Educate Issue 16

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Educate educatemagazine.com

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The Magazine for Parents and Pupils January – April 2012

Brimming with bright ideas

N ACA EW BUI DEMY LD OPE ING NI

EAR N LY 2 G 013

Educating the future entrepreneurs

Enterprise South Liverpool Academy A joint Catholic/Church of England Academy

INSIDE Olympic expectations Inspiring students in 2012

+ Fashion All shades orange

Spotlight Digital learning

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Educate Contents Features

94

05-07

My School Days David Alui

Enterprising Ideas Developing business acumen

20-21 Meet the Headteacher Dr Simon Hulme, St Michael’s Church of England School, Crosby

28-31 Going for Gold Focus group roundtable

47-50 Technology in the school Digital learning

Primary News

Pupils piece it together

14-17 Slow down around schools

Secondary News 23-26 Action packed fundraising

34-38 The stark reality

62 Dear Educate Help and advice

64-67 School Eco Warriors Schools do their bit for the environment

Events 69 Highly charged

70-71 Putting on a show

72-73 Christmas Story

75 84-85

Bugsy Malone hit

Fashion Orange Crush

77

89 Viewpoint

91 Book Review

92-93 Where can we go?

Welcome to the latest issue of Educate where our round table panel discuss the London Olympics 2012 and the spin-off benefits and the expectations for the events this year.

09-12

60-61 Meet the Headteacher Patrick Ferguson, De La Salle Academy, Croxteth

Welcome...

We also look at whether TV shows like Junior Apprentice and Dragon’s Den indicate a growing trend for our young people to develop business acumen and creativity.

We have all the latest school news from primary to secondary, showcasing schools, teachers and students achievements, talents and events.

Educate meets up with headteachers, Dr Simon Hulme whose school, St Michael’s Church of England School, Crosby, has been transformed by introducing cutting edge equipment. We also chat to Patrick Ferguson of De La Salle Academy who celebrates 10 years as a Principal.

From a ripe tangerine to construction cone orange we look at everything orange for spring and summer fashion.

Finally, we interview Mersey Tiger captain, David Aliu as he remembers his school days.

Many thanks

Life behind the curtain

79 Cultural festival

81 Resonate studios

83 Asian adventures

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.

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

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‘Pupils on free school meals and those with SEN/Disabilities make excpetional progress’.

‘The school is committed to an equal chance for every boy and girl’.

Ofsted

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Enterprising Ideas With TV reality shows like Junior Apprentice and Dragons’ Den indicating a growing trend for young people to develop business acumen and creativity, our region’s schools and young people are proving no exception. From a world first at Liverpool Arena to specialist training and investment taking place in our area to local success stories, Educate has found that this trend is set to grow – generating exciting prospects for young people and their communities.

2012 will see the first global Festival of Entrepreneurship take place in Liverpool, with 118 countries represented and policy-makers, entrepreneurs, inventors and economists visiting the city. The event follows congresses which took place in Kansas, Dubai and Shanghai (2011), more evidence of Liverpool’s place within global business. The event promises to get visitors learning new skills as well as being inspired by the speakers, and taking opportunities to network. With a number of local schools already involved, the value of enterprise to education and to the future for our region’s young people is certain. Where this event promises to foster ‘a new era of business creation and economic growth’ for all who attend, it is not surprising that our city should become the focus for this innovative conference and the rewards to be gained.

Perhaps it’s all in the name. Enterprise South Liverpool Academy (ESLA) opened as an academy in 2010, and is now in the second year of delivering an education which focuses on

academic qualifications and vocational experience, under lead sponsor Enterprise, and The University of Liverpool, Liverpool Council, the Diocese and Archdioceses of Liverpool.

Principal Jack Pendlebury sees the academy’s success as forming three clear strands; focusing on enterprise and business as a specialism across the school, in teaching languages for business to students, and concentrating on a high level of academic achievement. The academy has been awarded the kitemark National Standard for Enterprise Education and the ICE Award for Investing in Community Engagement. Full day sessions such as the ‘Creating Futures’ day of workshops for Year 7 students, take place to raise students’ aspirations at a young age; placing their future academic achievement into context. In Year 8, students attend an ‘Enterprising Minds’ full day conference where they explore thinking skills and learning to learn skills by working in groups and creating and delivering presentations which explore their new ideas. These new skills are

then transferred across the curriculum.

International connections for the students and the school are taken seriously, with mutual benefits. ESLA takes part in the Comenius Project, where staff develop skills and joint projects with Swedish school staff, and students and staff have the opportunity to travel and explore new ideas across the continent. The eagerness to embrace different cultures has also seen a partnership forged with the Confucius Centre at the University of Liverpool, where Key Stage Three students are learning Mandarin for business - alongside NVQ courses in Spanish and French for business. Mr Pendlebury does not believe in an artificial distinction drawn between academic and practical subjects, and finds such distinctions damaging. He said, “I’m a strong believer that academic and vocational talents have to go together. Science, commerce and engineering require people with talent and passion – and an understanding of the real world. All of our students will one day become employers or employees, so we need to equip

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them with all of the appropriate skills which they’ll need. Whilst there are aspects of the academy’s community links and projects which will employ the skills of our more practically minded students, we will need to involve our very best academics on the business front; in problem-solving and in presenting for example.

Literacy, numeracy and ICT skills are fundamental to business, and we’ll continue to be developing those in our students right across the curriculum.”

As ESLA is set to open a brand new building in 2013, we can expect to see the academy take its mission up a notch. The futuristic £24m building will certainly be a distinctive landmark in Garston. Mr Pendlebury adds, “Our aim is to offer an outward facing curriculum, related to the students’ own lives. I want them to see the purpose of their studies and the link to real life, whilst at the same time offering them a learning experience. We’ll be opening a series of units or pods, where students will set up and run a hairdressing salon, a coffee shop and a nursery on site for the local community. To do this, the students will be working with experts in these fields, delivering industry standard services.”

The school’s new facilities will be matched by none. Mr Pendlebury added, “A state of the art conference facility will also be available to book for external agencies, and we are fortunate to have eight acres of open land which will be landscaped for a Learning Park based on Scandinavian models. The facilities there will include growing areas for food which will be produced and marketed, beekeeping facilities and spaces for students of languages, science and music to work in various capacities”. A new era of independent learning is set to dawn.

At the March Global Enterprise Congress at the Liverpool ACC, part of the global festival of entrepreneurship, groups of pupils from schools across the city will present their business ideas, with a record of their growth and success so far, to the panel in the semi-final of the competition.

Among the schools who entered the first round of the competition were students from the Blue Coat School in Wavertree. Andrea Rimmer, enterprise and business studies teacher at The Bluecoat School in Liverpool, commented, “I’m delighted for our students who have worked so hard to get this far in the competition. They have worked with pupils from different year groups, knowing that they needed something innovative, creative, sustainable and eco-friendly in order to stand out. The Plant-It-Blue business grows plants, creates eco-friendly arrangements and produces compost for sale to staff, students and parents, with the profits reinvested into the

“Our aim is to offer an outward facing curriculum, related to the students’ own lives".

Jack Pendlebury Principal of Enterprise South Liverpool Academy (ESLA) business and a portion donated to local charities. Our school representatives include two pupils from Year 9, two from Year 10, and two from Year 12 – but in fact, they’ve got the whole school community excited and involved in the process.”

The Blue Coat pupils will be competing with a number of other local schools at the semi-final, where students will also benefit from inspiring talks and presentations to guide the development of their projects. At Broadgreen International School, a group of Year 10 students and sixth form students have created a business idea which continues the school’s legacy of working with the elderly in the community.

The ‘Silver Surfer Social’ events which pupils delivered to local residents have so far included a Christmas party and a tea dance will soon follow, along with DVD and book swaps, ICT training, and a long list of events designed to inform and entertain. Sonia Cross, PSHE and enterprise co-ordinator, commented, “We are absolutely delighted with what the students have achieved so far, with minimal funding, and their business idea has really gone down well with the local community. 23 secondary schools have taken part in the competition so far, which shows the sort of impact it’s having, and our students are excited about what the conference will be able to offer them.” In the first round of

the competition, schools had to present their ideas to a Dragons’ Den style panel at Liverpool Football Club. At the end of January, schools will be presenting to a panel from Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, and to the pupils of other schools. Sonia commented, “To reach the semi-finals, the pupils need to first of all address a much bigger audience than they’ve been used to, and they’ll need to be able to speak knowledgeably – not just about their ideas but about the results they’ve had so far, and predictions for the growth of the business.”

Five secondary schools and five primary schools will then be chosen to enter the third stage of the competition in March, with the chance to win access to a mentor from the business community and a trip to Washington.

The opportunities provided by success speak for themselves; success generates success.

While many in the public eye are keen to remind school-leavers that almost half of new businesses fail within the first five years, it’s all the more important for school-leavers to have practised and refined their enterprise skills before they enter the working world and leave behind the valuable support networks created by schools and competitions. Before Christmas, Year 9 pupils at ESLA competed for the opportunity to ‘Be the Boss’ at Mersey Shopping Park, and spent the day working in roles at the top of the operation – at one of the busiest times for retail. Pupils created an application for the role and were interviewed before being selected. Winners Carl, Nathan and Lauren impressed the panel with their interview performance. Nicola Runcie, strategic director for enterprise and business, commented, “The competition gave pupils a taste of what it’s really like to apply for a job and be grilled at interview. They had to give three reasons why they should be chosen, and present themselves in front of the centre manager and his deputy.”

Pupils in Year 12 are also currently competing for the opportunity to spend two weeks at Rathbones PLC (wealth investment management services) in the Port of Liverpool building on the city’s UNESCO world heritage site, waterfront location. Working in the financial services sector is renowned for being demanding, and pupils have been warned they need to forget about their concept of set tasks and working hours and taking scheduled breaks. Instead, the experience will be all about seeing the varying demands of the real job, the challenges and excitement, as well as the more routine

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nature of some of the work. Nicola added, “It’s the second year the project has run, with last year’s students now finishing their A Levels before applying to universities. Rathbones has encouraged all students to apply, no matter what courses they’re taking, so there can be a real mix. Up to eight students will attend the programme. Last year’s cohort saw Matthew, now head boy, and Helen, now deputy head girl, get involved and really make the most of the opportunities offered. I also say to pupils that, even if they find the corporate experience isn’t for them, and they’re guided towards another career, then they’ve been fortunate to find out aged 16 or 17, rather than further down the line.

The benefits of taking part in something like this are immense.”

The economic downturn over recent months created an opening which enterprise education provider RDPO Enterprises has used to train up and encourage young people to start thinking about their own careers. With a background in retail, Rob Owens and his team use industry knowledge and expertise to run a series of workshops and programmes in conjunction with local schools and the curriculum, to develop business skills and thinking in young people.

The company delivers enterprise projects with staff teaching business and related subjects, and equips them with the structures to develop enterprise education at the relevant levels for primary and secondary children, as well as in further education. RDPO offers full week events, or one-day events over a number of weeks, to schools and colleges across the north-west, working with young people to set up and run new businesses and enterprises and develop their skills and creativity. “Depending on the age range of the pupils, we differentiate our projects accordingly. One format we use is to work with pupils to create a brochure of products or services, working to a budget, which they then market and sell at a Trade Day in the school.

