engineering, worked on Typhoon Supersonic Fighter, one of the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world. However, with the changes in funding announced at the Comprehensive Spending Review last year, Bellerive is disappointed that the Government has decided to delegate the decision-making on the distribution of the specialist funding to the Schools Forum. Sister Brigid, head teacher of Bellerive, explains: “There is a real possibility that the Schools Forum will distribute the money across all schools (for example in Liverpool 178 schools instead of just 28 secondary schools). This redistribution will be a potential disaster for the secondary schools in Liverpool. That is a very disappointing outcome for the secondary schools - all of which have made massive gains in pupil progress and achievement. Bellerive is very keen to be in a position to build on its long and proud tradition as a school that encourages girls to ‘aim for the sky’ and take up positions where they are not just personally fulfilled but are in a position to be an asset to society at large.” With Merseyside undergoing mass regeneration, with a clear purpose to retain
Schools
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“We have a strong industrial link to Unilever and we have extensively used their expertise and facilities to aid with our vocational curriculum at KS4 and KS5 **** DARRYL ELLSON, HEAD OF CHEMISTRY AT CALDERSTONES SCHOOL ****
with
One of the ways the school is promoting the sciences at a primary level is through equipment loans to allow the primaries to do extracurricular science activities such as ‘science film making’, which are run as a series of competitions. They also run a scheme called ‘lessons in a box’, which allows primary teachers to teach science subjects that they would otherwise find daunting. Darryl Ellson, Head of Chemistry at Calderstones commented: “Since becoming a science specialist school our numbers for both GCSE and A level courses have increased greatly. For instance, in 2001 our A level Chemistry class had four students, after specialist status this grew dramatically and now we have 45 students enrolled for AS and 28 for A2. Our specialist programme has also enabled us to be flexible with the courses we offer. As well as traditional science subjects we have also offered GCSE Astronomy, GCSE Electronics, AS Psychology and AS Archaeology as after school classes. The GCSE options have been popular with Year 10 students and they can now obtain at least one GCSE a year early. “We have a strong industrial link to Unilever (even though they are outside of Liverpool, being on the Wirral) and we have extensively used their expertise and facilities to aid with our vocational curriculum at KS4 and KS5. Unilever have also given us several work experience places for Year 10 and Year 12 students - we are the only school outside of Wirral that they have done this for.” With celebrity science promoters such as Professor Brian Cox making the sciences popular and mainstream, and a focus on exciting and innovative teaching and learning which is supported by examples from the real world which are inclusive and of interest to girls, Specialist Science schools can help to stem the ‘brain drain’ of the North West.
Specialist Science
Status
BELLERIVE FCJ CATHOLIC COLLEGE FOR GIRLS
CALDERSTONES SCHOOL
DEYES HIGH SCHOOL
FORMBY HIGH SCHOOL
THE LIVERPOOL BLUE COAT SCHOOL
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and attract the knowledge sector, it is ever more important for Specialist Science Schools to make a concerted effort to partner with primary schools and increase uptake at GCSE level. Calderstones School is one school leading the way in supporting a wide range of primary schools, even those that aren’t their feeder schools. Calderstones, which gained the specialism status in 2003, has seen a significant uptake in GCSE and A Level courses by students.
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Meet the Headteacher Jim Donnelly, Litherland High School
The students of Litherland seem to have it all, with a new state-of-the-art school, exam results at their highest and an Ofsted report that not only gave the high school an ‘outstanding’ rating but also praised its place within the community – it’s little wonder so many former students go back to teach.
Creating a Global Learning Community Driving this new generation of 21st century teaching is head teacher Jim Donnelly, at the helm for 20 years, he reels off the successes of the school, from the unique new school building to its links with 11 schools around the world creating a “global learning community.” Litherland high school is situated within a state-of-the-art £50 million campus, consisting of a new special school built six years earlier, a sports park and a sixth form college. Jim counts his stars that the school was built under very unusual circumstances that meant it could be everything the community wished for. “We were really lucky, the funding was identified in 2009 and then they started the building programme, but usually you then have what’s called ‘value engineering’ and you find the things you wanted disappear because they can’t be afforded. We were lucky because we got the money identified and then the recession came in and we found that things become cheaper rather than expensive, and also the technology has 46
moved on so much within the last two years we could have everything we asked for.” One of the ways the school has taken full advantage of affordable future technology is where they saved £70,000 on data projectors because they didn’t need interactive boards to go with them anymore. They also fully utilise cloud
“
We’re a global learning community, and we’ve been doing this for 10 years
”
technology, where the computers don’t have a hard drive attached to the computer, instead using a central server. This means the computers are cheaper and smaller so you can fit more in. The money instead got used on one of the added extras, a large movable wall in the theatre, which allows for different classes to utilise the space.
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The previous Labour government had identified that secondary school buildings weren’t particularly fit for 21st century education, so they started the Building Schools for the Future programme. Sefton wasn’t in the initial programme for getting its buildings replaced until 2015, however as luck would have it the government offered Sefton one new building before 2015. After looking at the demographics in the area, Sefton settled on replacing Litherland high school. “We got this built because we already had outstanding standards, and the challenge is to make sure we take that even further with this new building. We’ve been planning this since 2009, we knew the day we were going to open back in September 2009, and we knew it was going to be February 21, 2011. And we worked our way back from that. It took just one hour of missed school lessons for the students to move over to the new school.” The new modern environment has also changed the way the school works, in simple unusual ways. The school has
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done away with the school bell and instead introduced classical music as the end of a lesson. Although the school has traditional classrooms there are also hub areas such as the Information Communication Centre, more akin to university studying but which seem to work. Also the school use ‘follow-me printing’ where every student can do the work in school or from home which goes onto the server, so when they’re ready to print it’s ready at any one of the many printers around the school. Building on the community links, the school also has a hairdresser and beauty salon, where they plan to generate income in order to offer sustainable community education. Jim began his career 43 years ago in Belfast, in a boy’s school where he taught for five years, before moving to Halewood, then to Nottingham as a deputy head. The head teacher doesn’t seem to credit any particular ethos for his successes, he doesn’t even credit the new school as his proudest achievement rather it’s the quality of education his students have achieved. He does credit though, an affinity with the challenges teachers face. “I taught for 23 years before becoming a head which means I can still identify with a teacher, and know what’s important,” he comments. “When building this school it was important for me that all the classrooms had windows that could open and close, because for a teacher it’s very important to be able to control the temperature in their room.” One of the many feathers in the school’s hat is their links with 11 schools around the world. As a specialist language school the students study Spanish for five years, French for two years and Chinese for two years.
