The Marches Academy Trust | Spring Newsletter 2023

Hello from our CEO

“Empathy is often taken for granted; people will assume they have empathy as they think they know someone else’sstory.However,formethekeyto empathyis not tomakeanassumption just because you may have had a similar experience. I believe that empathy is truly listening without lettingyourstoryinterrupt.

I watched a scene in a sitcom recently featuring a mother and daughter, where the daughter fully trusted her mum, which allowed her to be able to confide in her. However, the mum’s internal story prevented her from truly listening and so she was not able to give her daughter the support she needed at that moment in time. Truly listening to each other is a skill that takes practice, and I have seen many examples of our school communities taking the Trust value of Empathy very seriously, enabling them to support their communities, children and young people.

Our challenge in the Trust is to ask ourselves if we are truly listening to the voice of our children and young people, our communities and our staff. We are exploring different ways to hear all the voices in our family of schools so that we can provide the best learning environments for everyone.

You will see many examples in this issue of the newsletter of all members of the school community finding ways to do this.

Sarah Finch, CEO

A message from our Chair of Trustees

Our ability to understand how others feel and see the world from their perspective, is key to all social interaction, and one of the most valued traits within any community.

Much of the time we rely on these social skills as second nature, so it is easy to forget that empathy is something that we nurture in our children from their earliest days. From the moment we start interacting with other people we are practising our ability to show and act on our empathy on a daily basis.

Empathy is the cornerstone of tolerance and compassion. It is what makes us care. So, it is vital that we recognise empathy as not just a desirable trait, but an attitude to the wider world that we continue to cultivate, and it is only through regular practice and reflection that we can maintain and develop it. As we get older, social interactions get more complex as we are exposed to a wider cross-section of society, so it is important that we challenge ourselves to use these skills at those times when it seems most difficult.

It is not surprising that empathy is a core value of our Trust, underpinning our ethos of Achievement through Caring. Understanding how other people feel is an important part of growing up, and we encourage everyone within our school communities to think of others and treat them as they would like to be treated themselves. It is also something which we continue to nurture throughout our schools with our Trust-wide initiative on inclusion and belonging. Being part of a community that places importance on trying to understand and accommodate you is key to personal happiness and wellbeing.

While we live in a society that can often seem to ignore the feelings of others, we must remind ourselves that we live in a society which is, in general, more tolerant and compassionate than before, and that to maintain this direction we must work even harder to ensure that empathy is put at the forefront of what we encourage in our children and future generations.

Alex Fry, Member and Chair of the Board of Trustees

Our Vision

AchievementthroughCaring

We celebrate difference in each school, with a curriculum model that is unique to their school context. Our schools support, collaborate, and challenge each other in healthy peer reviews, linking our schools together across the Trust.

We are currently working together to co-construct an education model that builds on our experience as a Multi Academy Trust enabling changes for the better across our schools.

Our Values

Across our family of schools, we pride ourselves on delivering high-quality education and superb pastoral care whilst inspiring our children and young people to achieve their potential and be happy.

We think our children and young people deserve a superb education. Everything we do is designed to deliver that and we encourage them to strive for excellence too.

Integrity

Being truthful, honest and sincere is really important to us. We like to think of it as doing the right thing even when noone is watching!

3 4 5

Empathy

Understanding how other people feel is an important part of growing up. We encourage our children and young people to treat others as they would like to be treated.

Creativity

We want our children and young people to be able to express themselves, whether it’s through art, music, debating, drama or whatever else makes them feel happy and fulfilled.

Equality

Whether you are a student, parent or member of staff, we work hard to make sure everyone is treated fairly and equally.

Newsletter Focus: Empathy in Action

A focus on Empathy

We asked members of the Marches Academy Trust Executive Team what our Trust value of Empathy meanstothemandhowitaddsvaluetotheirrole.

Cavelle Priestley-Bird

ExecutiveDirectorofPeopleandDevelopment

MyroleasExecutiveDirectorofPeopleand Developmentmeanspeoplearecentraltoallaspects ofmywork.TodothisIstrivetounderstandthe needsofourTruststaffindevelopingtalent,staff learningopportunitiesandensuringwevaluethe uniquenessandcelebratethedifferenceofevery individual.IndrivingtheEquality,Diversity,Inclusion &Belonging(EDIB)strategyacrosstheTrust,Iam passionateaboutdevelopingacultureofaninclusive anddiverseworkforce-enablingustodrawupon thewidestpossiblerangeofviews,experiences,and opinions.Itisaprivilegetoworkwithourstaffto showempathyanddevelopempathyinothers.