They learn about manufacturing, costs, prices, revenue and profits, at the same time as developing a profile and relationship with parents, and the wider community.”

These products may range from anything like biscuits, Christmas cards to calendars and t-shirts, with budgets from £20 to a few hundred pounds. Aside from the practical, hands-on activities, the projects are also designed to inspire young people to reflect on economic wellbeing. For a generation of parents who seem to be spending more and more of their income on their children, this approach is designed to teach children the relationship between a working life and material goods. Rob says, “We

work with Lloyds TSB personnel, who speak to children about the world of work and salaries to develop their financial awareness.” Success stories include profitmaking school shops and recognized qualifications for schools running the projects and awarded the status Enterprise Centre of Excellence. RDPO is also set to begin delivering QCS Level 2 Qualifications within its remit of projects to develop key skills in pupils working towards vocational qualifications. “Whether we come into schools for a one day project, for a number of weeks, or to run an off-timetable week of activities, our goal is the same. If more young people can develop their skills and their confidence in business now and for the future, then we’ll have made a lasting difference to the world of business.” When it comes to thinking big, Rob does not disparage the reality TV which inspires young people to start up on their own. He added, “Programmes like Dragons’ Den are great because they get people interested in business, and show them the skills needed to succeed. Rob’s final words of advice? “Don’t be

“Programmes like Dragons’ Den are great because they get people interested in business, and show them the skills needed to succeed".

Rob Owens RDPO Enterprises

afraid to go for it,” he says. “Business success is about having the confidence to go with your ideas, and the resilience to adapt them to the market.”

David Craggs from Birkdale High School is using his time outside of school to continue his enterprising business ideas. Now 15, David took part in the ‘Make Your Mark With a Tenner’ enterprise competition three years ago, where pupils were given £10 and told to turn it into a business, returning their £10 at the end of the month. David says, “Using one of my mum’s recipe books, I made some basic chocolates to sell to pupils at two local schools, and made £174 profit. We were able to keep the profits, and I used them to buy a games console.”

David wanted to capitalize on the momentum, however, as the Chocolate Wizard idea had proven to be so popular. “I asked my parents if it was OK with them for me to keep the idea going, and they agreed as long as I did it properly. As a present for my 14th birthday, I attended a chocolate training course in Liverpool to make filled chocolates, and I spent time at home experimenting with different recipes. My dad is a food scientist, so he knew what we’d need to do to follow all of the industry processes. We were concerned about the complications of becoming properly registered and insured, but I’ve actually had five stars from the environmental health department.” David now spends many weekends at local farmers’ markets selling his produce, which can also be bought online at www.chocolatewizard.co.uk. He added, “I designed the packaging on a home computer, and the marketing has really been down to word of mouth so far.” At school, David is studying history, geography, maths, physics, chemistry, English, French and, after he finishes his GCSES, plans to go on to study for an engineering degree, whilst making time to continue his business. “It’s taught me a number of skills, and not just related to cooking. I’d say that a project like this gives you a much better idea of how the world works. It has been challenging at times because you have to sort out all kinds of practical details, and it’s not always fun standing in the cold or the rain at the markets; you get to see what real jobs can be like. It’s definitely made me more confident, and I’d say to other pupils that if you’ve got an idea you should pursue it – it could turn out to be a brilliant one.” David will be selling his chocolates at Southport farmers’ market every month, at Fir Tree Farm in Rainford at the end of January, and at the Southport Food and Drink Festival in May.

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Primary News

Pupils piece it together Hillsborough artwork unveiled Pupils from All Saints RC Primary School in Anfield have created a unique piece of artwork to remember victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

The project was a unique collaboration between Hillsborough Family Support Group, COBRA residents association, Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs and Liverpool JMU art and design department.

A total of 96 pupils have been involved in the project, which has seen them create jigsaw pieces to be assembled as a larger work.

Each one depicts either a message or vision of football, laser etched into wood.

The aim is to re-educate a new generation about the tragic events of 1989 and also to get a fresh perspective on the notion of respect in sportsmanship.

The artwork will be initially sited on the corner of Bala Street and Oakfield Road before touring the city.

The artwork was unveiled by Lord Mayor Frank Prendergast, who was assisted by ex footballers Graeme Sharp and Phil Neal, Margaret Aspinall from Hillsborough Family Support Group, pupils and other community representatives

The artwork is unveiled by Graeme Sharp, Phil Neal and Year 6 pupils Ricci Kearns and Vincent Valerio

Just for the love of reading!

Children at Bedford Primary in Bootle are participating in a series of exciting school projects aimed at encouraging and celebrating a love of reading.

Over the past few weeks classrooms and resource areas have been buzzing with children who have been busy creating special and inspiring places to encourage reading for pleasure.

Given a class budget from the Headteacher children set about designing and making special spaces within or outside their classrooms, which would provide places for children to read, discuss and share books.

The children were all involved in planning and creating the reading spaces from start to finish with the results wowing everyone.

Year 4 chose an underwater

The Year 3 forest theme theme designed to be an area of calm and relaxation in which children could escape to.

Year 3 opted for a forest theme with pre-recorded

music of birds and forest animals playing softly in the background.

A book about a lost island has inspired Year 5 and Year 2 had a wonderful 'garden'

theme. The winning reading space designed by Year 1 featured a storyteller’s chair and storyteller's hat.

The space was chosen because children clearly enjoyed sitting on the chair and using specially provided story sacks to tell stories to their friends.

Mrs Taylor, Assistant Headteacher says of the reading initiative: “It goes without saying that reading, particularly a love of reading is really important for children.

“We have made a point of celebrating reading by choosing 2012 as being Bedford’s Year of Reading, as well as the reading corners we are planning lots of other inspiring activities including: reading workshops for parents, visits from authors, storyteller sessions, narrative weeks and regular visits to our local libraries”.

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Primary News

Teacher takes a bow Patricia retires after 38 years at school The first person in Knowsley to get the Government’s Excellent Teacher status is retiring after four decades in the same school.

Patricia Holden, from Huyton, has taught around 1500 children in 38 years at Prescot Primary in Maryville Road.

The 60-year-old has taught all ages and was twice described by Ofsted inspectors as “more than outstanding”.

She is leaving to spend more time on holidays with her husband and looking after her brother who’s recovering from a serious illness.

“She has passion, drive and relentless energy,” said Catherine Fairhurst, head teacher at Prescot Primary.

“She’s a natural, but also very hardworking. There’s never been a day when she hasn’t given 100 per cent.

“She believes in every child and their ability to achieve. But adults can learn from her as well – she’s such a good role model and very good at developing other people’s skills.”

Patricia started teaching at Prescot in 1973, one year before the borough of Knowsley was created.

“It was Division 16 Lancashire in those days,” said Patricia.

“I was teaching when Knowsley was formed so no-one can claim they have

Prescot primary teacher Patricia Holden taught here longer than me!

“It doesn’t feel real to be leaving – I’ll really miss the children and the staff.

We’re like a family.”

Patricia is also hoping to continue her life long interest in history in retirement.

She said: “When my brother was ill

recently, I realised there’s still a lot of other things I want to do with my life.

“I’d like to go to night school, have holidays and spend more time with my brother. But I’ll always come back to visit – after 38 years here I won’t be able to stay away.”

Award winning pupils shine

Radio Merseyside’s Sean Styles with pupils at St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary 10

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

School children in Sefton recently had their voices heard all the way to the North West Employers Awards.

Close on the heels of a ‘Recognising Diversity’ prize at the North West Employers Awards, ‘Different But The Same’ was also showcased on BBC Radio Merseyside’s Sean Styles programme, with poems read out on air by pupils of St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary in Bootle.

As part of the workshops with Year 6, pupils were asked to produce poems around the themes. They did this with such enthusiasm that the poems were printed and published to create ownership of the books for the 1,700 pupils at the 41 primary schools involved in the project.

A further impact of the poetry collection has been its growing popularity online, shining a light on equality practices in Sefton, with endorsements from the national LGTB lobby group Stonewall, Show Racism The Red Card and Save The Children.

Peter Yip, Equality and Diversity Coordinator at Sefton’s Children, Schools and Families department, said: "Whilst we are rightly proud to receive this award and numerous accolades, the greatest satisfaction has been in seeing the way children, teachers and staff embraced and tackled the issues so honestly and creatively. Issues of equality, diversity, cohesion and ultimately understanding each other as part of a friendly, welcoming society, are as relevant now as they have ever been”.

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Primary News

Ain’t no mountain high enough!!

A big hand for Headteacher, Paul Kinsella and St Monica’s pupils

OFSTED HAT TRICK Big hand for Bootle school St Monica’s Primary School, Bootle has been awarded an outstanding Ofsted report for the third time in six years.

Both in May 2005 and June 2008 the school was judged to be ‘outstanding’.

During this period the school was also undergoing a £4 million rebuild programme on-site, but was still included in a list of twenty exemplary schools throughout the country.

The Bootle school was also commended in an Early Day Motion in

the House of Commons, which drew the attentions of the national and regional press.

‘This is a very proud achievement for St Monica’s, for the Bootle community and for the city,’ said Headteacher, Paul Kinsella.

“We’re one of the many number of schools offering excellent education in our region and I’d like to thank everyone for their contribution in gaining such an achievement and it’s a lovely way to start the new term”.

In order to raise vital funds for St Marie’s Primary School, Kirkby, a number of ‘enthusiastic’ staff agreed to take up the challenge of climbing England’s highest mountain – Scafell Pike - asking the children, parents and parish to sponsor them in this endeavour.

Recently 12 members of staff, plus one past pupil, began the climb at 10am. The weather was chilly but thankfully nothing like the torrential wind and rain that had previously hit the North West.

The walk did hit a few teething problems early on for a few members of staff, as the air became very dense during the climb.

However, the countless supplies of jelly sweets and lucosade helped the cause, with the remaining staff reaching the summit in four hours.

There were congratulations for Liam Lacey who, at 11 years of age, made light work of it all and took it in his stride.

The walk down the mountain was no “walk in the park” either, but the thought of a lovely warm drink (or a pint for some!) made it a little easier.

The team finally arrived at the finishing post at 6pm, exhausted, but pleased to know they had completed their challenge.

The funds raised will go a long way in providing vital school funds for the children of St Marie’s for the forthcoming school year.

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Primary News

Wardens are a class act

Thumbs up from pupils Frewin Pinto and Alex Castley

Pride in their community Children at St Cecilia’s Catholic Junior School, Liverpool are being encouraged to take pride in their area by Riverside’s Your Place Community Wardens.

Housing association Riverside is supporting St Cecilia’s Catholic Junior School’s PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) curriculum by distributing a Liveability Citizenship magazine to the pupils.

The magazine covers a variety of topics that are relevant to young people from anti-social behaviour to dog fouling.

Sue Tracey, Riverside’s Community Warden Team Leader, said: “We are committed to making our neighbourhoods cleaner, greener and safer. By raising awareness of the consequences of young people’s behaviour on their community and equipping them with the right information, we are encouraging them to make

decisions for themselves which impact on their community in a positive way.”

Philippa Agate, Headteacher at St Cecilia’s Catholic Junior School, said: “The book is a really useful resource. The material is not only relevant to young people but is written in a way which young people can relate to it.”