The school is linked with schools in China, Taiwan, Sweden, Romania and Spain, to name a few, and has an advert at John Lennon Airport promoting the school. “We chose the specialism because we believed what was good for children in what I suppose are well off areas is good for children in an area with challenging circumstances. Our students are continually coming back and forward from across the world. We’re a global learning community, and we’ve been doing this for 10 years. And whatever their ability level, my belief is that the standard of English is improving because they’re learning other languages. Children from
Litherland can go anywhere in the world and achieve things, the idea is that we take that, add a new building and just continue to defy logic. There should be no limit to what we can achieve. There’s no destination, it’s the journey.” Ending the interview on a note of optimism for the school’s future, Jim reminds me there is no end goal for the school, just to keep achieving high standards and making sure each student gets a quality learning experience – after all at Litherland High their school motto is ‘Be Part of the Journey’.
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Education News
Apprenticeship launch Liverpool schools join interactive event NHS North West and the National Apprenticeship Service marked the beginning of National Apprenticeship Week recently with an interactive event at Fairfield General Hospital. A group of 45 pupils, aged 14 – 16, including pupils from Fazakerley High School, Liverpool, and Holly Lodge Girls School, Liverpool, were invited to enjoy a range of activities, including interactive learning sessions on the NHS, a ‘test your knowledge’ quiz with quizmaster Dean Royles, and a tour of the hospital. But the main focus of the event was the launch of a new ‘NHS Apprenticeship Resource Pack’ for schools, created by the NHS North West in partnership with the National Apprenticeship Service. The pack - which features an introduction to Apprenticeships in the NHS including the benefits, examples of the types of Apprenticeship roles and case studies of some current NHS apprentices - is designed for young people considering their career options and aims to raise awareness of the range and breadth of Apprenticeship opportunities available in the NHS. Sue Price, Regional Director for the
Pupils from Holly Lodge help launch the Apprenticeship Week
National Apprenticeship Service in the North West said: “This was a really inspiring event to be part of; and the young people brought lots of energy with them, making it an ideal way to mark Apprenticeship Week. “Apprenticeship Week is all about raising awareness and celebrating the success of Apprenticeships. We want to
encourage more organisations to offer Apprenticeship opportunities and more individuals to consider Apprenticeships as their career option. The NHS Apprenticeship Resource Pack will be a great resource for schools providing them with valuable information on the range of Apprenticeship opportunities within the NHS”.
Colleges ‘axing courses and jobs’ Scores of England's colleges have already started axing jobs and courses as a result of funding cuts, according to a survey. Public service union Unison and the University and College Union polled 247 colleges, and 146 replied. Of those 93% said they had axed jobs, with 80% saying they had cut courses and resources. The government said it was necessary to focus funding where its effect could be maximised. The survey, found support staff and teaching staff were taking the biggest hit. Only 12% of colleges pointed to job cuts in management posts and 1% to senior posts being lost. Union leaders raised concerns that funding has been "cut to the quick", with students pushed out of further 48
education. More than half (53%) of those questioned said other college posts were currently at risk. Sixty colleges said they were planning to close courses over the next 12 months, while a further 42 said they were reviewing it. Nearly one in four (23%) said they had been forced to turn potential students away because of cuts. Chris Fabby, Unison's national officer for further education, said: “Colleges are being cut to the quick. They have already axed a huge number of jobs and courses. We fear for the future, as the survey shows that the worst is yet to come. “Students are being forced out of further education altogether as the education maintenance allowance, fee
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remission and courses are slashed. These cuts are devastating learners, communities and local economies.” UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: "It was only recently that Nick Clegg spoke about the importance of social mobility, this survey highlights the true cost of the government's cuts to education. “Rather than helping to fund the very courses that people need to realise their potential, the government is slashing college budgets, putting teachers on the dole queue and removing vital lifelines such as the education maintenance allowance." A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the government was committed to
Chris Fabby
a strong further education system. “In 2011-12, we plan to invest £3.9bn in FE skills for post-19 learners. In addition Budget 2011 included a £180m package for adult apprenticeships over the spending review. “In the current economic climate it is necessary to focus investment where its impact is maximised.”
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Help and advice
Dear Educate
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My 11 year old son will be starting secondary school in September. He has been pestering me for a mobile telephone for the last 12 months, and so far I’ve resisted. I’m still not very keen, as I don’t believe he actually needs a mobile ‘phone. While I don’t want him to be the only one in his group of friends who hasn’t got one, I don’t want to feel that I’m giving in to peer pressure? Whether or not you decide to allow your son to have a mobile telephone is completely your decision. For many parents of pupils starting secondary school, the longer school day and the independent journey, which their child may now need to make, are often factors in the decision. Depending on your individual circumstances, you may still decide that your son doesn’t need a telephone – and you are quite within your rights. Schools respect the wishes of parents who do wish their children to have access to a mobile telephone, and while school policies differ it is standard for schools to ask that pupils keep their ‘phones turned off and at the bottom of their school bag during the school day. Pupils who are found to be in breach of these rules by having ‘phones at hand in class or the corridors usually have their telephones confiscated for the rest of the school day. Our advice would be to consider whether your son’s new routine, perhaps with extra-curricular activities at the end of the day and a longer route to take to and from school requires him to have a mobile telephone for your own peace of mind. If so, make sure he understands why you are buying him a mobile and explain to him the consequences for him if he breaks the school usage policy.