Alison Pearson

AssociateExecutiveDirectorofEducation

Weshouldalltrytoputourselvesintosomeoneelse’s shoesandimaginewhattheyarefeeling–butbe awarethatthisislikelytobesympathyratherthan empathy,forwecanneverreallyknowhowsomeone elseexperiencestheirlife.Whatwecanandshould doistakethetimetoconsidertheexperienceof othersandhowthisformshowtheyrespondto school,life,andothers.Strivingtobeempatheticis important.Wecanallaimtoactwithempathyinour interactionsandtrytounderstandwheresomeone elseiscomingfromwithoutjudgment.Being empatheticcanbehardandourstudentsneedtobe remindedtoactivelypracticethis.Itisakeyskillin theglobalworldtodayanditisrightthatempathyis oneofourfivevalues.

Carla Whelan

ExecutiveDirectorofEducation

Empathyisoneofourgreatestskills.Initssimplest formitisabouthavingasenseandawarenessof emotions,thatallowsustounderstandwhat someoneisexperiencingandtoreflectbackthat understanding.Inanyleadershiproleit’savitalskill topracticeregularly,helpingfacilitateethicaldecision making,supportingmoraljudgementand strengtheningrelationships.It’simportanttotakethe timetounderstandpeople,toseeabreadthof opinions,seethingsdifferentlyandlistentothose whoholddifferentviews.Formeit’sfundamentally twoparts-cognitiveempathyorperspectivetaking andaffectiveempathyorexperiencesharing.I believeempathyisstayingoutofjudgementand hearingorseeingtheotherperson'sangleorview.It isnotmakingourownnarrativebuttohearothers andunderstandit,thenenablingsupportthat’s purposeful.Practicingthisasaleaderleadstomore effectivecommunication,greatertrust,and collaboration.Behavingwithempathyincreases engagement.

Claire Turner

AssociateExecutiveDirectorofEducation

Wedon’twalkintheshoesofanotherpersonaswe treadourownpaththroughlife.Itisthereforehard totrulyappreciatewhatlifefeelslikeforanother humanbeing.However,withempathywecanstartto imaginewhatanotherperspectiveorpositionmight feellike.Throughstrongcommunicationandthe developmentofemotionalintelligencechildrencan beencouragedtosharetheirviewsandthoughtsand understandingcangrow.Whenwerespondwith empathy,wecanexplorehowwemighthelpor support.Formeempathyisallaboutsharing.Sharing connections,understanding,beliefs,ideas,joyor frustrations.Empathyputsusintouchandkeepsus intouchwitheachother.Itformsthebasisofstrong humanbondsandhelpsustobuildanempowering senseofbelonging.Anorganisationthathighlights empathyasakeyvalueisonethatbelievesinthe powerofequity,celebratinguniquenessandbuilding strongconnections.Onmyvisitstoallofourschools itmakesmeincrediblyproudtoseethislivedout.

The Alliance of Leading Learning

“ Cavelle Priestley-Bird, Executive Director of People and Development

Our conference gave us the opportunity to reflect on the empathy we show to each other and to our children and young people. The central theme of the conference was “inclusivity” and the guest speakers and the following workshops overlapped seamlessly in the exploration of how we embrace all learners and live and breathe 'Achievement through Caring'.

Mark Finnis shared how we can continue to build restorative practices and show empathy across our Trust in a practical and achievable way with our children and young people. Amar Latif epitomised how we should support the uniqueness of every individual. How we should all open ourselves up to new ways of seeing the world. Our workshops, delivered expertly by our “in house” facilitators, focused on how our lessons should be empathetic to the needs of every learner.

Thank you to all staff who attended and who have already begun to embed their learning into their work-based practice – making a difference to the life chances of

staff from across our family of schools came together for the Trust Conference, held at Telford International Centre. An opportunity to share good practice, network, listen to inspirational keynote speakers and access professional learning that drives further improvement in our schools. It also gave our staff time to stop and reflect on the bigger picture, ready to take ideas back into their work-based practice.

Spotlight on Learning: Collaboration Day

Claire Turner, Associate Executive Director of Education

WhatisaCollaborationDay?

