Inclusion award for the City of Peterborough Academy
Published 16/03/21
Staff and pupils at a Peterborough Academy are celebrating after being named a Flagship School by the Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM).
The IQM is a nationally recognised framework designed to guide schools to become educationally inclusive. Inclusive schools are institutions where every young person matters and there are equal opportunities for all pupils regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, attainment or background.
This comes after the Academy was shortlisted for Most Inclusive School at the National SEND Awards last summer.
The Academy became an IQM Inclusive School and an IQM Centre of Excellence in 2018. Since then, the Academy has continued to develop its provisions and services and is now recognised as a Flagship School, one of only 155 in the country.
Ben Pearce, Principal of City of Peterborough Academy, said:
"We are passionate about making sure all our pupils, no matter their circumstances, have the same start in life and have access to everything they need to enter the world as confident and capable young people.
“Inclusivity has been and remains a focus for us at City of Peterborough Academy and being awarded the status as a Flagship School by the Inclusion Quality Mark is a wonderful accomplishment and testament to the hard work of our pupils and staff. I believe we are doing important work to not only improve behaviour in the classroom but build self-esteem and confidence in our pupils so that they know they can go on to fulfil their potential.”
Wayne Norrie, Chief Executive of Greenwood Academies Trust, said:
“I am incredibly proud of the pupils and staff at City of Peterborough Academy. This is a great achievement, and it is so rewarding to see their hard work and commitment to fostering an inclusive learning environment recognised in this way.
“Under the excellent leadership of Principal, Ben Pearce, the Academy has gone from strength to strength with a real passion for and belief in inclusivity permeating through the Academy. Only highly accomplished schools are awarded Flagship School status, so this serves as affirmation and a true mark of excellence for our pupils and staff.”
Todd Johnson, Principal at the Skegness Academy on BBC Radio Lincolnshire
Published 15/03/21
Listen to the Skegness Academy’s principal Todd Johnson on BBC Radio Lincolnshire (12.03.2021), speaking about how the first week of wider school openings has gone.
OCR’s Cambridge Nationals redeveloped suite launch event with Tom Campbell & Jamie Kilner
Published 15/03/21
Last week Tom Campbell (GAT Chief Education Officer) and Jamie Kilner (GAT Senior Education Advisor, Director of Vocational Curriculum) joined the OCR Launch event to discuss the importance of vocational skills, how they impact social mobility and future careers plus how vocational qualifications enhance the curriculum.
The full launch event video can be viewed below and the segment including Tom Cambell and Jamie Kilner starts at about 39:00.
“…as a Trust we place tremendous value on vocational subjects in the curriculum, and we see Cambridge Nationals as an essential tool in our overall careers and employability strategy. We strongly believe pupils should study a range of qualifications and learn in a range of styles to support not only their academic development but also their personal and social development.
Our learners have enjoyed studying the Cambridge Nationals in a range of different subjects; they’ve enjoyed the opportunity to apply learning to the work environment, they’ve responded positively to the range of challenges set out in the assignment briefs and they felt secure in the assessment process having real clarity on expectations and great descriptors.
Our teachers have enjoyed teaching the Cambridge Nationals and the materials are well planned, clear and accessible…” – Tom Campbell
“Our experience of the Cambridge Nationals and the support that we’ve had from OCR has been nothing short of outstanding. The Cambridge Nationals offer a suite of qualifications across a vast array of different subjects. Everything from engineering to health and social care, from sports science to child development […], and all of the qualifications are well resourced, are supported by an effective moderation process and all of the qualifications that we’ve looked at really meet the needs of our learners. We’re really, really happy with the vocational pathway […].
We’ve found that there’s a qualification out there for all learners and the pathway that students can engage upon is really bespoke to them, but also we’ve been able to develop specialisms across our Trust in some of these vocational qualifications, which ultimately raises achievement, raises outcomes, raises confidence of students, reduces teacher workload and creates that real synergy between learning, progress and attainment.” – Jamie Kilner
Schools Minister praises Skegness Academy for going 'above and beyond' to support pupils through pandemic
Published 11/03/21
The headteacher of Skegness Academy says he is looking forward to welcoming the Schools Minister after received praise for the 'extraordinary' support for pupils through the pandemic.