My daughter is 8 years old and is now bringing home one piece of literacy homework and one piece of maths homework a week. After talking to friends who are also parents of children the same age, I’m concerned because some schools seem to issue homework every night. My daughter’s friend who attends a different school, seems to have to undertake project-based literacy homework which entails a lot more detail and requires her to keep a scrapbook. I am worried that my daughter is not being challenged enough. What would be your advice? Homework has always been something of a hot potato, particularly in primary schools. While the advantages of homework include allowing the teacher to forge a relationship with parents, and enable parents to see and become involved in their child’s learning, it also encourages pupils and their families to see the possibilities to learn outside of the classroom. The government has set a rough guideline for how much time pupils in primary school should
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spend on homework For Years 1 and 2 the figure should sit around 60 minutes a week, rising to 90 minutes in Years 3 and 4 and up to 30 minutes a day for Years 5 and 6 (30 minutes at the weekend.) Concerns have been voiced in recent years that some tasks and activities issued by teachers not just for homework but also in class, have not been formulated with these ends in mind. Instead of stretching pupils’ abilities and developing their skills, pages of writing or sums to complete have focused on ‘more of the same’. To this end, many schools have justifiably reduced the amount of homework issued because pupils are making the required progress in class. For this reason, I would not be unduly concerned about the disparity between the amount of homework issued by different schools, unless you feel that your daughter isn’t being stretched enough during the school day.
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Like many parents, I’m happy to go along with the focus on healthy eating in schools for well balanced packed lunches, even though there seems to be very strict and quite rigid guidelines of what children can bring into to school. However, I’m confused as to why a tuck shop still exists in my children’s school and has not been seen to be in conflict with core healthy eating principles. The benefits of good nutrition in boosting a child’s concentration and attainment at school has certainly been highlighted in the media over recent years, with the result that the majority of schools do offer healthy lunch and snack options. However, the majority of schools know that banning all chocolates/ crisps from the school canteen results in pupils looking to local newsagents to buy snacks - especially at secondary school level. Running a school tuck shop stocking children’s favourites, open only at certain times of the day bridges this gap. While this does send a confusing message to parents, there will still be certain restrictions on school tuck shops and many will not stock energy drinks or high glucose snacks. At the same time, there are a number of advantages to pupils running their own tuck shop in school. For those behind the till, the shop offers an opportunity to practise key skills in numeracy, organisation and customer service, and for pupils purchasing it’s a social activity requiring them to manage their own pocket money.
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Bellerive FCJ Catholic College Specialising in the Sciences, Applied learning, Maths and Computing
Taster Day for year 5 pupils
OPEN EVENING
Tuesday 5 July 2011 Tuesday 5th October 2010 6.00-8.30pm for parents with daughters seeking entry in September 2011, at this ispopular voluntary aided Catholic school for girls. Bellerive a popular and oversubscribed college, admitting Catholic girls from across the city. It has been nationally recognised are invited to come along andwas see this outstanding popularinschool. asYou a high achieving school and graded Outstanding the Girls travel to Bellerive from all across the city. most Meet pupils and staff, view facilities and collect an application form and recent inspections. prospectus. Pupils will be available to guide you around the site. There will twotaster presentations school hall for during the5 evening. This day is in anthe opportunity year pupils to visit and Please entersample via thelessons, Elmfield activities site on Ullet Road experience and lunch in our dining centre. Bellerive FCJ Catholic College, Windermere Terrace, Sefton Park, This shortened, but highly enjoyable day, will help parents decide onLiverpool their choice of school for 2012. Please call the school on 0151 727 2064 for an invitation for your daughter to attend, giving name, age and current school.
Suaviter in Modo, Fortiter in Re
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FUTURE FOUNDATIONS Schools learn skills for the future
INSPIRING MINDS You are never too young to start learning about ‘the World of Work’ even at an early age. And Primary School children are always keen to learn what business is all about. Liverpool Compact EBP arranged a Careers Carousel at Christ the King Catholic Primary School in Wavertree. Business volunteers from a range of companies attended the school to answer questions from small groups of children about their jobs. The children aged between 8 and 11 years asked the employers questions about their role, career path and organisation.
COOKING UP A STORM After their recent success in reaching the ‘Can Cook’ final for Secondary Schools, Archbishop Beck decided it would be a great opportunity to work with other pupils and feeder primary schools. The sessions were led by professional chefs which motivated and encouraged the pupils to participate. The purpose of the programme was aimed to develop the knowledge and awareness of healthy eating and cookery skills as well as increasing enjoyment of food and cooking, and it certainly did this!
The Liverpool Compact Primary Team: Ann Gilmore, Janice Glover and Jeanette Hanley
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STUDENTS EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS Working in partnership with FACT, a class of Knowsley Community College, Creative & Media students recently put on their own expressive show, based upon the recent Nam June Paik exhibition, that took place in Tate Liverpool and FACT. The group of students had been asked to plan, Sam Bates market, produce and perform a show. This is part of their second unit ‘Show’ which is about learners being able to work “in the field” with media. The unit is about creating a show from the ground up, so it involves the class coming together as a working unit, this allowed them to work as a team to put on the best show possible.
Chris Leech
Rachael Bradley
TALENT IN ABUNDANCE A passion for fashion and art
PENSIONERS’ CELEBRATE Year 7 pupils from Alsop High School, Liverpool, took on a project in Apex called the ‘Ozone Slayer’. Within this project they were to create outfits from anything recycled and showcase their collection in a fashion show in front of family, friends and three judges. The fashion was fantastic and the outfits created were brilliant, the models bravely strutted their stuff on the catwalk to show off their own collections they had handmade. The judges marked all the outfits throughout the show and came to a decision that 7VLN were the winners. The winners received an Apex 2011 award trophy.