A day where schools move learning online for the majority of students, but staff collaborate on ‘strategy’ in schools. The day is for ‘bigger picture thinking’. The Marches Academy Trust's pilot Collaboration Day took place on Friday 17th February 2023.

WhydidwehaveaCollaboration Day?

We needed to bring together key thinkers and leaders from across our schools to develop Trust wide solutions to resolve common issues. We also needed a Collaboration Day to tackle school issues that had arisen during the year that could not be solved through short twilight sessions.

WhatdidstaffworkonduringtheCollaborationDay?

We hosted central sessions where Trust representatives from all schools worked collaboratively. There was an Inclusive Curriculum session hosted by Claire Turner at Grange Primary School, attended by 18 key leaders from across the Trust. A Raising Standards session was held by Alison Pearson at the Alliance of Leading Learning which was attended by all Raising Standards Leaders. There was a Central Team session hosted by Sarah Finch at the Marches School and a training event hosted at The Grove School for ‘Team Teach’. (Team Teach is an inclusive education approach which assists children and young people in managing emotions. It focuses on teaching strategies for deescalation and regulation and supports improved communication, mental health and behaviour for learning in young people). It requires a huge investment in staff training but is having an enormous impact on stability in all of our schools. In addition, each school individually hosted their own collaboration event where teaching assistants, access leaders and teachers worked together on school development priorities.

WilltherebemoreCollaborationDaysinfuture?

We are currently evaluating the feedback and impact from the day before making any further decisions.

WhatwastheimpactoftheCollaborationDay?

Lower Heath CE Primary School

We found that the Collaboration Day helped to improve communication between all staff but particularly teachers and teaching assistants. We felt that it was an important day for teaching assistants to see that their contribution to learning is crucial and to invest in their development alongside teachers. We were able to develop a greater understanding of the SEND Code of Conduct and how that feeds into Quality First Teaching and carefully planned support to reduce the need for interventions and to improve inclusion.

Longlands Primary School

We reviewed our school priorities on Collaboration Day. We decided to make our curriculum approach part of our school development plan and worked on areas we can implement straight away. The impact of the day on our work is that we are;

Focusing on less but more meaningful curriculum content Ensuring all planning decisions are child-centred Reducing the physical busyness of our classroom spaces to develop low-arousal spaces more conducive to good concentration

Tilstock CE Primary School

Everyone is really excited about adopting an enquiry-based learning approach to afternoon sessions. An enquiry-based approach is more hands-on and we want to make the evidence of learning meaningful and personalised for each individual child. We are going to develop 'Enquiry Journals' where children stick in their work/photos of creations, then have a class floor book to show the sequence of learning. The Collaboration Day provided us with the opportunity to work together to plan the vision and roll-out of enquiry-based learning.

1. 2. 3.

Raising Standards Leader Session

That was the best RSL meeting we have ever had, even just being able to be in the same room was amazing.

All Raising Standards Leaders now have a shared, common understanding of what we want to see as the outcome for assessment at KS3. We reached an agreement on the importance of formative assessment in supporting our new assessment systems. The longer-term, permanent impact on behaviours is where most value has been added. There is a common team ethos and true feeling of Trust collaboration. The long-term value in this for the effectiveness of the Trust is massive and could not have been achieved to this level, or quickly in online or short after school meetings.

Inclusive Curriculum Session

Leaders of Teaching Learning and Curriculum have defined the shared principles that need to underpin our ‘Inclusive Curriculum’. Collaboration Day provided an opportunity for us to develop our vision with leaders, rather than imposing the Trust vision on leaders.

'A brilliant day in terms of head space, what will now make the shift is if we can build in more opportunities like this - for all of our staff.'

'Today was a really useful and important day to share ideas and generate a coherent and consistent approach to curriculum design.'

'A brilliant day that allowed headspace and more 'wider thinking' rather than operational. I hope collaboration days continue outside of the regular PD Days as they offer something unique.'

'This has been a really meaningful and powerful experience to fully explore these ideas and issues in depth with a real desire for clarity and consistency in refining the Trust principles. It has also been a pleasure to reflect on prescient issues with a wide range of other excellent professionals from across our schools.'