Skegness Academy
Todd Johnson, the Principal of Skegness Academy, was referring to praise awarded to Greenwood Academies Trust by Baroness Berridge, who said she was: "thoroughly impressed by your efforts and very grateful to trusts like yours which are going above and beyond to support those who most need it during these extremely challenging times”.
The Minister wrote to Greenwood’s Chief Executive Officer, Wayne Norrie, following a television news report which focused on the work of Greenwood Academies Trust and its academies in Skegness.
Mr Norrie; Mr Johnson, and Andy Hickinbottom, one of the Trust’s eight education welfare officers in Skegness, were all featured, with Mr Hickinbottom shown visiting pupils’ homes to ensure they and their families are safe and well during lockdown, and able to access online learning.
Throughout the pandemic, the Trust has worked hard to provide pupils at all of its academies, including in Skegness, with devices and internet access, ensuring all pupils can maintain their education.
In total, the Trust has provided laptops to more than 8,000 pupils who would not have been able to access online learning otherwise. This has been achieved by reallocating the Trust’s resources, benefiting from the Department for Education’s laptop scheme and leveraging strong corporate partnerships with Experian, Deloitte, Capital One and DHL.
The Trust has also been working to alleviate the pressures of food poverty, which affects many of their families. This has involved a landmark partnership with FareShare Midlands, providing much needed, and urgent, support to families across Skegness, Peterborough, Corby and Nottingham.
Across these four regions, which have each been severely impacted by the pandemic, the Trust will deliver approximately 20 tonnes of food for 50,000 meals, supporting more than 1,000 children in need, over the eight-week rollout of the programme, which is due to end in April.
Baroness Berridge
Baroness Berridge, who said she plans to visit Skegness Academy after the pandemic and when safe to do so, said in her letter: “I want to thank you for taking the time to highlight the extraordinary work that Greenwood Academies Trust are doing in supporting the most vulnerable pupils and families in Skegness.
"I watched the Sky News video report and was extremely moved by the circumstances of each family in how they are managing the unprecedented challenges brought on by the pandemic.
“I am thoroughly impressed by your efforts and am very grateful to trusts like yours which are going above and beyond to support those who most need it during these extremely challenging times.”
Commenting, Mr Norrie said: “My colleagues across Greenwood Academies Trust go the extra mile and beyond for our pupils and their families every single day and I am very proud of them.
"All the communities we serve mean a huge amount to us and Skegness is no different.
"We hope we are making a difference and will continue to work hard to help change lives for the better."
Mr Johnson added: “Our team is absolutely focused on doing the right thing for all pupils – that is what drives us every day.
"We look forward to welcoming the Minister so that she is able to exercise first-hand what our brilliant staff at all our academies are doing here.”
ABOUT GREENWOOD ACADEMIES TRUST
Many of Greenwood Academies Trust's 37 academies are in areas of deprivation, including Skegness, where it leads six academies.
Of its six schools in the area – Beacon Primary Academy, Ingoldmells Academy (a primary), Skegness Junior Academy and Skegness Infant Academy have now been rated Good by Ofsted. Greenwood and the school’s leaders and teachers have also improved Skegness Academy (a secondary) to Requires Improvement. Greenwood took on its sixth school in Skegness (Seathorne Primary Academy) in September 2019. The school has not yet been inspected by Ofsted.
The Trust is currently developing an initiative whereby its pupils who want to become teachers, are supported with their teacher training fees. Since 2018, Greenwood has paid for five per cent of the training fees of Newly Qualified Teachers if the trainee then teaches in one of its schools – encouraging them to stay in the town.
Early in 2020, Greenwood switched its schools to a two-week October half term to support parents unable to take summer holidays because they work in the local tourism industry, and to reduce absence, and therefore attainment. The change means families and staff will be able to take advantage of more affordable holiday rates during early November when most schools around the country are back in school.