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PUBLISHED POETS Young writers see their poems in print April saw the inaugural Climatlantic Poetry awards take place at the city centre offices of Merseytravel, lead partners in Climatlantic. The competition saw over 300 poems entered with an extremely high standard set. Neil Scales, Chief Executive of Merseytravel awarded the delighted winners and runners-up prizes of Amazon Kindles and Waterstones book vouchers. The biggest prize however was having their poems included in, ‘The Small Book of Poetry’, which you will find with this issue of Educate. Happy reading and well done to all those who entered.
Chris Murphy, Neil Scales, Merseytravel, with the winners and runners up
Chris Murphy, Neil Scales with the Primary age group winners
Runner-up Sophie from Forefield Junior School
Georgia from St Gregory’s Primary School - winner of the 10-11 year group Arsany (right) from All Saints Catholic Primary
14 plus winner Elle from Notre Dame Catholic College
Thomas from St Leo’s & Southmead RC School
Eva from Bishop Martin C of E Primary
Arian and Jade with teacher, Miss Pugh from New Park Primary
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St Hilda’s C.E. High School Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park, Liverpool L17 3AL T: 0151 733 2709 E: info@st-hilda’s.com W: www.st-hildas.com
Open Day: 30th June 10am - 12pm and from 6pm - 8.30pm Pupils’ personal development and well being is outstanding Standards are well above the average
We are now taking applications for 6th Form admission
FREE ENTRY - 16th April - 21st June 2011 - St Georges Hall To celebrate 130 years of supporting the community, Nugent Care is hosting an exhibition at St Georges Hall to commemorate the astonishing work of the charity’s founder Father James Nugent and the impact his work had on the city of Liverpool and how this legacy lives on in the work that Nugent Care do today.
Download information from www.nugentcare.org or contact Ian Rawlins to request a template and information on 0151 261 2000 / irawlins@nugentcare.org
If you or your school would like to become a part in the exhibition, visit our website to join in the art competition and get the chance to see your work on display at St Georges Hall along with a prize of £50 WH Smith vouchers for the most creative picture!
NUGENT CARE 130 EXHIBITION St Georges Hall, Dickens Gallery
FREE ENTRY 16th April – 21st June Please contact us if you’d like to arrange a group tour of the exhibition
Nugent Care | Tel: 0151 261 2000 | Minicom: 0151 260 4366 | Email: info@nugentcare.org | www.nugentcare.org | Registered charity No: 222930 56
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Sponsored by
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INSPIRATIONAL AWARDS
Sophie Wakefield Year 7
Vanessa Weightman Year 8
Celebrating International Women’s Day
To Celebrate International Women’s Day and finish off a week of activities aimed at celebrating women at work, St Hilda’s High School staff and pupils voted for their Inspirational Pupil of the Year 2011. This was the first time the school had run this award and they were overwhelmed by the responses from the staff and pupils; obviously there are a lot of deserving pupils in the school, however there could only be one winner in each year group. The winners of this year’s awards: Year 7 – Sophie Wakefield Year 8 – Vanessa Weightman Year 9 – Charlotte Draper Year 10 – Emily Stuart Year 11 – Amelia Mullin Year 12 – Amy Bates Year 13 – Iheanyi Khalli
Charlotte Draper Year 9
Emily Stuart Year 10
Amelia Mullin Year 11
Amy Bates Year 12
Throughout the week the school held a Women @ Work Jobs Fair and invited local employers to set up an exhibition in the school hall, they also invited inspirational women to speak to the pupils about their careers.
Iheanyi Khalli Year 13
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TALENTED MERSEYSIDE Talent shines brightly
ST JOHN CELEBRATE St John Bosco celebrated their Annual Prize giving at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, with special guest Cllr Jane Corbett who not only awarded the prizes but went on to speak about her time in Liverpool and the changes that we can bring when we work together and face our challenges. The evening began with entertainment and guests were treated to a fantastic host of dance, music and acting performed by over two hundred students.
MEET THE EXPERTS A ‘Meet the Experts’ Event was held recently at Greenbank High School in Southport. The event was staged as part of the ‘Sefton RDPO Enterprise Competition 2011’ which is a competition that has been organised by RDPO Enterprise Education. Engineering Your Future (EYF) was a free oneday careers event to provide students with an insight into the broad scope of a career in engineering. Business groups were required to compile a business plan that will, at its heart, state the amount of money required to progress the groups business idea.
Cllr Jane Corbett addresses the pupils
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CELEBRATING CULTURE Music and dance
AROUND THE WORLD Pupils from Mosspits Infant and Junior School joined together to celebrate ‘Around the World’ week. They started the week off together in the Junior Hall and ‘boarded the plane’ ready for their journey across the world. Reception visited Spain and learned how to Flamenco dance! Year 1 went on a virtual journey to Australia, whilst Year 2 explored the culture and creative ideas of Native America. In the Juniors, Year 3 learned about Egypt and made cartouches using Egyptian hieroglyphs. Year 4 journeyed to India. They made clay elephants and experimented with Indian tie-dye, and introduced the children to Indian meditation. Africa was the Year 5 theme and they were taught some traditional African dance moves, whilst the art and culture of Mexico was thoroughly enjoyed by Year 6 pupils.
Year 4 pupils try out Indian dancing
WONDERLAND WOW AT NOTRE DAME Notre Dame Catholic College for the Arts played host to newly formed girl group Wonderland, as they took to the stage to perform songs from their new album. The Irish girl band, formed by Louis Walsh and Westlife band-member Kian Egan, entertained the students based in Everton Valley, in two separate sessions during the day in Notre Dame’s 500-seat auditorium. Head girl at Notre Dame, Faye Minds commented: “It was brilliant to have Wonderland live on stage at our very own school. Everybody loved seeing them perform.”