Our family of schools

Shrewsbury Academy

Julie Johnson, Headteacher

Shrewsbury Academy has demonstrated empathyinseveralwaysoverthepastterm:

Young Carers Award

Research carried out by the Carers Trust and The Children's Society showed that, on average, young carers miss or cut short 48 school days a year and often have lower levels of self-confidence, mental wellbeing and significantly lower educational attainment at GCSE level, because of their caring role. To achieve our Bronze Award, we have demonstrated that we support young carers in many ways, including homework clubs and drop-in sessions with a member of staff who is responsible for this vulnerable group of students. Vital information about how to identify young carers is made available to all school staff, and noticeboards and our school webpage let students and their families know where to go for help. Shrewsbury Academy is the first school in Shropshire to receive this award!

S4T (Something for Tea)

It can be extremely difficult to ask for help at times when it is needed the most. This free and confidential support is open to all students and families at Shrewsbury Academy, with no criteria to access this service. S4T provides a bag of food items to support when required, enough to make something for tea or a meal. The scheme is funded by wonderful donations from members of the local community, businesses, charities, parents and staff and we would not be able to provide without this support. On average S4T supports around 30 students and families each week.

Transition Ambassadors

We have appointed student Transition Ambassadors and as part of this exciting role students will be supporting Mrs Jones and Mrs Everest with all things transition: filming our videos, magazine creation, Year 6 visits, July Transition days and our fantastic Summer School. We are extremely proud of the dedication and positivity these students have demonstrated.

The Marches School

We have been using our empathy thinking about the world of the future - learning about the law, health and environmental issues surrounding Vapes. We have reflected on the amount of lithium being thrown away in disposable vapes each year, (being enough to make 1,200 electric car batteries) and discovered the law around vaping. Safer Internet Day saw us take part in 'Want to talk about it?' where we were encouraged to think about our online experiences and to share these with people around us, including home.

We have been learning about how we learn –metacognition, with time to reflect in our planners and this term looked at the language of learning in our lessons as well as the careers that our subjects lead to with a half term of careers events, talks, visitors and a careers fair. Our Curriculum Inclusivity was our final successful submission for the Rainbow Flag Award showing our commitment to inclusion for all in our school and we are now the proud owners of this full award.

Our production this year – Matilda, was amazing and a sell out with two matinees and three evening performances with principal cast from Year 7 right through to Year 13.

“

It has been a short term, but as usual we have packed a lot in!

Alison Pearson, Headteacher

World Book Day saw a return of the fancy dress and yet again we have been exploring the world with lots of trips including a trip to Thunderball Netball and our second trip abroad this year – the skip trip, where the students were exemplary ambassadors for the school.

As a school, we think of others closer to home and vote to support one local charity each year. This year it is OsNosh – a charity to make use of food waste to feed those in need. This term, Year 10 oversaw the fundraising – raising £700 at their disco night where the students had a blast – it was great to see them having so much fun.

Yet again, we have had sporting success to celebrate together with silverware for the Year 7 cross country team who are county champions, and the girls' rugby team also winning at county level. In the community, we have taken part in the Oswestry Music Festival, bringing home three trophies!

Competition at home with the House competition is going strong with students Climbing the Burj, Ace of cakes decorating competition and the big book topple.

marchesschool.co.uk @MarchesSchool

It’s important to put yourself into someone else’s shoes, you do not know what is going on at home for other people.

Lucy Humphries, Year 8 Marches School student

Sir John Talbot's School

Tim Stonall, Headteacher

At Sir John Talbot’s School we are always thriving to embrace and support the uniqueness of every child. This term students have shown true empathy and compassion towards others. Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) is essential for both staff and students so that they can reach their full potential by raising awareness of the many aspects of diversity and how to promote equality of opportunity.

In January, Miss Webb launched a new and exciting lunchtime club advertised to students with the tag line 'No outsiders, everyone welcome'. During the first few weeks, the group got to know each other and discussed how our school is embracing equality and what can be done to nurture the school community supporting wellbeing.

As a school, we want our staff, students and families to be truly listened to so have created a number of initiatives including our Parent Forum, staff Collaboration Day as well as our students being part of the Trust-wide 'One Voice' group all designed to engage and ensure every

Reflections - Sixth Form visit to Krakow and Auschwitz-Birkenau

Sixth Form students from Sir John Talbot’s School and The Marches School recently travelled to Krakow in Poland to study how people who lived there were affected by the Holocaust. Students learnt about how life changed for people in pre- and postwar Krakow. Visiting the Schindler’s Museum, they saw how normal life was eroded for Jewish people as they were forced to leave their homes and live in the Krakow ghetto, and then, on the clearance of the ghetto they were forced into death camps such as Plaszow and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The stories that were shared at Auschwitz-Birkenau were very moving, especially hearing about the humiliation that prisoners faced daily. The level of abuse made me feel very emotional and I am shocked by the fact that similar abuse is still happening today to some minority groups in various parts of the world.

