“Collaboration for Outstanding Achievement” “Collaboration for Outstanding Achievement”

Two October 2014

ALSOINSIDE THIS ISSUE....

HANHAM WOODS JOINS THE CLF

The former Hanham High School has now become part of the largest academy chain in the South West, the Cabot Learning Federation. Renamed Hanham Woods Academy the school joins the federation off the back of an impressive set of exam results.

Hanham will now work in collaboration with the six other secondaries and five primaries that form the CLF. The academy will mark the opening with a range of events in the first week.

Principal Phil Bevan said “As an improving and ambitious school, we are proud to be joining the Cabot Learning Federation. Building on existing strengths, the whole school community have been involved in our academy conversion and we are very excited about how successful the future will be as a CLF Academy.”

Sujata McNab, Interim CEO said, “We welcome Hanham Woods Academy, staff and students to the CLF and we look forward to working with them as we have done so for the last two years. The addition of Hanham Woods Academy to the CLF will strengthen the partnership that already exists and will improve the life chances for all students that attend our academies.”

Begbrook Academy wins national award page 5

BEAUTY & BEAST

BPA EXTENSION

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

“Collaboration for Outstanding Achievement” “Collaboration for Outstanding Achievement”

Bristol teachers Visit Far east

A delegation of teachers from the Cabot Learning Federation went on a fact finding mission to Shanghai’s schools to see how children there have become the best in the world at maths.

The delegation visiting China consisted of Mandy Milsom, Executive Principal of Summerhill and Frome Vale academies, Sally Edwards, Maths Co-ordinator at Begbrook Academy, and Mike Eatwell, Principal of Fishponds Church of England Academy. The study is part of the work of the boolean Maths Hub led by the CLF and Ashley Down primary school.

The party from the CLF spent two weeks visiting a university and school in Shanghai to get a firsthand look at maths classes and teaching methods delivered there.

China’s 15 year olds topped the 2012 international PISA tables for maths, while England was ranked in 26th place. The top 5 were all south east Asian jurisdictions with 15 year olds in Shanghai judged to be 3 years ahead of their peers here in maths.

The delegations findings will be shared with schools through a series of workshops.

Mandy Milsom said, “It was an amazing experience to go to China and work with teachers to discover the key to their maths success. We have made good gains across the federation and our partner schools but the visit highlighted how we can make further progress.”

New Primary Phase At King’s Oak Academy Work has begun on a £3.7 million brand new state of the art two form entry primary phase. The school is being built on the grounds of King's Oak Academy, in order to make provision for the large number of young children requiring primary places.

The school will open to pupils September 2015 and will make King’s Oak Academy a 4-19 academy with children in Year Six being guaranteed a place in Year Seven. This will be the sixth primary academy to join the Cabot Learning Federation which has twelve academies in total in Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and Weston super Mare. This single storey building will incorporate eight classrooms, two halls, a wet room and a library. The academy has been working with architects and quantity surveyors over the last few months to get this project initiated and Bam have been appointed the construction company to undertake this exciting project. Ian Frost, Principal of King’s Oak Academy said, “The partnership with King's Oak Academy and the physical proximity of the new primary is a very exciting opportunity. This will allow students

leadership opportunities to support Reception and Year 4/5 readers, it will also allow teachers and support staff to work across phases or age-ranges, and it will offer a cross-phase school leadership centered around student progress.”

Details of a primary open evening will be on the King’s Oak Academy website after half term.

“Collaboration for Outstanding Achievement” “Collaboration for Outstanding Achievement”

BeaUtY & the BeastA cast and crew of over 60 students from Years 7-9 took part in Bristol Metropolitan Academy’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Students have been rehearsing hard for months to bring this spectacular production to the stage.

This fairy tale is about a selfish prince who gets cursed by a witch. He has to find someone to love him as a beast or he could stay a beast forever. A girl (Belle) is given to him in exchange for her father’s freedom. She is the one to break the spell, and they live happily ever after.

There were four evening performances from Monday 7th July through to Thursday 10th July. The Cabot Learning Federation primaries were also invited to matinee productions of the show.

Meesh Lambert, Expressive Arts Teacher, Head of Performance House and Director of show said, “I am so proud of the effort and enthusiasm the students have put into this amazing production, not only on-stage but backstage too, after all the weeks of hard work it is great to see the production come to life. I would also like to thank other members of staff too numerous to mention who gave their time to help out.”

Battle oFthe BaNDs

The Cabot Learning Federation staged its annual Battle of the Bands competition at King’s Oak Academy. All six secondary academies took part in the competition, Bristol Metropolitan, Bristol Brunel, Hans Price, Bath Community, John Cabot and King’s Oak.