Pupil Abby Mulligan performs with Wonderland
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A Star Performance Notre Dame Catholic College for the Arts
ES
T
A H QU'IL
BON
LE BON DIE U
Notre Dame Catholic College for the Arts Established 1869
Everton Valley L4 4EZ Telephone: 0151 263 3104 Fax: 0151 260 1849 ao@notredame.liverpool.sch.uk www.notredameliverpool.com
Headteacher Mrs F Harrison BSc (Hons) NPQH
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ON THE CATWALK Creme de la Creme at Litherland High Litherland High School recently held their first Dance, Song and Fashion Show in their brand new theatre, Starry Nights. The dances and songs were performed by members of the school’s own Music Society and Dance Company. Gowns were provided by Creme de la Creme and men's suits were provided by Moss Bros. Models were drawn from local students and two members of the school's PE staff. Hair and makeup were done on site in the school's own salons by students from Hugh Baird College. The evening raised £400 for UNICEF.
"Treading the boards" - LHS PE Staff
"Hitting the high notes" Alex Edgar
"Jumping for Joy" LHS Dancers
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WEDDING STORY
Mosscroft Primary School, Huyton
Schools celebrate Royal Wedding Schools in Merseyside celebrated the recent Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in style. Events ranged from weddings to school parties with all the children enjoying cakes, jellies and plenty of games. The children all enjoyed their day of fun in the sun as well as dressing up as the royal family and dignitaries as well as adding a splash of colour for a day to remember.
Six-year-old Holly from St Andrews
St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School, Kirkby
Wedding cake wonders from Mosscroft School
Headteacher Gary Mason and pupils from Matthew Arnold School
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Above: Pupils from St Christophers, Speke wave off Jessica Harrison and Kieron Rose
The Royal Family greet the crowd
The blushing bride
St Andrews C of E Primary, Maghull
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WEST SIDE STORY Sizzling performance at The Bluecoat School In February, The Blue Coat School community sat back, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful performance of West Side Story which saw Blue Coat Musical Theatre at its finest. It was a fantastic production involving over 100 students with superb music and talented performances supported by an energetic stage and lighting crew. The Show was directed and choreographed by former Blue Coat student, James Lacey and based on a concept by Jerome Robbins as a contemporary adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet”, when “West Side Story” opened on Broadway in 1957. Many members of staff, parents and friends ensured the show’s success by supporting the students behind the scenes – it was a culmination of hard work, effort and dedication shown since the very first rehearsals back in October - it was a tremendous team effort
America!
Ashely and Stuart as Tony and Maria
Tom Kinley and Christopher Jackson
The Jests Ensemble
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OUR DAY OUT Calderstone showcase their talents
After the success of their production of Grease in 2010, Calderstones School staged Our Day Out, a local favourite, for their annual production. Mr M Jackson – English & Drama Teacher at Calderstones and Production Director said: “The school had not staged a nonmusical play for some considerable time and wanted one that was entertaining, funny and relevant and could showcase the talents of as wide a range of our students as possible. Our Day Out was the ideal choice. It was encouraging to see so many students new to Performing Arts come forward wanting to be part of the show”.
Bus Driver (Michael Welch), Carol (Taylor Fowlis) and Mrs. Kay (Niamh Mercer)
Mr Briggs not enjoying his day out!
Mr. Briggs (Tom Mclean) and pupils
Toby Jones as the Zoo keeper
Pupils being eager in the sweet shop
Linda (Harriet McLoughlin) and Jackie (Natalie Gornell) showing a fondness of Colin the teacher (Ben Sharples)
Linda, Reilly (Daniel Robinson) and Jackie
Mr Briggs saves Carol
Zoe Tynan and Molly McCarthy as the 'bored girls' behind Melody played by Ciara Brodie
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Holly Lodge Girls’ College
Wins Two National Awards The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust have recognised Holly Lodge nationally for the highest progress made by students and for three years of continuous improvement ..... Well Done! For more information about this award winning school go to:
www.hollylodge.liverpool.sch.uk
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FASHION Long jersey top, £4.99, H & M
<Stockists> hm.com, selfridges.com, johnlewis.com, pumpkinpatch.co.uk, boden.co.uk, next.co.uk, debenhams.com. marksandspencer.com, zara.com, flikflak.com. Pumpkin Patch and Swatch Watches (Flik Flak) also have stores available in Liverpool One
Wayfarer yellow sunglasses, £5, John Lewis
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Spotty playsuit in cyan, £16, Pumpkin Patch
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J by Jasper Conran turquoise polo t shirt, from £10, Debenhams
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Bakerboy yellow logo t shirt, from £13, Debenhams
Hackett London striped shirt, from £45, John Lewis
<Stockists> hm.com, selfridges.com, johnlewis.com, pumpkinpatch.co.uk, boden.co.uk, next.co.uk, debenhams.com. marksandspencer.com, zara.com, flikflak.com. Pumpkin Patch and Swatch Watches (Flik Flak) also have stores available in Liverpool One
Bluezoo blue monkey print t shirt, from £5.50, Debenhams
Flik Flak full size scuba watch with luminous face, from £23, Flik Flak
Starprint swim short, from £10, Marks and Spencer
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Educate Competition
Win a place at the Summer Rock School
The Climbing Hangar are offering 10 Summer Rock School positions for children between 4 and 14 years of age. The Rock School will start the first week of summer holidays at the brand new centre near Sandhills Station in Liverpool and features 5 days of instructed rock climbing with a free squash drink in the break of each day. To win your place at the Summer Rock School simply send your name and contact details either by mail or email to: Educate Climbing Competition, Educate Magazine, 36 Henry Street, Liverpool L1 5BS or competition@educatemagazine.com 10 lucky winners will be picked at random, the closing date is 30th May 2011 www.theclimbinghangar.com 70
Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
NEW PLACE TO ‘HANG OUT’ The brand new centre here near Sandhills station in Liverpool is the largest dedicated bouldering centre in the UK. Climbing is family friendly and accessible to all levels of fitness. Bouldering in particular is very social. The Climbing Hanger grand opening was on Sat 16th April at a North Liverpool warehouse facility, filling the gap in the area that has left bouldering enthusiasts travelling further a field to centres in Manchester and Sheffield. Offering an endless variety of boulder problems tailored to suit all abilities from beginners to seasoned professionals, ʻThe Hangarʼ is set to offer top-notch facilities, overseen and staffed by a collaboration of international-level coaches and competitors. With a foot print of over 1000 square meters and a fantastic dedicated kids area with pirate ship and castle. These high-class professionals include managing director Ged MacDomhnaill, who has vast experience in training and coaching top level climbers, including the National Youth Team and British Team members. Ged said: “The Climbing Hangar” is a company borne out of a common passion for bouldering, and a desire to pass on our expertise and share our enjoyment of the sport with others. Located just 3 minutes walk from Sandhills Station on Merseyrailʼs Northern Line and just 10 minutes drive outside Liverpool City Centre, The Climbing Hangar has excellent transport links, for those with their own transport and without. Ged continues: “We are really looking forward to welcoming the local community, school and youth groups and professionals to ʻThe Hangarʼ. With induction sessions for both adults and juniors, we will provide an easy starterservice for individuals, families and groups. “More than anything, bouldering is a social-activity at heart, and we expect it to be a hub for people of all ages hoping to develop a new skill, find an interesting way of keeping fit, and a place to make new friends or just ʻhang outʼ!”