One of the most important parts of the study tour was a visit to the Galicia Museum to hear the first-hand testimony of Monika Goldwasser, a Holocaust survivor. When Monika was a baby her Jewish parents had to make the heart wrenching decision to give her away to save her life. Her parents knew, as Jews, they would be unlikely to survive the occupation, and shortly after giving Monika away they were rounded up and shot with many other Jewish people, her mother holding a baby doll close to her chest so the Nazi’s wouldn’t realise she did not have Monika with her!

Monika’s incredible story of survival despite the odds stacked against her, moved everyone who listened to her testimony. It also showed how humanity still prevailed despite the most desperate situation that unfolded around people.

Atlanta Hilton, Year 13 Sir John Talbot's School student

The Grove School

As part of our approach to developing our students’ character at The Grove School, we wholeheartedly believe that for our students to have a ‘mind set to succeed’ they must also have a ‘heart ready to feel’. The ability to be able to put ourselves into the shoes of others is one of the largest challenges that anybody can face. Through a joined-up approach to our curriculum that encompasses the important areas of moral, social, spiritual and cultural development, our newly-launched Discovery Curriculum links our students’ experiences of the Daily Discovery form tutor programme, Discovery lessons, drop down Discovery Days, visiting speakers and workshops, and our No Limits festival in July, to help show our students that a school should be about more than just academic success. Here is just a flavour of some of the exciting things that are happening in our school:

Daily Discovery Programme launches

Students follow a range of daily experiences that allow them to focus on developing their empathy skills in a programme that focuses upon character development and addressing the issues that they face within the wider world. Whilst part of this programme asks students to consider their futures, they also have opportunity hear about the experiences of a range of people within our community. Mrs Warrender-Dodds, Associate Assistant Headteacher responsible for Humanities, Discovery and Equality, Diversity and Belonging adds; “Since September our students feel more confident asking questions sensitively and consider the experiences of other people within the school and the wider community. Teachers and students are enjoying having the space to explore and debate key themes from news and their community to help better understand themselves and find their voice.” Year 9 student Ellie, added; “I like the way that the ideas and issues that we are looking at with our Form Tutors link into our Discovery lessons, assemblies and speakers that come in to school. It helps me to feel like I understand some people better and has made me think about how I talk to others.”

EricZorn,anAmericanjournalist, suggeststhat'Empathyisthegreatest virtue.Fromit,allvirtuesflow.Withoutit, allvirtuesareanact.'

Sonia Taylor, Headteacher

Time to Talk

Time to Talk is a national initiative that is held annually through the mental health charity MIND. Following our successful Time to Talk event last academic year, we now host a weekly Time to Talk event which allows members from the whole spectrum of our community to have space to stop, talk and share their experiences. This empathetic approach to community bond-building has become a staple of our school wellbeing strategy and is widely popular amongst our student body.

Mentoring Programme

Grove Connex is a charity set up to support The Grove School’s young people regarding issues that they may experience both inside and outside of school. Our mentors are volunteers who have been trained in elements such as safeguarding, effective mentoring, trauma-informed training and a range of other skills that are enhanced through their life experiences and desire to support the next generation of Market Drayton. This programme has had demonstrable impact upon people’s attitudes to learning, feeling of being involved in the community and has acted as a real advocate for our students. KS3 student James, fed back; “This is a really valuable experience for me as it gives me time to be me. I love working with my mentor Richard because he just listens to me and is on my side.”

Drama performances that showcase empathy

In GCSE Drama, students have been tasked with devising a piece of theatre that has a clear message. Fenella Middleton; "My group is devising a performance with the message that the world is lacking empathy for women. It is based around the main character Jane Doe (named to represent all women) who is based in Texas and becomes pregnant. Because of where she lives, she is not able to have an abortion due to Texas being one of the many states in America that have banned legal abortions. Most characters in our performance show a lack of empathy and respect towards Jane, symbolizing the experiences of many women within the real world. Without support, Jane becomes unwell and ill-prepared for keeping her child, with he play ending when a doctor appears on stage after Jane goes into labour. The doctor says to her friends, and the audience, that he is so sorry –implying the death of Jane, the baby, or both. Empathy is important in the world as it shows the ability to relate to and sympathise with others. It also conveys respect for the person, as you are willing to listen to them and perhaps even help. These are the issues that we wanted to explore as part of our performance as we consider the experiences that many people are facing throughout the world.”

grove-school.co.uk

@GroveSchoolShropshire

Woodlands School

Julia Taylor, Headteacher

This term has been a particularly busy one for everyone here atWoodlands.