St Laurence team up with local charity

GOT TO DANCE

The footballers of St Laurence’s Primary School, Kirkby have been sporting a colourful new strip, after sealing a sponsorship deal between themselves and the Woodlands Hospice, Liverpool.

The deal is the brainchild of solicitor Chris Heiberg, who provides his services free to the patients of the hospice and is a first sponsorship for Woodlands.

‘They’re fantastic,’ said Headteacher Paul Cronin of the new kit. “We were in need of a small kit, and Chris wanted to do something for one of the associates of the hospice”.

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Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

The future looks bright for two Liverpool dancers after proving a hit on television.

Tayluer Amos (10) of Our Lady of Good Help School and Elliott Hanna (8) of St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary recently appeared on Sky Televisions ‘Got to Dance’ programme and received rave reviews.

Both dancers who have only danced together since July 2011, have won Junior national dance competitions and awards with Tayluer winning the Girls Junior Championships and Elliott the Boys National Championship.

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Primary News

Slow down around schools Pupils design eye catching signs Pupils at two primary schools in Cronton want to teach motorists a lesson.

Staff at Holy Family and Cronton C of E asked pupils to design eye catching signs to warn drivers to slow down around the schools.

The winning designs have now been placed in nearby roads warning drivers to stick to 20 mph and it’s hoped they’ll get the message across.

“It really is so important for drivers to slow right down around schools,” said Cllr Dave Lonergan, Knowsley’s cabinet member for Regeneration Economy and Skills.

“We know that children can be unpredictable and don’t always think. They might just run out into the road to join a friend on the other side and it can turn into a tragedy.

“If drivers control their speed, accidents are much less likely. These children got involved and have done a lot of hard work for their community in order to get that message across.”

The winning entries for the slow down signs were, from Holy Family, Christopher Bellard, aged 6, Sophie Quayle, aged 10, Charlie Thornton, aged 10 and Samuel Wright, aged 10. From Cronton C of E, Sophie Liptrot, aged 5, Max Clayton, aged 8 Charlotte Sturdy and Charlotte Gavin both aged 11.

The winning children from the slow down campaign in Cronton with Andy Millar, group manager for Knowsley’s highways and Cllr Dave Lonergan

Great Crosby’s mission The school community of Great Crosby Primary School, Liverpool launched their newly revised Mission Statement.

The children, staff, parents and governors worked together over the half-term period to redraft the statement, and drew particular motivation from the bible verse ‘...that they may have life and have it to the full’ (John 10:10).

“This was a real opportunity to work with our community to understand and agree our mission for Catholic education in the 21st Century,’ said Headteacher Pat Speed.

“The project allowed us to reflect on what is important in our school and how our aims would be achieved in order to ensure we meet the needs of our children”.

The school celebrated the occasion with a Service of Dedication and Open Day, and with a new sculpture representing the four strands of their mission.

Left: Headteacher Pat Speed with the new sculpture

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Primary News

Hola Liverpool Following the extremely successful visit of St Nicholas CE Primary School to their link school, Las Canadas in Segovia, Spain last May, the children were delighted to welcome their new Spanish friends to Liverpool recently.

The 26 children and four of their teachers stayed in Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre and enjoyed experiencing the British way of life.

Mornings were spent in St Nicholas Primary where both sets of children got to practise all they had learnt in their Modern Foreign Language lessons during a series of craft, sports and ICT activities.

The Spanish children really enjoyed using their English and were very impressed with the modern equipment and facilities in British schools. They even liked the fabulous school dinners!

In the afternoons, the children from Las Canadas explored the sights of Liverpool, travelling on the Duck Bus, going on the stadium tour of Anfield and visiting the Tate Gallery.

They were particularly impressed with the amount of silverware in the trophy room at Liverpool FC! Children from both

schools visited the World Museum together which allowed them to share their knowledge and understanding of science and history.

Deputy Headteacher, Phil Thomson, who organised the visit said, “It has been a fantastic week, watching our children and the Spanish children interacting so

brilliantly has been a joy.

“It’s just a shame they didn’t bring their lovely Spanish weather with them!

We are already looking forward to taking another class of St Nicholas children over to Segovia in May and continuing to build the relationship between our two schools.”

First for St Aidan’s Staff and pupils from St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School, Huyton are celebrating after receiving The Knowsley Participation Standards OK Quality Kitemark.

The award recognises the level of quality and good practice services have evidenced when involving children and young people in the design, delivery and evaluation of their services.

Headteacher, Moira Kenneway, said:

“We are delighted to receive this award, the children have worked hard to gain this recognition and I am delighted for them all.

“The school has also gained an ‘Outstanding’ from Ofsted for the first time and just shows that we are all going in the right direction”.

Colin Scicluna, Knowsley’s Participation Officer, said: “The Participation Standards Kitemark demonstrates that these services

are ‘Getting it Right’ for children and young people to ensure they are informed, involved, influential and empowered “The Knowsley Participation Standards have been developed using the core principles of the National Youth Agency and Local Government Association’s toolkit “Hear By Right”. They combine tried and tested standards for active involvement with what Knowsley children and young people said about how they would like to be involved when accessing services.

“Children and young people have been consulted and involved in the development in the standards, and are now involved in assessing and moderating the portfolio’s of services and ultimately awarding successful services the Quality Kitemark through SPARK, Knowsley’s recognised Children and Young People’s Forum.

“We would like to congratulate St Aidan’s on receiving this award”.

Left: Headteacher Moira Kenneway, Year 6 Head boy Michael Pearson, Year 6 Head girl Abigail Harrison and Colin Scicluna, Knowsley’s Participation Officer

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Primary News

Dream win for a dreamer Marium comes out tops Ten-year-old Marium Omar from Prescot is the proud owner of a new mountain bike after winning a competition to design her dream cycle.

Marium, who goes to St Luke’s Primary in Prescot, was joint winner with Jack Flaherty from Halsnead Primary in Whiston.

The two were given brand new bikes and several accessories including a helmet, lock and bike lights.

The competition was run by Knowsley’s Road Safety and Travel Plan Team as part of a campaign to encourage more children to cycle to and from school.

“We think nine and ten is about the age when pupils start to feel confident enough to cycle to school,” said Cllr Dave Lonergan, Knowsley’s cabinet member for regeneration, economy and skills.

“We encourage them to come on their bikes after they’ve done a cycle training course, provided at the schools by Bike Right.

“The whole process increases their independence, their awareness of road safety and their overall health.”

Left: St Luke’s primary pupil, Marium Omar pictured with parents Ahamad and Amal and her road safety prize – a new mountain bike.

Keeping it in the family Summerhill Primary in Maghull has recently started an after school Family Cookery Club.

The children and their families have made smoothies, cupcakes, pizza, bread and vegetable soup made from vegetables they have grown in the school garden.

Recently they were delighted to have a ‘guest chef’, Site Manager Enrique Fereria joined them to make a traditional Spanish Paella.

Mrs Rannard who runs the club said: “The children and their families have thoroughly enjoyed cooking together.

“The families now have their own recipe folders to keep and they have been trying out some of the recipes at home.

“This is another way to show Summerhill's commitment to developing strong links with the families from our school."

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Primary News

‘Sing Up’ St Oswald’s Staff and pupils, not to mention governors, classroom assistants and parents, from St Oswald’s Catholic Junior school, Liverpool were all on song recently, as the Liverpool school sought to earn its Gold Award from the music charity ‘Sing Up’.

The Organisation aims to encourage children to realise the benefits of singing, and how it might aid their creativity and self-esteem, as well as helping in general education.

But to attain the Charity’s Gold Award it was necessary for the whole of the school’s community to lend their voices.

The children were encouraged to sing both individually and as a class, as well as in assemblies and with the school choir.

“We’re delighted that we’ve achieved the ‘Sing Up’ Gold Award because singing and music are an integral part of

Singing their praises, St Oswald’s celebrate their Gold Award what we do here at St Oswald’s.” said Headteacher Mary Walsh. “It’s not just an add-on; it’s threaded throughout all

we do. Staff, children and parents all benefit from our involvement in the ‘Sing Up’ Project”.

Love on a plate Christmas is a family affair for school St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Liverpool began their Christmas celebrations with their Annual Senior Citizens’ Christmas Lunch and Party.

Grandparents and neighbours of St Anne’s pupils, along with ladies and gentlemen from nursing homes and sheltered accommodation, enjoyed a delicious meal, a game of Bingo and being entertained by the children singing carols.

Headteacher, Janice Shields explained:

“This is one of the traditions of St Anne’s which really spreads the true meaning of Christmas, the gift of love and act of giving.

“The whole school community is involved in bringing joy to the lives of others. This year one of the gentlemen who attended this

event for the first time was unable to speak as he left, he was so emotional and touched by the whole experience. He simply squeezed my hand and said ‘Thank you so much” through his tears.

“This event helps our children see their place in society and it also helps their sense of community belonging. The children raise money to support this occasion through a jumble sale and parents and carers kindly give their time to set up the hall and serve the visitors and our school staff kindly prepare and cook the food.

“Barclaycard support us financial and also allow some staff to help on the day and this year we also received financial support from a relative of one of our nursery children. The guests have a really wonderful time, which is provided by the whole community!”

Left: Headteacher Janice Shields and pupils get ready to welcome guests

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Education News

Celebrating success 100,000 Passport for Learning Liverpool Children’s University was proud to see the 100,000th Passport for Learning presented to Stephen Kelly, a student at The Trinity Catholic Primary school.

Since Children’s University was launched at The Trinity in Easter 2011, students have eagerly signed up for an exciting range of after school clubs, run by both parent volunteers and school staff, and is, in the words of Ger Graus, CE of the Children’s University, ‘a magical school’. The presentation was filmed and will be edited by two budding film students, keen to put the skills they have learned in film club into practice.

Liverpool Children’s University exists to raise aspirations and broaden pupil horizons through encouraging children and young people to voluntarily engage in learning activities. Their goal is to support the desire to be life-long learners by celebrating participation and independent learning through local learning opportunities.

Under the bonnet Fazakerley High School’s annual engineering week gets bigger each year.

This year, pupils of all ages were treated to an array of events and workshops which aimed to open their eyes to how broad the world of engineering really is.

Year 10 engineers carried out summer checks on staff’s cars alerting them of low oil, low pressure in their tyres and even refilled the screenwash!

Some pupils experienced ‘Chemistry with the Cabbage’ workshop. Lorelly Wilson, an expert in all things scientific visited the school and demonstrated to pupils how they could carry out exciting experiments!

A decade of outstanding A Liverpool nursery school has been officially rated as ‘outstanding’ for a fantastic fourth time!

East Prescot Road Nursery School in Knotty Ash has now received the highest possible ranking from education watchdog OFSTED in each inspection since 2000.

It makes it the first in Liverpool – and one of only 70 in the country - to achieve the accolade.

Staff are praised for providing a “vibrant and exceptionally welcoming learning environment” Headteacher Louise Benson, said: “We are very proud of our school, and the contribution to its success made by children, parents, governors, and staff It is nice to have the dedication of everyone’s hard work recognised in this way.”

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Meet the Headteacher Dr Simon Hulme, St Michael’s Church of England School, Crosby

Dr Simon Hulme may have only been head for a few short months but he has already transformed St Michael’s Church of England School in Crosby, introducing cutting edge equipment and a new way of working with feeder schools.