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Viewpoint
Should Church schools limit the number of reserved places for families from the Church to no more than 10%? “We may not get the startling results that some church schools do because of getting some very able children, but we will make a difference to people’s lives” - Rt Revd John Pritchard
Jon Richardson
Frances Harrison
Alan Birkett
Jon Richardson, Director of Education for the Diocese of Liverpool Bishop Pritchard makes valuable comments about church school admission policies and we await the national guidance with interest. Legally, the admissions policy is the responsibility of a school governing body so the Diocese will work to help them interpret the guidance. The Diocese is committed to supporting excellent church schools promoting Christian education whilst serving their local community.
Frances Harrison, Headteacher, Notre Dame Catholic College for the Arts Faith schools were established to serve the faith community and therefore that must be their primary responsibility. That’s not to say that we don’t have a responsibility to the community as a whole, we have a significant number of pupils of other faiths and indeed of no faith but we are here to serve the faith community first and foremost.
Alan Birkett, Editor, Knowsley Challenge Newspaper I'm all in favour of equal access and for good schools to share their successful ideas. However, if (and again, another big 'if') the school thinks that the Christian ethos is part of that success it is understandable that they will not want to dilute that ethos significantly. Parental power being what it is these days I think it is naive to think that a Christian school with only, say, 10% Christian pupils would maintain any sense of Christian ethos. 50% seems a sensible notional number to me.
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society The Bishops comments confirm that not only do church schools achieve their superior results because they can pick and choose their pupils, but also that the church is prepared to tolerate parents lying about their beliefs in order to get their children in. All state-funded schools should be open to the whole community, such blatant religious discrimination is no longer acceptable.
The Rt Revd John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford, has recently said he would like to see Church schools limit the number of reserved places for families from the Church to no more than 10% of the intake. In doing so he has told Church schools that don’t currently abide by this policy that they are not serving the community and are only serving themselves by collecting “nice Christians into safe Places”. Is he right?
Have your say: To suggest or contribute to a topic for debate in Viewpoint email us at: educate@merseymirror.com or to view our on-line poll visit: www.educatemagazine.com
Terry Sanderson Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
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THE EDUCATE DIRECTORY
PAINTING & DECORATING SERVICES High quality wallpaper hanging Painting Interior & exterior Domestic & commercial Building maintenance & repair work
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Worried about your Child’s education? Do you recognise any of these problems? Counting on fingers when adding up Difficulty with subtraction • Can’t grasp times tables • Little interest in reading Finds reading hard • Poor spelling Poor handwriting • Poor concentration
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THE EDUCATE DIRECTORY Be the star of your own show with Party Feet!
Call Gemma on 07949 252 401 www.childrensdanceparties.co.uk
First class private tuition service in a variety of subjects For Primary and Secondary learners Prestigious city centre location Fun Spanish lessons for children aged 5-10 also available All Tutors have enhanced CRB disclosure Mon – Thurs 4.30 -7.30 pm - Hourly sessions available Hanover Street Liverpool, City Centre Call Lee on 07773 618 915 www.subjectsupport.co.uk email: info@subjectsupport.co.uk
MUSEUM & GARDEN VILLAGE
Maths Tuition
Learn from the professionals With both mobile party entertainment and all inclusive packages with food and venue available
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Port Sunlight Museum & Garden Village is a registered trademark of the Port Sunlight Village Trust. Registered in Cardiff. Registered company number 3719976. Registered office 23 King George’s Drive, Port Sunlight, Wirral, CH62 5DX. Registered charity number 1074713.
For details call 01704 895181 or visit www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/martin-mere
To advertise in the next issue of
Educate contact Andy on
0151 709 7567
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WHERE CAN WE GO? Your guide to what’s happening out & about in Merseyside
Not to be d misse
On the Waterfront 3D Son et Lumiére 22nd-24th July Pier Head, Liverpool Free Event 0151 233 2008
Fantastic Mr Fox Saturday 23rd July Rufford Old Hall, Rufford Nr Ormskirk L40 1SG 01704 821254 Sunday 14th August Ness Gardens, Neston, South Wirral 0151 353 0123
Greato one t h watc
by Roald Dahl, adapted by David Wood Outdoor theatre performed by Illyria All Mr Fox wants from life is to feed his family, and farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean have an ample supply of chickens, geese and ducks. But these are not just any farmers - they are the cruellest, meanest and most ruthless farmers you could ever meet, and they are determined to put a stop to Mr Fox once and for all. Following their highly acclaimed 2010 production of "James and the Giant Peach" and a sensational sellout season Illyria returns with an even BIGGER Dahl classic!
Picture: Liverpool City Council.