One of the things that really stood out for me is how our school has changed and feels more like a big family. Children and young people who have previously experienced school anxiety that has made them feel quite poorly have come to Woodlands and felt that they can enjoy school for the first time. This makes me really proud. Our young people have demonstrated that they feel included and that they want new students to feel the same way. At lunch during our recent trip to Love2Stay, one of our students was sitting alone but was quickly brought into a group by a young man who noticed him and went to ask him to come and join in his group. These are things that our young people often find difficult to do and I love how this is becoming much more common. Learning how to interact with others socially is something we need to teach, like any other thing we teach in school. In fact, it is some of the most important learning we do and I’m really glad we are seeing the difference happening in school.

As part of our 'What does it mean to be healthy' PSHE curriculum, we have been talking about our social and physical environment and how it can impact on our wellbeing. We discussed empathy and our school's history, in looking at how Woodlands benefits students now, and how Woodlands - then known as Trench Hall, was a safe haven for vulnerable students in the past. The first school on this site was opened for children fleeing Nazi Germany. Students have been thinking about what it would have been like to have lived here at Woodlands, so far away from their homes and families, and so uncertain of what their future holds. It has been a real experience of trying to understand how others might feel and attempting to put themselves in the shoes of others. As part of our discussion, I asked Millie and Kieran, who are both in Year 9, how they would have felt to have been a student here during WWII. Kieran said he would feel; “Upset, scared and confused being so far from home and family” - Millie said that she didn’t really know how she would feel because it is impossible to know how you would feel unless you are in that situation yourself, you can only guess. I think this is a really important part of understanding empathy; you can only try and appreciate how another person feels and shouldn’t expect that everyone would feel the same as you.

Some of our Year 10 and 11 students have visited St Peter's Primary School in Wem to run a football coaching session with a group of Year 5s. The session was really successful and gave students the opportunity to develop their skills in leadership. Our young people showed real maturity and demonstrated effective communication and organisation skills throughout the afternoon. Students had to think really carefully about how they encourage children who are only just gaining the skills they are helping them to develop, remembering what it is like to learn something new that you aren’t very good at to start off with!

Connectwithustofindoutmore

Grange Primary School

We started the year with a visit from a pantomime company who performed their take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It was very funny and the students really got involved – oh yes they did!

Classes have all taken part in national initiatives such as Safer Internet Day, World Book Day and NSPCC Number Day. It was lovely that so many of our children already knew about the work that the NSPCC does in supporting children. Sophia in Year 6 commented; “It’s good that everyone wants to help children who are less fortunate than us."

Jason Bevan, goalkeeper for Shrewsbury Town came to see us and after his assembly visited all the classes for pictures, autographs and questions they’d forgotten to ask. He commented how much he had enjoyed his visit and how well behaved and polite the children were. He is happy to come back and hopefully will bring some other members of the team!

Year 6 have been gearing up for their SATs, which take place in May, with many members of the class either attending booster sessions before school, or after, or both! Well done and keep up the hard work. Other year groups have been attending after school sessions too, which include boxing, dodgeball and one evening we all stayed to read and drink hot chocolate.

Well done to those children who took part in Bikeability, the Trust's Dance Festival, Trust Tennis Competition and the Trust's One Voice Day. At all these externally led events the organisers commented on how well Grangers performed.

Thank you to everyone; parents and children, for another positive and eventful term. It really is teamwork and we couldn’t do it without everyone doing their part.

It has been a busy, fun and productive springtermatGrangePrimarySchool.

Charlotte Summers, Headteacher

Lower Heath CE Primary School

Our topic launch days continue to inspire children with their learning. Children and adults came to school dressed as animals, polar explorers, ‘Les Francais’ and astronauts and took part in a variety of exciting activities. We had cheese tasting, flag waving and a replica solar system. Kingfisher Class even had a visit from a real life polar explorer – they had so many questions for him!

Robin Class have been out and about enjoying nature, learning about St David’s Day and other celebrations. This is an important aspect of children’s learning; understanding and respecting different religions and cultures. Children continue to enjoy their ‘Welly Wednesdays’ foraging for new plants and creatures in our Forest School.