Transforming a Community School The Crosby-based school was founded in 2005, with Dr Hulme taking the headship in September 2011. The school champions two fields that particularly attracted the Gloucestershire-born headteacher to the job: music and Christianity. Dr Hulme is no stranger to the city having first arrived to study music at University of Liverpool in the 1980s and where he met his wife.

“I think if I look at my career there are two things I have always been interested in one is music and two is Christian schools,” Dr Simon said. “When I saw my job advertised and that it was in Liverpool I knew this was the perfect job for me. It was very much coming together in lots of directions in my life, the music, the Christianity and the place.”

As a specialist school in English and Music, St Michael’s is one of only four schools nationally to hold this particular joint status. The school regularly performs in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, 'One' centre and Crosby Civic Hall. Their facilities include a professional recording studio, a variety of performance venues on site with high quality lighting and sound systems, and excellent class music 20

facilities that include the latest computer technology.

“In English we have a big push on literacy, which is the key to the curriculum. We do a big focus in music, building confidence and working together building skills. As far as I’m concerned as an ex-musician I would promote music in any school I was head of because I think it brings such a lot to the children and the community, and I would also promote English because it is the key to the curriculum. For me whether we were called a specialist Music and English college or not it would be the way I would be leading the school anyway.

“There are lots of studies that have shown studying music helps cognitive development in children. But you’ve also got the children who just get involved in the shows, choirs and orchestras who are working together. They may be children who lack confidence and self-esteem and music can permeate throughout the school, a lot of the people who get involved may have been reluctant to get involved in other things, maybe they don’t excel in academia but they can excel on the stage.”

St Michael’s is in fact also the only

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Church of England school to exist in the Sefton borough with 20 feeder schools.

Since taking the headship, Dr Simon Hulme has encouraged the Christian ethos of the school, for example, introducing the Lord’s Prayer at form time.

“

There are lots of studies that have shown studying music helps cognitive development in children

”

“You can walk anywhere in the school at quarter to nine and see everybody saying the Lord’s Prayer which in 2011, in a busy comprehensive school, is great.

It also has a calming effect on the children in the morning, they come together and staff have been very positive about the effects. However, what

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the school is not known for is its academic success - yet last year it had an 88 per cent pass rate in A-C, and our English and Maths score of 55 per cent was in excess of some of our local schools for the first time.

“Last year we received a letter from the government congratulating the school on its outstanding achievement and being in the top 60 schools for most improved in last three years,” he said. “Ofsted described our ‘behaviour’ as Grade 1. I intend to drive the results up even further and to take them into the 90s and to make St Michael’s the first choice school for this community.

“The ethos I’m trying to bring to the school is excellence; I talk a lot to students about being outstanding young people and the reason being that if you’re outstanding then you stand out. These days particularly with the economic climate we’re in unless you stand out you’re not going to get that course, that university place, that job and that future.

I think the children actually understand the message.”

The launch of a new sixth form centre in January 2012 is one of two major projects Dr Simon Hulme has overseen.

The block not only features a brand new fully equipped common room, private study facility and a suite of the latest computers but also doubles up as a ‘fun learning centre’ which will host activities for primary school children after school, in conjunction with the ‘Children’s University’. In order to improve the school’s standing in the local community as a first choice school, the programme of events at St Michael’s is intended to improve the transition of students with their feeder schools. The programme includes a range of free events from miniZumba, Kindle reading club, flash animation sessions, working in their recording studio and even a Wii-club -

and they do offer the more traditional classes as well such as Latin and maths.

The second major project Dr Simon has brought about, which will really put the school on the map, is the new 'GAIA Innovation Centre' which sees a partnership between St Michael's and GAIA Technologies bring the latest cutting edge ICT resources coming to St Michael's - including astonishing 3D educational facilities.

“The four-room suite showcases the latest ICT technology in learning; we will have 3D screens, 3D technology and 3D learning experiences for our students

and also for our feeder primaries. For example, if you are looking at a spider, it comes right out of the screen to your face and if you then press a button, it dissects into 3D in front of you. Or, if you are doing something on the Nazis you’re in the trenches and it’s a 3D trench and you’re walking through it. Whilst it’s nice these days that we project onscreen, it’s still only 2D and students are used to seeing things in 3D now. This is something that will bring in the very latest in technology, making the fun, stimulus part of lessons easier for teachers.”

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Secondary News

Action packed fundraising

Baljit Ghandi, principal of KSC, in the stocks at a fundraising Community Christmas Fair Kirkby Sports College has kickstarted an action packed fundraising programme in a bid to gather more than £10,000 to support an African student exchange project.

Students and staff at the school are looking to strengthen ties with counterparts in Namibia after visiting the southern African state last year.

The college is twinned with a number of schools in the region through the Africa Dreams and Teams project run by the British Council and Youth Sports Trust.

Recent fundraising activities have included a sponsored sleepover and supermarket bag-packing – securing more than £5,000. The latest event saw a further £3,000 raised after hundreds of people flooded through the school gates for a community Christmas fair.

The overall aim is to raise a grand total of £10,000 to pay for 15 Namibian students to visit Kirkby in 2012.

Funding from Huyton Arts and Sports Centre for Learning will bolster the project. Additional support is also being given by the Barclaycard branch, in Kirkby Town Centre, which is matchfunding a number of school events.

Jason Webb, KSC assistant principal, led the most recent school trip to Namibia visiting Rehoboth High and Dr Lemmer secondary schools.

He said: “The connection we are developing with our partner schools in Namibia is very special. We managed to forge a closer link with our last visit which was the trip of a lifetime for our pupils - none of whom had been out of Europe.

He added: “We are extremely keen to offer our African colleagues a similar experience in Kirkby. They were wonderfully hospitable and we want to return that gesture by showing them the great sites and sounds of the North West”.

Students on track

Enterprise South Liverpool Academy (ESLA) joined forces with The Smallpiece Trust, Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust and the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering in November to offer a group of ESLA students the chance to participate in a one-day railway engineering challenge devised as part of Innovation Rail.

Year 9 students were invited to take part in two tasks; the first to design and build a lightweight bridge combined with a pre-made track running through the centre and the second to design a small battery-powered vehicle to travel across the bridge. The student teams were then judged on the cost, stability and aesthetics of both creations.

Mr John Parry, Curriculum Director for Design & Technology said: “We were delighted to be given this opportunity. The railway STEM Day has encouraged our students to connect the taught elements of science, design and technology to real world experience in the field of engineering. We have found that, since taking part in the course, many of our students have been inspired to work harder within their STEM subjects in order to achieve their future goals.”

Pupils set their sights high

Aiming high students Kate Sefton and Fjolla Grajqevci

Recently two of Childwall Sports & Science College students took part in an “Aimhigher” award evening at Liverpool University.

The event was designed to celebrate pupil’s participation on a number of projects involving Liverpool University for the past three years. Students took part in a number of residentials and workshops at the University to encourage more youngsters to take up places at university especially local universities.

Kate Sefton and Fjolla Grajqevci were delighted to be invited to the Aimhigher award evening and both were appropriately dressed in university cap and gown and presented with certificates in recognition for their outstanding work and dedication in terms of progress at Childwall Sports & Science College and their ambitions to go to university.

Headteacher, Dewi Philips, said: “Both Kate and Fjolla are outstanding young women and I have every expectation that both will achieve their place at University. Certainly both deserve to do so”.

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Secondary News

Shanghai link on display

From Crosby to Cardiff Pupils from Cardinal Heenan College with their display at the Museum of Liverpool The new Museum of Liverpool has displayed a series of gifts, which were exchanged between students from Cardinal Heenan College, and Grade 6 students from Bile High School, Luwan District, Shanghai.

The two schools first met during last year’s World Expo in Shanghai, as part of the ‘Parallel Lives’ project. They were given money to buy something which they felt reflected their lives and culture.

Whilst the Cardinal Heenan students chose more contemporary objects, the Bile students opted for more traditional items. These have now been put on display in the ‘East Meets West Gallery’ in the museum.

Erin Donagh, a Year Ten student at Sacred Heart, Crosby, has been selected to join a group of talented young English athletes.

Erin has already excelled in running and swimming, but has now been chosen by England Talent to train for a Water Polo team.

“It’s really hard work trying to fit in schoolwork, as well as being trained by professionals,” said Erin, who travels to Cardiff every month to join up with the team.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity and I’ve made some great friends there”.

Awards evening a resounding success The 2011 Awards Evening proved a resounding success for Archbishop Beck Catholic College.

A great variety of people and organisations were present to see the college recognise and applauded its outstanding Academic, Sporting and Cultural achievements. Simply the Best !

The warm atmosphere of the awards ceremony was aided by outstanding performances from the College Concert Band, Drama Department and College Dance Ensemble and Chamber Choir A highlight of the evening was the address given by the Professor Sanderson, who spoke in glowing terms of the achievements of the college and its community and urged all to have the confidence to go out and build further on these successes and that university is certainly an option for all.

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Secondary News

Taiwan visit Pupils pay a visit to their sister school A group of two staff and six students from Litherland High recently visited their sister schools in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

During a very busy week they visited four schools, attended a Junior High School camp and performed dances in five very different venues.

Rachel Hughes, one of the dancers, said: "It was really great to visit schools and meet students whom we had only previously met virtually, using Skype.

“It was a challenge to dance in different places. During one performance the backing music stopped for nearly a minute but we kept going. We all felt so proud of that."

Jim Donnelly, Headteacher, was delighted that a third group of students has now visited Taiwan. "The welcome we always receive is phenomenal. It also helps that their winter means temperatures of up to 25 degrees centrigade”.

Pupils from Litherland High take in some of the sights

Life’s a cabaret for pensioners

Ted Hitchmough, 68, joins Parklands’ pupils and Amey’s chef Les Jones

Christmas came early for a group of pensioners in Speke who were treated to an afternoon of cabaret, dining and games by students at Parklands High School.

Almost 100 older people from across the Speke area descended on the school ready for the annual wassailing, carol singing and festive entertainment at the Pensioners’ Party.

The highlight of the pensioners’ visit is tucking into the traditional Christmas buffet that is created free of charge by Amey’s chef, the school’s approved catering and facilities management contractor.

Yvonne Sharples, Headteacher at Parklands High School said: “For over ten years we’ve been hosting the pensioners’ party and each year the pupils are committed to making it bigger and better than the year before.

“Our young people feel a real sense of pride knowing that the pensioners have enjoyed their entertainment and company, and I feel really proud of them for going the extra mile to care, respect and value our communities’ older generations.

“Thanks to Amey we’re able to provide excellent catering as well as entertainment that makes the party a much anticipated date in the calendar.”

John Holmes, Facilities Account Manager at Amey added: “We really enjoy working in partnership with the school to provide this event. We’re inspired by the enthusiasm of the pupils and also receive a great deal of satisfaction knowing that we’re able to treat Speke’s elders to a free, hearty Christmas lunch”.

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Secondary News

De La Salle on the shortlist School nominated for national education award

De La Salle pupils and the Parents’ Group celebrated their nomination De La Salle Academy, Croxteth, has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Community Partnership Award at the Times Educational Supplement Schools Awards.

The school was nominated for this prestigious national education award for the work carried out within the school involving links with the wider community, which have been cemented

by the establishment of The Parents’ Group.

The Parents’ Group was originally formed last year as part of the Sinnott Fellowship Award.