The line-up of acts included ‘Smokin Kills’ and Beth Whiting. The acts performed music from different genres in front of a live audience and the winning act was picked by a panel of judges.

This competition has been set up to showcase the best acts across the federation and the winning act will host the competition next year.

There was a special performance from pupils from Summerhill Academy, also part of the CLF. All proceeds raised during the evening were donated to The Teenage Cancer Trust.

Tim Warren, Team Leader of Performance & Participation, from King’s Oak Academy said, “There was an amazing amount of talent on stage, all the acts were brilliant and did their academies proud. This event is just one of many where federated academies compete against each other.”

“Collaboration for Outstanding Achievement” “Collaboration for Outstanding Achievement”

Bristol rUGBY WorK With hWaThe Bristol Rugby Community Foundation continues to help young people in the local area through its award winning scheme: Bright Sparks. The project, a 38 week placement is now being held at Hanham Woods Academy.

The scheme is working with a group of 16 students and focuses upon students working on team building/trust skills, self-confidence and a reward scheme in return for commitment. The 16 students taking part in the course underwent a rigorous application process.

During the course, participants have the opportunity to attain a variety of education certificates, including the equivalent of three GCSEs through the Open College Network. The students may also have the opportunity to take part in Sports Leaders Award Scheme and Duke of Edinburgh with Bristol Rugby. Through the course students have the opportunity to plan & lead the Super Sunday Match Parade with young rugby players and will attend regular Bristol Rugby matches at Ashton Gate. The highlight of the year will be a visit to Twickenham for the Aviva Premiership final.

The students will also experience educational inputs such as visits to HMP YO Feltham in London, giving them real-life examples of the consequences of poor choices. The participants sign commitment contracts and complete tasks in their personal work folders. Using role-play, debate and strategies to develop behavioural skills the scheme combines the values and ethics of rugby, with the impact and branding of a professional rugby club. Bright Sparks harnesses the cathartic qualities of physical activity, developing team work and real-life skills through the vehicle of sport.

Mrs Jane Thurston, Head of House said, “This course is now three weeks in but already we have seen significant improvement in the students self-confidence and self-belief from attending this course. We would like to thank Bristol Rugby Club for giving us the chance to work with them and I feel sure our students will take a lot from this scheme to improve their life choices.”

BMa BasKetBall ProGraMMe

Bristol Metropolitan Academy has introduced an innovative new programme with the intention of producing professional Basketball players of the future. This programme will also improve students’ behaviour, attendance, punctuality and develop life skills such as higher aspirations and improved self-esteem.

This system is widely used in the USA and Spain to produce professional basketball players and assist young adults in achieving their goals. Bristol Metropolitan Academy is one of only three schools who run this program in England.

Students will be expected to attend three practices per week: one before school starting at 7.00am followed by team breakfast; one after school; and one session where they will be released from other lessons. These sessions for all participants are compulsory. Students will be expected to catch up on missed work and they will be held accountable for this. Engagement with their programme is dependent upon meeting these expectations.

All students will be provided with a brand new basketball kit, basketball academy tie, training kit and warm up shirt. Students will receive expert coaching from Bristol Flyers and Storm Coaches who will take sessions on a regular basis alongside Bristol Met PE staff. An awards evening will be held at the end of the season, where athletes and parents will attend to support excellence within the program.

The programme has created a great deal of media interest. It featured on BBC Points West, BBC Radio Bristol, in the Bristol Post and Academies Week, a national magazine.

Tom Hooper, the leader of this programme and Teacher of PE said, “This is a fantastic chance for our students to get involved in a world class programme. Not only will it produce excellent Basketball players but well-rounded citizens that will benefit our local and wider communities.”

BeGBrooK acaDeMY NeW eXteNsioN

Work on a 3.5 million pound extension and refurbishment to Begbrook Academy has now been completed. The provision of an additional 210 places will increase the overall capacity of the academy to 630 (3 forms of entry) by September 2014.

The requirement for additional primary places in the local area was identified by Bristol City Council prior to the conversion of Begbrook Primary School to Academy in September 2012, when the school joined the Cabot Learning Federation. The Primary expansion works was carried out by Skanska UK Ltd and the reception expansion works by TA Roden Ltd.

The new build includes six junior classrooms, a reception classroom, two group working rooms and one after school club room. The academy kitchen has also been refurbished as part of the major improvements. Duncan Cruickshank, Principal said, “All of our buildings are now of a very high quality and the new builds both fit very well with our other existing buildings. Extra land has been made available by Bristol City Council so our playground and field have been extended and the children will actually have more space to play in.

The building work has been very smooth and has not adversely affected learning. TA Roden and Skanska have been excellent partners in this process. The children have benefitted from site visits, bespoke lessons and assemblies which both building contractors have contributed to.”