The animal theme continued in Skylark Class where their science learning was all about animals and their habitats. A visit from Simon Airey, aka ‘The Animal Man’ allowed the children to meet real life creepy crawlies, snakes and lizards as well as the super-cute chinchilla! We were so impressed with those children who went out of their comfort zone to touch and hold creatures they were unsure about. A very memorable experience for children and adults alike.

“

We love the spring term at Lower Heath! We say goodbye to the cold, harsh winter and look forward to fresh air, venturing out into nature, enjoying the newlifeandvibrantcoloursthatemerge.

Helen Reynolds, Headteacher

The whole school celebrated World Book Day in style! The purpose of WBD is to change lives through a love of reading. The ethos of the charity is to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, own their own books and it is celebrated in over 100 countries in the world. It is a time to appreciate how lucky we are to experience the wonder of books!

Owl Class packed their suitcases and headed off to the Pioneer Centre for their two night residential. These are great opportunities for children to develop resilience and fellowship and become a little more grown-up, having spent time away from their families. They took part in some challenging activities including abseiling, climbing and orienteering, supporting each other to do their best and overcome fears. When they return to school, there is always a closer bonds within the group.

Owl and Skylark Classes have had a similar theme this term, learning about space. Owl produced some fabulous artwork using space imagery as inspiration to produce textured printing plates. Skylark were on a mission to the moon and designed and made their own moon buggies!

A great spring term!

Visit:

We show empathy in our school by being kind to others.

Enid, Year 2 Lower Heath CE Primary School

Longlands Primary School

The start of spring is always a wonderful time as the sun starts to shine, flowers and trees burst into life again and the children at Longlands have enjoyed spotting these signs of spring in our allotment and outdoors during their outdoor learning sessions. We are currently extending our allotment so that each class has their own planting bed where they will be able to plant their vegetable and flower seeds and watch to see how these grow.

The farm in our outdoor learning space is an excellent way for children to develop their empathy through respecting the needs of animals. The children show an understanding of our animals' feelings of needing attention, love, food and companionship. By being able to tune into animals' feelings, they are able to develop their empathy towards other people as well.

Empathy has been at the heart of many of the activities the children at Longlands Primary School have taken part in this term.

Lisa Millington, Headteacher

Staff, children and parents have been helping to review our vision and values this term and, as I walk around school, I am always delighted to see the values being explored in lessons but also in the day-to-day interactions between everyone in school. In EYFS, the children learn empathy through their interactions when playing and during their Child Initiated Learning. In Nursery, they have made a feelings tree and the children added a card to the tree of how they were feeling. They talked about ways to help each other if they were feeling sad. Ideas included be their friend, sit next to them, use kind hands and share toys.

In other classes, the children have been exploring empathy through their reading. Older children have been working as reading buddies with younger children each day by listening to them as expert readers and by building their confidence and resilience. The children have also been using empathy when they have been exploring the No Outsiders books such as the Year 6 book, The Only Way Is Badger. One of the other stories that has been shared is ‘Frog and the Stranger’ where the children discussed how it might feel to arrive somewhere and be the new person. They thought about not making assumptions about people or being swayed by a crowd to form opinions.

Connectwithustofindoutmore aboutourschoolandnursery!

Visit: longlandsprimaryschool.co.uk

@LonglandsPrimarySchool

Tilstock CE Primary School

Understanding emotions and big feelings

At Tilstock we use The Zones of Regulation to help children understand those big feelings. This programme aims to help children notice the emotion they are feeling and then regulate themselves if they are feeling uncomfortable. The children explore the zones and learn to be able to identify which zone they are in. This is supported by all staff who wear zone cards attached to their lanyards. Sometimes children can’t or don’t want to name the emotion they feel or experience, but they can identify which zone they are in.

Children also learn that their feelings and emotions can lead to expected and unexpected behaviours and that those behaviours can have an impact on the children and adults around them, i.e., if you are in the red zone and yelling at your friend it is unlikely that your friend will be in the green zone. We also may scale the problem with the children. Does the size of the reaction match the problem? i.e., is this really a yellow zones problem or is it more like a green zone problem? Once children understand the concept of the zones, they will explore ways to help regulate themselves with the support of sensory devices and calming techniques. We want to help all children recognise when they are beginning to feel uncomfortable in the yellow zone and have a toolbox of ideas to help them regulate themselves.