It was felt that there was a need to establish a place where parents could meet and take part in a range of activities together.

The Parents’ Lounge was set up with

the help of a grant, but the group equipped it themselves. The on-site location enables a much closer relationship between the group and staff.

The Parents’ Group which meets twice a week has gone from strength to strength, with the parents taking the lead role in deciding the activities they would like to participate in.

Let your fingers do the talking Each term, St Hilda’s School Parliament votes for a charity to support; alongside these selected charities, it also supports special events – and last term was no exception.

The National Deaf Children’s Society depends on support from volunteers and sponsors to carry out its work, and St Hilda’s girls (and sixth form boys) have been learning their ABCs in order to raise much needed funds.

Their efforts to learn the British Sign Language alphabet were tested through a ‘finger spellathon’ in which pupils were sponsored for each word they were able to spell.

The best spellers from each year group were entered into a grand final and tested by Ian Cockburn and Stephen Mckenna, tutors from Merseyside Society for Deaf People. The sponsor money has already been rolling in.

MSDP work each year with small groups of the school’s pupils, training them for Level 1 of BSL: a reflection of St Hilda’s commitment to extending communication into all areas of society. The school’s aim is that every pupil should be able to communicate with Delesha Kaur Singh, Amelia Carroll, Grace Wall, Gurpreet Kaur Singh and their BSL tutor Ian Cockburn. any member of the deaf society.

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LONDON OLYMPICS 2012

Educate’s roundtable

Going for gold With London Olympics 2012 now months away the UK has been placed in the spotlight yet again. On a national and international scale, the significance of the events for our country’s political and economic advancement has been the subject of much discussion and, for our readers, the spin-off benefits for young people, their families and our local communities are of paramount importance. Our panellists Gareth Stratton, a former P.E. teacher and now Professor of Paediatric Exercise Science at Liverpool JMU, and Head of P.E at St Ambrose Barlow Catholic College, Rachael Taylor – one of Gareth’s former students at the university - met to discuss their expectations for the events this year.

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What are our expectations of the Olympic Games and their significance to our nation, and particularly in our area, over this coming year?

GS: The last Olympics to be held in the UK were in 1960, 52 years ago, so there are - quite understandably - huge expectations behind this year’s Games and the ripple effect for the nation.

The Olympic Legacy Programme has been set up precisely for this reason; to make sure that we capitalise on the events in every way possible and to encourage that glow about it all which gets everyone excited and enthusiastic.

When we get to the stage of wall-to-wall Olympics on television, we’ll have that divide between the obsessives and everyone else – but there’s no doubt about it; you can’t escape the fact that the UK will be on the world stage, giving out what we hope is a very positive message. There’s a sense of everyone pulling together behind a common cause of wanting GB to go for gold. It goes without saying that this event is a once in a lifetime opportunity for many people; better still, there will be events on television at a time when we can all watch them. It’s inspiring because it will encourage young people to aspire to that level of skill and competition across a range of sports – with a more even coverage than we usually see. We will be watching what hard work, commitment and training can do. There’s a sense of, not just getting behind a team to want them to win, but also being inspired to explore your own potential.

RT: I’m excited because the Olympic Games promotes activities that aren’t traditional, and this is inspiring for so many of our pupils. Just last year, I took some of our pupils to watch the World Netball Series at Liverpool Arena and it was the first time that some of them had seen any professional netball played at that level.

They need to see what’s open to them so that they too can be inspired to achieve.

GS: The problem with the Games is, of course, the precipice effect. We need to avoid letting things slide and failing to capitalise on the investment, the infrastructure that’s being created. Hopefully, with the 2015 Rugby World Cup and 2017 World Athletics Championships taking place, the Olympics will actually mark the start of a great sporting decade for the UK. RT: I completely agree that we need to capitalise on the infrastructure that will be in place. It’s frustrating as a P.E. teacher to see that grass roots level of investment missing.

Community cohesion is crucial and the more you can do to educate young people about the

The Panellists

Gareth Stratton Professor of Paediatric Exercise Science at Liverpool JMU

Rachael Taylor Head of P.E at St Ambrose Barlow Catholic College

world around them the better a society you are building.

GS: It’s true that you need to catch people in the net or opportunities to inform and inspire them are lost. There’s no question that, should the event go well, the government will want to use it as a calling card in the next election. What they don’t seem to be doing, although perhaps it is too early to say for sure, it putting their weight behind grass roots level events now.

Success breeds success; the local rugby union teamI coach went from a 15 a-side team to two oversubscribed teams of athletes and social players on the back of that team having a win at Twickenham. It was as though the success was a magnet, drawing people in for different reasons, but spurring them all on to success in various ways. There becomes this glow surrounding the event, and we need this to happen on a larger scale with the Olympics.

It shouldn’t all be about winning; we need a more inclusive philosophy that values developing people.

RT: I completely agree; too much concentration on winning and you get disaffected young people. If you line up teenagers outside in the rain, they switch off and hate P.E. You need a range of activities for girls and for boys; there’s this preconception that boys only want to play football – and it’s not true. That’s why we invested in the mountain bikes and the cycle track. I truly believe that the goal of our department is to find an activity for every single pupil to enjoy in and out of school, and which they’ll take with them and continue when they leave.

How are educators using events of great significance to teach children and young people about their heritage?

GS: I think it’s crucial that people recognise that the Games aren’t all about sport. The opening and closing ceremonies, for instance, are about art and creativity and we need more of that in school sports curriculums. The art and creativity can, for some people, be the most inspiring part of the whole event. I also think it’s about drawing people together from different genders, races, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 there was one man taking part in a 50km walk who became injured halfway through. He had no chance of winning a medal, but he carried on anyway and when he entered the arena the crowds cheered for him as if he had won gold; his story touched that many people. He might have ‘lost’ that event, but that experience must

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LONDON OLYMPICS 2012

curriculum; as it applies to geography, maths, history, media, PSHE and citizenship – just for starters.

The success stories at the Olympics all begin on the playground, and it’s only by getting people more active that we’ll be able to capitalise on that.

have been one of the best of his entire life.

That’s what the Olympic Games are all about.

RT: It’s about getting people to become more open-minded; to show them what some people have managed to achieve, and to learn the stories behind the successes is incredibly powerful.

GS: In 1971, East Germany put all of its efforts into training up an elite to compete and to win; the Beijing event put that city on the map, the question now is, can London match or better those efforts? I think that we have the history and the infrastructure to do so; you only have to look at how the Royal Wedding was received around the globe. I was in Australia at the time and there was a real spirit of celebration.

Community cohesion is recognised as integral to successful schools. Is there a need in this day and age to teach children about community and celebration?

RT: Absolutely. The previous government placed a huge emphasis on participation; and for schools like ours with specialist status it was all about getting every pupil involved in sport in some way, and making progress.

At our Annual Sports Awards at St Ambrose Barlow, for instance, we recognise pupils based on the core Olympic and Paralympic Values of; respect, excellence, friendship, courage, determination, inspiration and equality.

We award those pupils who, through their coaching, their effort, and their dedication have shown these values – even if they aren’t

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necessarily the most successful or highachieving students. In terms of going out into the community, we have two high-achieving Young Ambassadors who will be representing our school in Sefton by promoting sport in local primary schools and coaching pupils there on their skills. We’re also sending P.E. staff into local primaries to work with staff and pupils, deliver lessons and help to support their P.E. curriculum. So far, we’ve been working with St Benedict’s, Holy Spirit, Our Lady of Walsingham and Netherton Moss. We’ll be hosting a number of competition days at our school site, including a Fun Run for pupils at Key Stages 1 and 2. We’re also working with the GetSet network to support teaching about the Olympics and their significance across the

Fact File St Ambrose Barlow Catholic College is a mixed school of 450 pupils in Netherton.

Professor Gareth Stratton’s research takes place at RISES (Research Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences) at LJMU.

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There may be a preconception that the Olympics is going to mostly inspire P.E teachers, but in which subject areas and aspects of school life should the Olympics also be of great importance?

RT: There’s a whole host of ways in which a school like ours will be using the Olympics as inspiration across the curriculum, in every subject. For the World Cup, we planned and delivered activities across the curriculum to inspire and inform students, and we’ll be doing just that with the Olympics in the Spring and Summer terms. In CDT, students will be designing and making Olympic torches and medals, in music they’ll be composing an Olympic song and learning music from different countries. In maths, pupils will examine statistics from previous competitions, in geography they’ll be learning the countries, continents and flags, and in English they’ll be writing poetry, commentaries and reports based on and inspired by the events. In art, students will produce posters, mascots and mosaics, and in food technology they’ll be experimenting with recipes from around the world and exploring nutrition for athletes. In dance, pupils will choreograph an opening ceremony dance and work on styles from different cultures, and in P.E. pupils will try new sports, adopt different roles and aspire to achieve their personal best: there’s so much pupils can enjoy trying out.

What is your school doing to reap the rewards of great events like the Olympics?

RT: Until the funding was stopped, St Ambrose Barlow Catholic College had specialist sports status, and our headteacher has been incredibly supportive of P.E. by maintaining this investment for pupils, who can take either BTEC Dance or Sport, or P.E. GCSE. We offer football, tennis, netball, volleyball, gymnastics, dance, and trampolining for pupils, but we’re especially proud that we were the first school in Sefton to get a mountain bike track three years ago.

We’ve had incredible success in promoting cycling, and one of our pupils won a cycle race in Southport last year. As you might expect, we’ve really tried to capitalise on the Olympics and some of our gifted and talented students took the opportunity to meet gold medalist Jonathan Edwards, who signed the school flag, just a few weeks ago. Every

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assembly this year will take one Olympian or Paralympian, and the form class presenting will explore the adversity which the athlete has had to overcome to achieve so highly. By focusing not only on their success, but on their determination to succeed we’ll be inspiring pupils with role models and teaching them about the merits of hard work.

How are schools and organisations getting involved in the local community?

RT: Our school is hosting a Schools’ Games Day in June, where local primary and secondary schools will come together on a joint sports day.

Where this event differs, is that it won’t all be about competing, but some pupils will be involved in the organization; coaching, officiating and keeping it all running. It’s an opportunity to use all kinds of different skills and talents.

GS: One project which I’m particularly proud of is part of the North West Olympics Legacy Programme, helping stroke patients to make a quicker recovery using Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit. The research has proven the benefits for patients, and this is one project which is making a tangible long-term difference to the health of people in Wirral. At LJMU, we’ve also been delivering a Face to Face Project, with funding from the Wellcome Trust, where Year 9 and 10 pupils from Childwall Sports College have been taking part in experiments and data collection at our Sports Science department. They’ve then presented their findings on a poster to use at a conference, and the benefits have been tangible in showing students not only what it’s like inside the Sports Science department, but what they can aspire to do at university, the equipment we use, the variety of disciplines, the impact of Sports Science on and in and community – and what they can expect to achieve for themselves. I’m hoping that in six or seven years time we’ll be seeing some of those pupils studying Sports and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool JMU. What can parents and pupils expect this year, and in what other ways can they get involved?