Liverpool’s waterfront will be transformed into an amazing landscape of sound and light to celebrate the birth of one of the city’s most enduring symbols, the Liver Building, and the opening of the new spectacular Museum of Liverpool. Across the three evenings, visitors will experience a visual feast as the waterfront and its buildings take on a whole new experience. Using spectacular 3D architectural digital mapping projections, the Pier Head will be transformed into a landscape of light and sound. The projections will transform the ordinary into the extraordinary… right in front of your eyes!
Martin Mere Wetland Centre Fish Lane, Burscough wwt.org.uk/martinmere
A brand new unique experience has opened at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre in Burscough, Ormskirk. In June 2010, WWT Martin Mere started work to create 2.4 hectares of a new reed bed, wet woodland and wet grassland (swamp) to offer families and adults a safe and fun way to explore wetlands and its rich biodiversity through a canoe. The self guided canoe safari involves three people sitting in a Canadian style canoe for up to an hour as a fun and interactive way of getting close to wildlife and nature. There is a charge of £5 per canoe. 74
A Collector’s Eye
Must Do
Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
FUTURE EVENTS
Canoe Safari
Summer Fun
Throughout Summer National Wildflower Centre, Huyton 0151 738 1913
Until 15th May Walker Art Gallery William Brown Street, Liverpool
The National Wildflower Centre is a family friendly visitor centre and educational facility. They run a lively programme of Creative Nature events and workshops that develop skills and build confidence by celebrating the power of natural wellbeing. Open everyday 10am–5pm Check their website events www.nwc.org.uk
Cranach to Pissarro - If you want to introduce your children to amazing art then this exhibition is a very good place to start. This varied show covers different styles and time periods. Young artists will be fascinated by wonderful works of the likes of Rubens, El Greco, Pissarro and Delacroix. Free entry.
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FILM REVIEW
GAME REVIEW
Thor PG-13
Pokemon Black Version
Director: Kenneth Branagh Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman
Nintendo DS Verdict: ★★★★★ By Andy Kelly
Verdict: ★★★★✩ By Andy Kelly
From the epic opening set on Asgard, to the battle with the Destroyer back on Earth, Thor is filled with plenty of action, a compelling story and some surprising direction from Branagh. The story is a simple one: Following an ancient and epic war, the Asgardians have a tentative peace with the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, however that peace is shattered after Thor, on the day of his ascension to the Asgard throne, mounts an assault on the homeworld after being tricked by his mischievous brother Loki. Banished to Earth by his father Odin for his “crime”, Thor drops in (literally) on Jane Foster, an astrophysicist who is studying freak phenomenon in New Mexico. Stripped of everything he holds dear, including his mighty hammer Mjolnir, Thor must learn what it takes to be a true hero in order to claim back his hammer and his throne. But standing in his way on are Agent Coulson and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and his brother, an Asgardian megalomaniac turned King, Loki, who unleashes the most fearsome of beings, the Destroyer, to kill Thor and anyone else who stands in his way… Thor IS as good as Iron Man and is most worthy of your time and money.
HUB Festival
Southport Rocks
21st-22nd May Otterspool Park, Liverpool www.hubfestival.co.uk
8th-9th July Victoria Park Southport 0151 707 0427
Two days of funky break dancing, beat boxing, sick tricks and music. BMX legend Jerry Galley and skateboarding gurus Pete King and Chris Oliver will be showing off their skils whilst the HUB join forces with the Liverpool Sound City to kick off the summer festival season. Tickets cost £5 for a day or £8 for two days.
A two day musical extravaganza offering the ultimate festival for families comes to Southport. Includes alternative and dance music, DJ sets, comedy performances, climbing wall, cage football, face painting. You can even take advantage of the Glamping facilities with Mongolian Yurts and Tepees. www.southportrocks.co.uk
Have you already collected them all? Well then, grab up your pokeball, because a fifth generation of Pokemon creatures comes your way from Nintendo! Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version introduce a generation of never-before-seen Pokemon characters featured in a thrilling new storyline set in a brand new region. New Legendary Pokemon include Reshiram (Pokemon Black Version) and Zekrom (Pokemon White Version). The further you get, though, the more interesting they become. There's a definite flair to some of the later designs especially, and fighting against a mutant ice cream cone is always a novelty. The Black & White Pokemon adventures revolutionize the franchise with more than 150 never-before-seen Pokemon, new connectivity features and a new region to explore. New three-on-three Triple Battles and Rotation Battles add greater levels of strategy, while the Pokemon Global Link offers many new ways to enjoy Pokemon, even when you're away from your Nintendo DS system!
Port Sunlight Festival
24th July Port Sunlight Museum and Garden Village, Wirral 0151 644 6466 Last year over 10,000 visitors attended, and this year aims to be even better! Free entry event, with a full day of entertainment including chef demonstrations, circus act from the Rapido Brothers, and live music from The Wirral Samba School, Viva Brasil, Katz Korner to name but a few.
Batman Live
7th-11th September Echo Arena Liverpool 0844 8000 400 For the first time in DC Comics history, see Batman the world’s most popular DC Super Hero as you’ve never seen him before, in an all-new, liveaction arena adventure, set to take the world by storm. A multi-million pound stage production of unprecedented scale and a must-see for families and Batman fans everywhere.
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Book Review
In association with
by Jennifer Dobson
5-8 Years Undercover Aliens by Ceci Jenkinson - £5.99 Cosmic Trouble! Did Grundy Thicket really see a UFO, or was it a flying sheep? Who is the blue blob on Ringo's Hostility Detector? Is Mr Grimble an alien from the planet Quorkidellian? Before these questions are answered -there'll be trouble! This is the sixth book in the hilarious "Tales of Trouble" series. Read and laugh your socks off! Tour Troubles by Tamsyn Murray - £4.99 Stunt Bunny is back in action, this time as the star of Superpets Live! With visions of posh hotels, meeting adoring fans and performing her famous bunny-backflips in front of live audiences, Harriet can't wait for the tour of Superpets.Will Miranda try to take the headlining act her poodle Doodle or will Harriet remain star of the show! A great read! Aunt Severe and the Dragons by Nick Garlick - £4.99 When Daniel's explorer parents vanish, he is forced to live with his strict and rather strange Aunt Severe. And his problems only increase when Daniel finds four lost dragons hiding in her garden. But before he can help, three of them are captured by evil Gotcha Grabber and thrown into a zoo. Who will help them? Read on and discover the outcome of this fantastic tale!