In the EYFS we use a book called ‘The Colour Monster’ - this helps our younger children understand their emotion and how to self-regulate and leads into our use of the Zones of Regulation in later Key Stages.

“

Empathy: The ability to understand others and to share the feelings of another.

Rowena Kaminski, Headteacher

Understanding other religions

The principal aim of Religious Education is to explore what people believe and what difference this makes to how they live. At Tilstock we want children to experience and understand different religions so they develop understanding for other people’s beliefs. This term, the children in KS2 had a great time learning about the Hindu festival called 'Holi' or ‘Festival of Colour’. The children listened to stories celebrated during the festival, then had the opportunity to act these stories out. They also tried lots of foods eaten during this festival, which was a delight for the senses. Finally, they went onto the school field and covered each other in powder paint to honor the ‘Festival of Colour’. This was a fantastic opportunity for children to immerse themselves into their learning even further as well as learning more about how to be respectful of different religions and beliefs.

Our curriculum developments

At Tilstock our curriculum is rooted in understanding each and every child, their individual needs and interests. Our Early Years curriculum thoroughly embeds this ethos, ensuring that we observe carefully, ‘plan in the moment’ and draw out key themes through deep discussion in our staff team. As such we were delighted to receive the Quality Mark for Early Years, which stated in its summary that ‘Staff are well trained and professional with an excellent understanding of how children learn and develop. The learning environment is quiet, calm and provides well-resourced inside and outside spaces in which

and child-initiated learning. This was a key focus on our Collaboration Day, and staff explored key think pieces led by current educational research on how this

Year groups now have termly ‘Key Knowledge Organisers’ to ensure that children, parents and staff are all up to date on the key pieces of knowledge they will be learning this term. These have been helpful in lessons to develop independent learning skills in class and also for parents supporting their child at home. This way of working is now visible in classes, and in the way children are working collaboratively on subjects - we are very excited about how far our curriculum could take us!

Oakmeadow CE Primary School

At Oakmeadow, we are very proud of our children, our staff and to be a part of our local community of Bayston Hill. Being a large primary and nursery school, we are lucky to spend our days with a diverse mixture of children and adults, all wonderful and unique. The statement above forms the basis of our beliefs and helps shape our vision. We work hard to promote empathy and support the understanding of each other and our differences.

We feel it is very important to promote an understanding of other faiths and cultures through our curriculum and enrichment offer. As part of their Religious Education, Year 4 visited Shrewsbury Muslim Centre this term. The centre was incredibly welcoming and the children enjoyed learning more about Muslim beliefs and practice.

At school we have adopted the ‘Children’s Health Project’ which is an ongoing piece of work we are doing with the children to enhance their understanding of being physically and mentally healthy and in understanding and helping each other to achieve this. This term we have decided to focus on the pillar of healthy eating and nutrition. Each fortnight the children have had a food-related focus linked to one of the foundation subjects that makes up our holistic approach to wellbeing. To aid an understanding of unique beliefs, part of this was a week on Food and Faith.

'Children, like the rest of us, are confoundingly and beautifully unique'

Fran Morgan, Square Pegs, 2023

Samantha Hill, Headteacher

We are keen to help children work with different members of the community to develop their empathy and relationships with wider groups and show them how they can support agendas important to them. Through working with the Bayston Hill Big Green Week committee, we have signed up to be a part of the SchoolCycled recycling initiative for schools. This is a scheme designed to educate children about recycling, fragile ecosystems and sustainability. We have had some bins delivered in order to collect plastic bottle tops. And we are very much looking forward to being involved with members of the local community during the next Big Green Week.

Fundraising is a fundamental part of how we promote courageous advocacy and an understanding of those in different circumstances to their own. Some of our Year 6 children approached the leadership team before Christmas about supporting an appeal which involves collecting warm clothing so that this can be sent to those in need in Ukraine. As a result this term we have had a huge amount of coats, scarves, gloves or hats donated and sent. We have also supported Comic Relief this term and children had a great day in their pyjamas to raise money!

For World Book Day, one of the favourite activities of the children was ‘All Change’ where we rang the school bell and children moved to different classes to read with children in other year groups. It was lovely to see them working together and learning from each other. We look forward to doing more of this in the future.

Connectwithustofindoutmore aboutourschoolandnursery!

Visit: oakmeadowprimary.co.uk @oakmeadowceschool

marchesacademytrust.co.uk