RT: My hope is that the events will encourage parents and families to get more active, and to encourage their children to take part in events after school wherever possible. There are so many parents who, because they may have had a bad experience of P.E. lessons when they were at school, don’t take it as seriously as other

RT: I’m hoping that there will be more understanding for pupils and their families about the world we live in and the opportunities out there. Although there may not be lasting economic benefits, and some statisticians would count up the cost of the Games rather than the rewards, all the money in the world can’t solve the problem of a child who can’t stay after school for a dance or sports club because he or she is needed by their parents to pick up and take care of a younger sibling, for instance.

GS: It’s really a case of examining community readiness; are we ready? You can’t do hard numbers with the social stuff. For me, I’d say we need to ensure that the legacy begins now, to keep the momentum going, and to think big. Our Sportslinx Programme, which goes into primary schools across Liverpool every year and works specifically with Year 5 pupils, gives youngsters a taste of a variety of activities whilst we collect data on their lifestyles. In fact, Sportslinx won the European Childhood Obesity group Award in 2011 for its impact on healthy diet and physical activity. Another of our research projects, Fit To Succeed, found that more active youngsters achieved higher scores in their SATs. Other research has shown that there are no negative effects from leading a more active lifestyle; in fact in France, one study of pupils who increased their levels of activity from three hours per week to 15 and compared them to other students, found that academic attainment showed no difference. That’s a huge difference in time spent being active - and the pupils didn’t lose out academically. The success stories at the Olympics all begin on the playground, and it’s only by getting people more active that we’ll be able to capitalise on that.

There’s a whole host of ways in which a school like ours will be using the Olympics as inspiration across the curriculum

subjects. Of course, when the experts agree that literacy and numeracy need to take first place this sometimes translates to people that games and sport don’t matter. By placing the Olympic Values at the centre of our P.E. Annual Awards and by promoting them throughout the curriculum, I hope that we can show people that competition isn’t the only or the main aspect of getting involved.

What sort of evidence or precedent do we have about the impact of national and international events on health and wellbeing?

GS: There’s actually a great deal of research which suggests that the benefits are not longterm or lasting. The levels of physical activity which people engage in here in the UK are still falling, and have been in decline for some time, so there’s no evidence that the Olympics is going to get everyone up and moving. However, on the positive side you have to recognise that is we can capitalise on the energy then there are opportunities which will open up - and for those who take them, there will be tangible benefits.

QUICK LINKS Get Set (the official London 2012 education programme) www.london2012.com/getset Inspire Programme for community projects inspired by the Games www.london2012.com/beinspired Local Leaders - an opportunity for leaders within their communities to get involved in London 2012 www.london2012.com/localleaders

LOCAL LINKS www.thereachgroup.co.uk www.sportslinx.org

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Education News

Students do battle The Great Enterprise Challenge

North Liverpool Academy pupils pitch to a Dragons Den of from l-r back row; Stephen Twigg, Liverpool West Derby MP; Cllr Gary Millar, Assistant Cabinet Member to the Leader; Max Steinberg OBE, Chief Executive, Liverpool Vision, Front row: Liverpool FC Academy players Jamie Stephens and Michael Ngoo and Stephen Sama.

Twenty two secondary schools have reached the second stage of Liverpool’s Great Enterprise Challenge and battled it out in a Dragons Den style pitch at Liverpool Football Club.

Every team, including four from

special schools in the city, have already been given a start-up fund of £100 to develop their ideas. Liverpool City Council, in partnership with Liverpool Vision, is the first local authority in the UK to launch such a challenge.

The competition is part of the build

Busy ‘Lizzie’ Liverpool Blue Coat student Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Magee took part in the 2011 series of The BBC’s Young Apprentice reaching the semi-final series!.

Lizzie is currently studying for A Levels in Economics, History, Politics and General Studies at The Blue Coat School following her successful GCSE results achieved at New Heys School Liverpool.

Lizzie has her own business designing personalised guitar straps and also breeds Jack Russell Terriers. She was one of 12 young entrepreneurs from all corners of the UK who embarked on a series of tough tasks, pushing their skills to the limit, each of the aspiring candidates were selected for their academic flair.

Lord Sugar spotted something in all of the 12 youngsters but there could only be one winner to take the crown of Young Apprentice. Lizzie was extremely successful in reaching the semi-finals of the series and the school is very proud of her.

Elizabeth (left) with fellow apprentice contestants

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up to this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC), where entrepreneurs and thought leaders from more than 120 countries will be represented.

A trip to Washington DC is the prize on offer for two winning teams.

CURTAINS RAISED ON NEW VENTURE BRINGING life to Liverpool’s rich history and inspiring children to engage with big issues is the aim of a new education theatrical business just launched in the city.

Lovehistory is an experiential learning package which presents the history of Liverpool in all its splendour through performance related activities and workshops that are interactive, educational and engaging.

It also provides training in theatre, film, scriptwriting, combined media, research and production is available to all primary and secondary schools in the Liverpool City Region.

Using a team of actors from Alt Valley Community Trust Youth Theatre and semi-professional actors, scenes from Liverpool’s colourful past are brought to life in a series of stunning performances for school audiences who then talk about the themes and issues in workshops.

Lovehistory has been created by Judy Mclean, who helped develop Liverpool Biennial’s Independent strand, in addition to developing social enterprises in the city.

She said: “I have for a long time wanted to use history to put today’s big issues into context. It is an obvious statement, but there is so much to be learned from examining our history and people are losing out if they don’t think about what history can teach us”.

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Secondary News

The stark reality Terriers set to lead children away from gang crime A play designed to show the stark reality of becoming involved with gangs and guns, which has been successfully used as part of the Key Stage 3 English curriculum in Liverpool and Knowsley, is being rolled out at secondary and primary schools in Sefton.

The play and supporting educational resource, commissioned by Merseyside Police in 2008, paid a visit to Savio High School in Bootle and showed the consequences of becoming involved with guns and gangs and the difficult decisions that young people can face.

Terriers, was written by local playwright Maurice Bessman and has been produced by Miriam Mussa. Ariel Trust created and developed the educational support packages. And so far more than 30,000 secondary school children in Liverpool and Knowsley have seen the play and studied it as part of the national curriculum.

The Key Stage 3 educational resource includes an interactive CD-rom (featuring scenes from the play) the script and 10 lesson plans. This means students can examine the play in detail and explore the moral dilemma some young people could find themselves faced with.

For the primary sector Merseyside Police commissioned Ariel Trust to develop a bespoke educational resource pack based on the Key Stage 2 National

Savio High School pupils meet the cast of ‘Terriers’ Curriculum, and this too is creative, interactive and incorporates lesson plans for teachers to explore with pupils in relation to issues raised in the play.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Doherty, who heads up the specialist Matrix team, said: “The play comes with an educational CD-Rom and the idea is that pupils see the play and study it in the classroom, as they would with Shakespeare or any other playwright.

Leading the way

TV Apprentice, Clare Young with staff and pupils from St John Bosco

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“Following its introduction in to secondary schools ‘The Terriers’ project was fully evaluated. The evaluation showed an improvement in attititude and behaviour in respect of guns and gangs, an improved effort in the classroom whilst studying Terriers, and a marked improvement in attainment at Key Stage 3 English as a direct result of studying the play and using the educational resource”.

Staff and students from St John Bosco Arts College, Liverpool, recently led the way in supporting students to become global entrepreneurs.

The Conference took place at the College with representatives from throughout the North West and was hosted by Clare Young from the TV programme, ‘The Apprentice’.

Students participating in the day worked in teams to identify a problem and then to design, market and implement the solution.

This developed student’s creativity, imagination, innovation and leadership. It was hoped that the Global Challenge the students engaged in would make a difference in shaping the world they grow up in.

Headteacher, Mrs Anne Pontifex said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for students from St John Bosco to work alongside successful entrepreneurs and to further develop the skills required to be successful in life”.

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Secondary News

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT West Derby boys have risen to the challenge and proved they have what it takes to debate the educational issues of the day.

The school has entered the prestigious BBC ‘Schools Questions and Answers’ competition, discussing the benefits of technology in education and learning.

Local Member of Parliament and Shadow Education Secretary, Stephen Twigg MP, was keen to get involved and thoroughly enjoyed participating in the debate.

Alongside Stephen were English teacher and journalist, Lucy Oliver, Year 11 students Paul and Curtis, Year 10 student Tom and a brilliant host, 6th former Matthew.

The Student Council was also in attendance and enjoyed grilling the panel.

Stephen Twigg MP and Lucy Oliver face up to the questions

Hitting the right notes International composer visits St Michael’s

Composer Graham Kendrick and Year 7 pupils at the launch of the new house system Pupils from St Michael's Church of England High School in Crosby were visited by an international composer who helped them launch their new house system by officially opening the house named in his honour.

Graham Kendrick is an internationally renowned composer of Christian music, who has written bestselling songs such as Shine Jesus Shine, Knowing You, The Servant King and Amazing Love.

Graham was welcomed to St Michaels by attending a celebratory service and also participating with an impromptu performance to Year 7 and the pupils of Kendrick House.

Graham was given a tour of the school and learned about the new

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Pastoral House System that the school has put in place. He finished his visit by planting the first tree of four to represent the four house system.

Pupils at St Michael’s are in houses with form tutor groups made up of a mixture of Years 7 - 11 pupils. The four houses are named after Christian composers to reflect the fact that St Michael's is the only Church of England secondary school in Sefton, as well as only one of four music with English specialists in England.

Graham stated it was a real pleasure to visit St Michael’s school and an honour to have a house named after me.

I was impressed by the warmth and friendliness of both staff and children and the enthusiasm for excellence and

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making learning enjoyable. I look forward to seeing Kendrick house go from strength to strength and wish the whole school success as they shape the lives of these talented young people.

Head Teacher Dr Simon Hulme said, We were delighted that Graham Kendrick was able to find the time in his busy schedule to visit St Michael's to officially 'open' the house named in his honour.

The pupils can learn much from someone who has achieved so much in his life through hard work, the application of talent and a closeness to God. I look forward to a continued relationship between Graham Kendrick and St Michael's, and Kendrick House in particular.

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Secondary News

Cock-a-hoop Outstanding success for St Margaret’s

Students face up to sports science

St Margaret’s National Schools Basketball UK Champions: Back row: Ciaran Walsh; Alex Taylor; Daniel Adams. Middle row: Charlie Rhodes; Matthew Yorke; Adam Hurst. Front Row: Joel Carter; Andrew Lloyd; Samuel Valentine (captain); Joshua Topping and Patrick Taylor St Margaret’s CE High School in Aigburth has rounded off an academic year of national sporting success with an Outstanding from Ofsted for their physical education department.

The overall effectiveness of PE was judged to be outstanding, with the teaching, curriculum, management and achievement all gaining the top grade.

The wide range of activities available were judged to meet students’ needs “exceptionally well”.

The school offers an outstanding programme of extra-curricular activities that enable students to succeed in a wide variety of sports.

Highly enthusiastic and committed leadership is well focused on raising achievement, providing high-quality worthwhile experiences for every student. The courses offered provide a wealth of leadership opportunities for the students too.

A high number of teams and individuals compete and succeed at

local, county and often national level.

The school are particularly pleased to be the number-one ranked school with National Schools Basketball UK after securing a fine victory in the final, the culmination of three years hard work for the Year 9 team. Incredibly, this team were also finalists in the England Basketball Championships.