BeGBrooK PriMarY WiNsNatioNal aWarD

Begbrook Primary Academy, Bristol, has been rewarded for its outstanding contribution to children's literacy through the Institute of Education’s Reading Recovery programme at a national awards ceremony.

Reading Recovery is an accredited school based literacy programme for the lowest achieving children aged five or six that enables them to reach age-expected levels within 20 weeks. It involves a short series of one-to-one lessons for 30 minutes every day with a specially trained teacher. The programme is different for every child, starting from what the child knows and what he/she needs to learn next. The International Literacy Centre, based at the Institute of Education, is the European home of Reading Recovery.

The school was announced winner of the Reading Recovery School of the Year 2014, ‘Growing professional expertise in literacy throughout the school’ subcategory, at a celebration ceremony which took place at the Institute of Education recently. Karen Winnel, Reading Recovery teacher, said, “We are ecstatic about receiving this award. It celebrates the commitment of every member of staff to ensure that our children become readers for life.” Head teacher, Duncan Cruickshank added, “Children learning to read is at the heart of our work as a school. It is our top priority and I am proud of all my staff and their dedicated work for children’s learning. This award is well deserved.”

olYMPiaN to WorK With Jca stUDeNtsJohn Cabot Academy will this year be running the Sky Living for Sport project. This project is a free secondary schools initiative that uses sport stars and sport skills to boost confidence, increase attainment and improve life skills.

As part of this project, the academy will have its own elite athlete mentor. John Cabot’s mentor will be Craig Figes a Great Britain Water Polo player who competed at the 2012 Olympic Games. Craig will be meeting and working with 15 students from years 7-11 involved in this project throughout the year. There will be a question and answer session where students will have the chance to ask about his experiences of competing in the Olympics and what it takes to become an elite athlete.

Students will also take part in a practical sports session run by Craig and he will also meet and coach John Cabot’s Water Polo team.

The aim of this project is to help students improve their self confidence, self esteem, social skills and attitudes to health and well being through the use of sport. This will be achieved by fully embedding students into the values of Team Cabot Sport and by providing students with opportunities to participate in physical activity sessions at after school clubs. Students will take part in a range of activities throughout the year including a wheelchair Basketball session, culminating in a sports awards dinner where their efforts and achievements will be recognised.

Mr White, the Academy’s Schools Sports Co-ordinator and Mr Darlastan Learning Support Assistant said, “Our students are really looking forward to taking part in this initiative and meeting Olympic star Craig Figes. We feel sure that this project will improve the life chances of our students and will benefit them immensely both now and in the future.”

INSPIRING STUDENTS

Nigel Cooley and Suad Hirad from Bristol Metropolitan Academy took a group of 11 girls to an event at Bristol University entitled ‘Inspiring Women’. Although a long day the girls heard from three great speakers and got to meet Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the first Muslim woman to serve in the Cabinet.

@cabotfederation Cabot Learning Federation

www.cabotlearningfederation.net

stUDeNts learN hoW to BUilD NeW hoMes

Pupils from Wallscourt Farm Academy in Cheswick spent a day learning first-hand how to build a new home, when they were invited to join the construction team at the zoned district centre Mansell Homes development site next to the school. The Reception class children made a visit to the site where 93 apartments, a Co-op supermarket, cafes and restaurants and children’s nursery are being built to create The Square at Cheswick.

Led by Project Manager, Rob Steele, the children were given a safety briefing about the dangers of building sites, were asked to put on their hard hats and high visibility vests and were escorted to the site office, where they learnt about the development. The hands on work began when some of the children took control of the development and delivered ‘Boom out’ and ‘Boom in’ instructions via a set of walkie talkies. With their new found building knowledge, the pupils then set about creating their own structures using a set of construction building toys.

Susie Weaver, Principal at Wallscourt Farm Academy said of the visit:“The children from Wallscourt Farm Academy really enjoyed their visit to the district centre building site. Our curriculum places emphasis on helping our youngest learners think about their community, and to make connections within and beyond school. It was fantastic for the children from Oak Learning Zone to be able to learn all about the changes happening on our doorstop and engage in this real, purposeful and meaningful learning.”

MaJor coMMercial shot at JcaJohn Cabot Academy played host to a production company from Bristol who filmed a new commercial for a major international company. Aspect, an award winning Film Company spent four hours in the gym, in the Cabot Eye shooting the commercial for Samsung. The deal set up by Dean Blake, Communications Manager for the CLF, earned the academy a location fee.

The commercial will be used by Samsung for an internet advertising campaign.

Dean said, “I would like to thank Aspect for choosing John Cabot Academy to shoot this commercial. The revenue the academy earned from this shoot will be reinvested by the Principal of JCA into student rewards.”