9-12 Years Fiction The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pinchon - £6.99 Tom Gates is the master of excuses for homework, dog attacks and lighting to name but a few. Tom’s exercise book is full of doodles, from cartoons to his thoughts. Shame his teacher is unkind to him and his work is going under as he’s desperate to impress the girl who sits next to him. If you loved Wimpy Kid you’ll love this! Nicholas by Rene Goscinny - £6.95 The gentle humour and old-fashioned charm of this story make for a nostalgic read which will win over young fans and have adult readers going all misty-eyed for the innocent days of childhood. Nicholas comes across as humorous, energetic and loud, but just a regular boy underneath it all. From the moment you open its pages you are in for a treat! The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - £5.99 When Milo finds an enormous package in his bedroom, he’s delighted to find something to relieve the boredom of school. The package contained one genuine Turnpike Tollbooth and gets right into his pedal car and sets off on a magical journey. A fantastic tale of excitement!
Teenage Fiction Ministry of Pandemonium by Chris Westwood - £6.99 When Ben Harvester meets Mr October in Highgate Cemetery nothing could of prepared him for the dramatic turn his life is about to take. Soon, Mr October is leading him towards his true calling, leading the dead into the afterlife. A truly remarkable tale and a spine tingling one at that giving the reader a thrill from start to finish! My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pictcher - £9.99 Narrated by ten year old Jamie this is a wonderful debut novel about a horrific terrorist attack that tears his family apart and how they rebuild their lives. This book is action packed and yet moving that will have you reading to the very end in one go! The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan - £9.99 This is the terrifying new novel by Carrie Ryan that picks up where the second novel left us wanting more. Yet again perfect for readers looking for the next tale of supernatural thrills and dread. Delve into the power of imagination.
Are you a librarian, teacher or purchasing manager? Do you buy books for your business or institution? Waterstones Liverpool offers a comprehensive account sales service. Contact Vic Brazel, Sales Department, Waterstones Liverpool, 14-16 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4DS. Tel: 0151 707 1649
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Archbishop Blanch C E High School
OPEN EVENING Monday, 4 July 2011 at 6 pm
Year 5 pupils - Come and join us! 89% of our pupils gained 5 or more grades A* - C at GCSE in 2010 and an amazing 83% with English and Maths included
Technology College Training School and Applied Learning School â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are one community showing the love of Christ through Friendship, Compassion and Thanksgivingâ&#x20AC;? Mount Vernon Road, Liverpool L7 3EA Contact Jeanette Coppell (Admissions) Tel: 0151 709 1452
Email: admin@blanch.org.uk
Website: www.abblanch.com Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils
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My School Days Katarina Johnson-Thompson – Heptathlete
My School: St Marks Catholic Primary School and Julies Secondary School
St
My Favourite Teacher: I had two really – Mr Coakley and Mr Willis
My Favourite ExtraCurricular Activity: Athletics, Comedy shows, Music gigs and seeing friends Do you remember your first school crush? That would have to be Gareth Gates
My Favourite Subject at School: I loved all the subjects in Year 7, but then it gradually whittled down to P.E. (of course!) and English! Or the 'bring in a toy day' in primary school Were you streetwise or a bit of a geek? I suppose I was a bit of a mix between them both My Favourite Childhood Singer/Band: I remember that I cried when Gareth Gates lost to Will Young in Pop Idol
My Favourite Book: Russell Brands Autobiography(s) School Dinners: I liked the potatoes that are shaped into smiley faces, but I was a packed lunch sort of person My Ambitions at School: I always wanted to be a spy!
Educate Magazine is focusing on the Olympics 2012 and our Olympic hopefuls, this issue we talk to Halewood born heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson from Liverpool who is already World Junior Heptathlon Champion and she has only recently turned 18. Her coach Mike Holmes says that she shows more promise than Jessica Ennis and Dame Kelly Holmes. Katarina is an Ambassador for the Wells Sport Foundation who are also her sponsors. Katarina has been winning heptathlons and individual events within the UK for several years, moving onto the world stage by becoming the World Youth Heptathlon. Katarina’s goal is to make the team for 2012 Olympics. Katarina is confident - barring injuries of Olympic selection which will be announced after the European Championships in September.
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Let’s make some noise The Liverpool Music Support Service have been providing music education in the city for over 40 years. With our expert instrumental and vocal tuition, free instrument loans and a wide variety of exciting performance opportunities, we encourage young people to make music together and, in turn, help to nurture some of the finest young musicians in our city. CLASSES AVAILABLE FROM
September 2011 to July 2012
“The best thing we have done in terms of music provision.” Paul Anderson, Headteacher at Northway Primary School
For further information call 0151 264 6622 or email musicservice@notredame.liverpool.sch.uk
BROUGHT TO YOU BY NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC COLLEGE FOR THE ARTS
LIVERPOOLMUSICSUPPORTSERVICE.COM
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You’ll be in your element Calderstones Specialist Science College has excellent facilities including 15 Science Laboratories, extensive Sports provision, Art rooms and Drama facilities. Our exam results are amongst the best in Liverpool and we always aim to offer each pupil as many opportunities as possible both inside and outside the classroom.
“The school’s true commitment to ensuring that all students have equal opportunities to reach their potential is at the heart of everything it does. Students are known as individuals and feel extremely safe because of the school’s outstanding provision for their care, guidance and support.” OFSTED November 2010
CALDERSTONES SCHOOL A Specialist Science College Harthill Road, Liverpool L18 3HS Tel: 0151 724 2087
For a prospectus call 0151 724 2087 or visit www.calderstones.co.uk