Year 8 reached the national finals too, only losing by a narrow margin against a well organised team from the south of England. They were delighted to end the season on a winning note with victory in the Under 13’s Liverpool Schools’ Basketball Cup. The Year 8 football team made history in the national cup semi-final reaching the semi-final from a starting group of 826 schools.

The school continues to excel at cricket and athletics and participation in sports including badminton, table tennis, cross country, swimming and rowing has seen regional and some national success.

Through a Partnership Grant from the Royal Society 120 year 10 students from Childwall School have been able to take part in Face to Face with Sports Science.

The project has been developed by Liverpool John Moores University and allows students to interact with the science that is supporting elite athletes in training and competition.

During six contact days students engaged in a range of workshop and research activities exposing them to the science involved with the most advanced training methods, techniques and equipment used by the world’s leading athletes and coaches. These activities also informed students how they can incorporate significant levels of physical activity in their own and their own family’s lifestyles.

During Face to Face with Sports Science students conducted a research project that required them to record physiological and psychological measurements.

Students analysed data and developed a poster to explain their research project, which was presented at a special presentation event.

Dr. John Dickinson, from Liverpool John Moores who led the project said ‘This was a successful partnership for LJMU and Childwall to be involved with. World leading experts got the opportunity to talk and excite the next generation of scientists.

This project allows students to understand and experience the application of science and research.’

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Secondary News

RSC at St Julie’s

Actor Dharmesh Patel gives a master class in acting to pupils

They made it!

Pupils a hit with winning designs Congratulations went out to Year 9 Archbishop Blanch School pupils who were involved in the Survitech, Make it Challenge sponsored by the Manufacturing Institute held in November.

The girls produced some excellent design work and overcame some difficult opposition to be crowned the winners of the competition. All of the girls involved developed their knowledge and understanding of the manufacturing industry. The judges said the girls “demonstrated excellent presentation techniques and a high level of communication, working as a team on difficult challenges”.

In addition to the trophy the team received, one of the girls was awarded an individual award for her leadership qualities. The pupils will now go forward to the Regional finals which will be held in the summer.

The Royal Shakespeare Company paid a visit to the staff and pupils of St Julie’s High School, Liverpool and gave a performance of ‘Hamlet’.

The Young People’s Shakespeare production called ‘The Dane’ was part of the RSC’s autumn tour, which played at schools and theatres nationwide.

The project hopes to reach a much larger audience, with particular emphasis on those who would not normally have access to the RSC’s work, such as schoolchildren. The visit also gave St Julie’s drama students a chance to meet professional actors.

‘They shared tips about performing and learning lines, gave additional depth about aspects of the play and characters, and told a little of what inspired them to become actors,’ said drama teacher Sue Doherty.

Keep the cash Students are first to launch a new finance game Sixth form students at Bellerive Catholic College in Liverpool are learning about financial issues by playing games!

30 students, working face-to-face with experts,enjoy challenging one other as they discover what it is like to be financially independent.

Keep the Cash, a new financial game, was designed by business education specialists.

Sister Brigid Halligan, the head teacher of Bellerive Catholic College, said: “I want my students to leave Bellerive with the capacity to build successful futures that must include a clear grasp of finance.

“I was very impressed with the game and I am delighted that we are the first school in the country to use this inspirational and engaging programme for our students. I am confident that it will be of lifelong benefit to each of them.”

The team game replicates the range of financial and employment issues that face every young adult once they leave home and move towards financial independence. Students grapple with the issues that they will face upon leaving full-time education: writing a CV, attending interviews, opening a bank account, finding accommodation,paying their monthly bills, managing debt, and understanding concepts like credit and interest.

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Education News

BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT Parklands Students meet the Queen At the beginning of December, Parklands students had the honour of meeting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as part of the Royal Liver Building centenary celebrations.

Mrs Sharples and the Chair of Governors Mr Sandy Tittershill accompanied the children who were invited

by Royal Liver Assurance, one of the schools trust partners, in recognition of the school’s outstanding exam success.

In August 2011 the school achieved the best ever results in its history with 82% of students gaining five or more A*- C GCSEs.

The wheel deal During the summer of 2011, Mr John Waszek, Principal at St Edward’s College raised over £4000 in sponsorship by completing a ‘Coast to Coast’ charity bicycle ride from Liverpool to Hull using the Trans Pennine Trail.

The section of the trail he cycled extends for around 200 miles.

All proceeds raised were donated to Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and the work of the Christian Brothers at Kanvilli School, Ghana.

Since then, two sets of pupils have organised and undertaken their own sponsored bicycle rides. In October half term, pupils from Year 9 raised £500 for the St Vincent de Paul organisation. In December, Grace Osborne, Charlotte Moorcroft, Isabel Lyon and Rachael Rooney cycled ten miles along the Transpennine Trail and in doing so raised £406 for Children in Need.

St Edward’s Principal, John Waszek starts his epic ride from the Pier Head, Liverpool 40

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Fardowsa Abdulkadir, Conor Jones and Graeme Pitt

Scholastic success Three Year 12 pupils from Childwall College have been offered conditional places at Liverpool University for September 2013.

Year 12 Students Conor Jones, Graeme Pitt, and Fardowsa Abdulkadir have been notified by Liverpool University that their applications to study the following courses will be accepted under the ‘Scholars Scheme’ between Childwall Sports & Science College and the University.

Conor, Graeme and Fardowsa all achieved excellent GCSE results in 2011 and Conor is hoping to study engineering whilst Fardowsa is hoping to study criminal law. Graeme is hoping to take a degree in chemistry.

All three students have been made conditional offers which reflect their excellent GCSE results and if successful in their applications will receive bursaries to reflect their commitment to the University.

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PARKLANDS HIGH SCHOOL ‘Going for Gold’ 2011 Best Results in the School’s History 82% of pupils gained 5 or more GCSE passes at grade A* - C

HEALTH & WELL-BEING EVENT Indoor Car Boot Sale

February 14th & 15th

From 10am – 3.30pm GET UP - GET ACTIVE – BE INFORMED – ENOY! LOOK AFTER YOUR HEALTH • Free Health Screening Check • Healthy Eating Tips • Get Fit & Relaxation Techniques • Slimming World • Fag Ends • Free Exercise Class Voucher to Austin Rawlinson

LEARN NEW SKILLS • DISC Learning Services • Young People Connexions Advisors • Adult Learning Services • STEC Stalls

LEGAL & FINANCIAL ADVICE • Credit Union • Citizens Advice Bureau

OTHER SERVICES • South Liverpool Homes • Liverpool Mutual Homes • Speke Adventure Playground • Merseyside Police

INDOOR CAR BOOT SALE Sell Your Unwanted Items, Stalls Just £5.00 To book your stall or for further information contact the Community Engagement Team on 0151 728 4319 or e-mail st-tierneyl@parklands.liverpool.sch.uk

SUCCESS FOR PARKLANDS YOUNG ENTREPENEURS

Parklands Team L:R Amy Phillips, Magan Barnicle, Stephen Sixsmith, Liam

In November 2011 a group of Year 11 students set up a new social enterprise business T’S @ THE PARK. The company produces promotional tee shirts for all types of occasions and events. The young people are also actively working to secure and match local business sponsorship of tee shirts for local community charities and organisations.

Parklands students entered their business enterprise in the Liverpool Schools Great Enterprise Challenge organised by Liverpool Vision and the City Council, one of the key events leading up to the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Congress to be held in Liverpool in March.

The first round of judging took place on the 18th November at Liverpool Football Club, Anfield. Parklands were one of only ten secondary schools to secure a place in the semi-finals at the end of January and are hopefully going all the way through to the final to be held in March at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress.

CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK If you want to know more about the business or want to order a tee shirt visit our website www.parklands.liverpool.sch.uk

Ganworth Road, Liverpool 24 2RZ Tel: 0151 486 2612 Email: parklands.hs@parklands.liverpool.sch.uk Our Partners:

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Education News

Health kick Academy attains National Healthy School Status

L to r: Mr Patrick Ferguson, Principal, Ms Paula Howard, Assistant Principal and SENCO, Stephen Tiffany, Senior School Improvement Officer, Linda Kerans, Healthy Schools Consultant and John Brennan, Healthy Schools Coordinator The De La Salle Academy has been awarded National Healthy School Status.

This prestigious national award has taken several years of hard work to achieve, with the process starting before the school became an Academy. The continuing effort to achieve the award demonstrates The De La Salle Academy’s determination to place a high priority on the health of all students and staff.

John Brennan, Healthy Schools Co-

ordinator at The De La Salle Academy and Paula Howard, Assistant Principal and SENCO, worked with Healthy Schools Consultant, Linda Kerans, to collect the relevant evidence of good practice at De La Salle to complete the application for the award.

The National Healthy Schools Programme has four core themes • Personal, social and health education • Healthy eating • Physical activity

POETRY OF PLACE

Imogen Cooper of The Blue Coat School met with the Duke of Edinburgh at an awards ceremony in December to celebrate the Poetry of Place Writing Competition.

Imogen gained a very creditable runner-up prize in this prestigious writing competition which is run in conjunction with The Royal Liver Group.

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• Emotional health and wellbeing, including bullying.

Each theme has a number of criteria which The De La Salle Academy had to fulfil in order to achieve National Healthy School Status.

The award was presented to the Academy by Stephen Tiffany, Senior School Improvement Officer.

The De La Salle Academy has now set its sights on achieving the extended National Healthy Schools Status Award.

Ding Dong Merrily on High Pupils from Runnymede recently produced a Christmas compact disc of Christmas music.

Mrs Bixter, Head of Music, said: “The hard part of putting together any programme of Christmas music is not what to include, but what to leave out; there is such a wealth of wonderful festive music available, both traditional and contemporary.

“Additionally, as a composer, I write a great deal of music for the school, with particular emphasis on Christmas. As a result, the children at Runnymede have a large repertoire of carols and songs that are unique to the school, so this music had to be represented too.

“Planning for Christmas goes on in the mind of every Director of Music throughout the year, as ideas and

thoughts arise in the creative mind, but this becomes a more serious process from around September, as lists and programmes are drawn up.

“The Runnymede Choir, comprising sixty-five pupils from Years 4 – 6, began rehearsals in October.

“After weeks of intensive learning, rehearsing and polishing, we were as ready as we were ever going to be. On the big day, the technician arrived and various groups of singers gathered throughout the day.

“The school was filled with the sound of enthusiastic singing and, by the end of the day, everything was accomplished.

“The C.D.s were distributed just in time for Christmas and the musicians of Runnymede, big and small, were all ready for a very well-earned rest”.

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LIM PLA ITED AVA CES FOR ILAB LE 201 2/2 013

Looking for innovation creativity and enterprise Weʼve got an app for that

NEW ACADEMY BUILDING OPENING EARLY 2013

Enterprise South Liverpool Academy Specialising in enterprise & business Committed to providing a first class education to the children of South Liverpool.

For more information call 0151 294 3150 or visit www.esla.org.uk

The Archdiocese of Liverpool Horrockʼs Avenue Campus Liverpool L19 5PF • Heath Road Campus Liverpool L19 4TN • Telephone: 0151 294 3150 enquiries@esla.org.uk www.esla.org.uk

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Education News

‘Be The Boss’ Pupils go behind the scenes Colin Gilligan, Centre Manager of New Mersey Shopping Park gave three Year 9 students from Enterprise South Liverpool Academy the opportunity to ‘Be The Boss’ for a day.

The students had to submit an application and then attend an interview with Mr Gilligan and Karl Rigby Operations Manager.

The successful applicants Carl Caskie, Nathan Davies and Lauren Grimes then had the opportunity to go behind the scenes at the control centre and manage the Park during one of the busiest times of the year leading up to Christmas.

The students firstly had to check the weather for the week and determine what hazards it may bring and plan accordingly.

The students also spoke to all delivery drivers to check if they knew the correct speed to be driving in the service yard and then collated the information so that it could be acted up on.

Colin Gilligan said: “The students found the experience to be really rewarding and said they would love the opportunity to visit again”.

Nathan Davies, Carl Caskie, Lauren Grimes all Yr 9 with Colin Gilligan, Centre Manager for New Mersey Shopping

Raising awareness Calderstones School hosted a celebration of events held during Alcohol Awareness Month in November.

During morning assembly, pupils performed a short play and told three moving and powerful individual stories related to the problems of alcohol abuse and put on a display of artwork.

The efforts put in by pupils resulted in an award being made to the school and T-shirts with pupils’ slogans and designs being produced and distributed in local surgeries.

Taher Ali Qassim, MBE, Public Health Neighbourhood Manager for Liverpool PCT commented: “Calderstones School was chosen to host the celebration event as a direct result of the tremendous support and engagement by pupils at the school for the entire period.

Pictured are pupils holding T-shirts with their winning designs. Also pictured are Mr Taher Ali Qassim MBE, Dr Simon Abrams, Councillor Richard Kemp, Sharon Maguire (Deputy Headteacher) and Brian Davies (Headteacher)

“Alcohol abuse is a complex issue. There is no one way or short cut to fix it but our collective efforts, dialogue, discussion, learning and

reflection will enable us to understand it better and improve our way of offering services and support to the community.

“I would like to thank all pupils, staff and other colleagues for their contribution and involvement”.

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Tuesday 7th February 2012 6.00 - 8.00pm for students seeking entry in September 2012

Please enter via the Sixth Form block in Windermere Terrace

Windermere Terrace Sefton Park Liverpool L8 3SB tel:

0151 727 2064

ear ed l i l p , Ap ces n e i Sc the g n i ing utin ialis Comp c e nd Sp hs a t a M

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ning

,

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Technology in the school

Technology in the school Digital technology is going beyond gadgets to transforming the very nature of the classroom, with the opportunities of new technology in schools, both primary and secondary, having real signiďŹ cance for personalising learning, revealing one of the most signiďŹ cant contemporary educational movements.

Words by Dina Karim

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Technology in the school

“Our training helps integrate new technology into their classroom to engage better with the student and create a dynamic, exciting classroom.”

Clare Amin, of iblossom Training In the 21st century school, using learning technologies in education can serve as a catalyst for whole-school improvement with innovative technology in the classroom, from interactive whiteboards to 3D technology, demonstrating that digital literacy has become a critical skill for this century. The benefits of using new technology include greater access to rich, multimedia content, the widespread availability of mobile computing devices that can access the Internet and the expanding role of social networking tools for learning and professional development.

With digital innovations emerging that require upgrading schools’ technological infrastructure, schools are forever playing technological catch up. However, in the past decade the demands have also quickly changed, from a focus on simply gaining connectivity to finding enough bandwidth to run more complex applications in classrooms such as, for example, using 3D technology.

One school, and probably the only one in Merseyside, to have significantly embraced 3D technology in the classroom is St Michael’s CoE High School in Crosby. The partnership between St Michael's and GAIA technologies, a major player in the promotion of ICT in education, sees a new ‘Innovation Centre’ in place at St Michael's from January.

Students will benefit from 3D learning opportunities using the latest cutting-edge computers and 3D viewing.

Headteacher Dr Simon Hulme commented: “I believe we’ve got 21st century children here and they need 21st century resources.

They need to always be inspired by their learning, and 3D technology does give them a real ‘wow’ factor when they go into the classroom and inspires them to engage with their learning and I think that’s the fundamental job of teachers: to inspire their pupils.

“The partnership with GAIA technologies will allow us to bring our pupils to the

forefront of technology and our pupils have the benefit of it, which has to be good for them. Now every classroom will have a projector, a screen and use of broadband. If you go into a geography lesson you will see a volcano erupt, you go into a food lesson and Jamie Oliver will be doing a recipe and then the child will be doing it. It just makes that stimulus part easy. But it’s always moving and you can’t stand still, and 3D is at the forefront of things.”

Some governing bodies may be wary of how much money to invest in the digital infrastructure of schools especially with research of new technology on educational effectiveness not only thin on the ground but also at risk of being irrelevant by the time it is completed, because of the rapidly changing face of the technological landscape. An example being the iPad, for instance, which became popular in schools soon after it was released and well before any research could be conducted about its educational effectiveness. Although research may be scarce anecdotal evidence is not, with many teachers citing how richer lessons have become with the inclusion of multimedia resources in the classrooms and even attributing higher attainment and examination results to a rounder learning experience.

Liverpool-based iblossom Training is leading the way in providing training for schools, and teachers, to gain the most out of their equipment. Their workshops setting a plan of action over a preferred period of time, and teachers are trained up in everything from podcasts to wikis and animation.

Clare Amin, of iblossom Training, commented: “What can happen is that schools can invest in a lot of equipment and not give their teachers the right development. If a new teacher has a new piece of kit, they can’t be expected to pick it up and run with it. With our training schools tell us what they want to achieve and we develop a strategy for them.

“Our training helps integrate new technology into their classroom to engage better with the student and create a dynamic, exciting classroom. The students of today want everything so quickly, technology is everywhere so they expect.

Schools need to think about collaboration with technology, for example, using wikis

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increasing communication between students who are used to social media. The iPads are genius; you can access information so quickly. There’s also a future in creating your own app - it’s those kind of devices which will have an influence on the future.”

Technology has become such an important part of schools some even run their own computer servers to maintain control over not only their systems, but to avoid being victim to remote server failures. De La Salle Academy, in Croxteth, is one such school.

Principal Patrick Ferguson commented: “The school’s ‘nerve centre’ has 10 servers in there, and the backup for all our drives is carried by fibre to another building. We’ve been working on building the servers up for some time; this is business standard, what you would get in a bank for example, running 24-hours a day so the data is written to many drivers with backups. In traditional cloud computing you would connect somewhere else but here, for our own control, it’s on this site and we own it.

Through cloud computing you’re storing your data on someone else’s server and essentially you’re handing over to someone else, whereas we have total control.

Administration staff digitise all the work the teachers do, so it’s available on our network to use and distribute. We also have our own security company, which is very secure.

“In order not to disadvantage any student studying at home, for example, the latest development that we’ve brought in is that if you’re working and you haven’t got Microsoft Office and you wanted Powerpoint you can go onto the cloud and you can use the cloud Powerpoint.”

Using the FROG learning platform to power their website, the school’s computer network allows students to link from home to facilitate out-of-hours learning. The social media aspect of FROG also allows students to work cooperatively on projects in an online environment that feels familiar to students.

What next?

With the specialist schools programme abolished in April dedicated funding for specialist technology schools, who championed the use of innovative technology in the classroom, ended. Schools are also losing out through the scrapping of the Building Schools for the Future programme,

“Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11-year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations.”

Michael Gove, education secretary

which as well as investing in school buildings, also funded IT equipment.

The education secretary Michael Gove revealed this month that as of September ICT study would most likely be scrapped, in favour of more demanding computer science and programming lessons. At the BETT show for educational technology in London, he said that inadequate grounding in computing offered by the current curriculum is in danger of damaging Britain's economic prospects. Under the proposed changes, schools will be free to use lessons and resources that have been developed by experts, the Department for Education said.

In his speech, Mr Gove said: "Imagine the

dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum.

"Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations using an MIT tool called Scratch.

By 16, they could have an understanding of formal logic previously covered only in university courses and be writing their own apps for smartphones."

Schools can also make effective use of existing technology such as interactive whiteboards, which have become a mainstay of classrooms across the country. They make it easy for teachers to enhance presentation content by easily integrating a wide range of material into a lesson, such as a picture from the internet or text from a Microsoft Word file. For example, in mathematics interactive whiteboards can be used to represent areas of mathematical knowledge and understanding, particularly at secondary level.

Professor Bridget Somekh, a leading researcher in ICT, pedagogy and learning, published ‘Pedagogy and Learning with ICT: researching the art of innovation’, which highlighted the importance of interactive whiteboards in the classroom. She writes: “Whereas teaching the current national curriculum and preparing students for national tests does not provide a clear rationale for teachers to involve students in using ICT individually to support their learning, an interactive whiteboard that is used by the teacher as a presentational tool perfectly fits their needs in delivering the whole-class teaching required by the mandated numeracy and literacy strategies.”

What will become crucial for schools in the future, even with the loss of funding, is identifying what current technologies are good at and maintaining those technologies.

Although, it’s more than likely there will be a new generation of multi-touch interactive whiteboards in the next few years schools will not have the funding to invest in them the way they did the first round of interactive whiteboards. The pressure will be on schools to maintain the equipment that they’ve got over the next few years and keep using the equipment that is effective rather than being able to invest and renew stock that they’ve got.

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Education News

Lack of routine harms school grades Young people growing up in the North West without a daily routine or structure such as regular bedtimes and set meal times are more likely to struggle at school and face lower self-confidence, warns a new report.

The Prince’s Trust Youth Index reveals how more than one in ten young people in the North West (11 per cent) feel their days "lacked structure and direction" while growing up. The research suggests that those with lower school grades are significantly more likely to feel this way.

The charity's fourth annual Youth Index - which gauges how young people feel about their lives across a range of areas from family life to physical health shows that young people who claim to have “lacked structure and direction” are less content and confident than their peers.

It also shows how more than one in three young people across the North West (38 per cent) "always" or "often" feel

down or depressed, while more than half (54 per cent) feel stressed all or most of the time.

The research, which is based on interviews with 2,136 16-to-25-year-olds in the UK, reveals that those with fewer than five A*-C grade GCSEs are significantly more likely to feel this way.

Jackie Tyler, regional director of The Prince’s Trust in the North West, says: "We know from our work with young people in the North West that the absence of structure and routine in a young life can have a devastating impact. Without the right support, directionless teenagers can become lost young adults – unconfident, underqualified and unemployed.

"Our programmes, which include inschool clubs, give the hardest-to-reach young people intense, structured support – helping to prevent potential drop-outs and exclusions. Similarly, our Fairbridge programme builds self-esteem through one-to-one support outside the classroom."

Curriculum changes pushed back to 2014 The overhaul of the national curriculum in England is to be delayed by a year, the education secretary has confirmed.

A written statement earlier this month says the review of core subjects will now be implemented in autumn 2014.

“The longer timescale will allow for further debate with everyone interested in creating a genuinely world-class education system,” said Mr Gove.

A report from the review's expert panel proposes that a wider range of subjects should be compulsory to the age of 16.

The pushed-back timetable means that instead of introducing changes for English, maths, science and PE in 2013, the revised curriculums for all subjects will be introduced in 2014.

However, by the time the revised national curriculum is in place in 2014, it will almost certainly only be compulsory for a minority of secondary schools, as academies have the right to "disapply" the curriculum.

Mr Gove points to the international 52

New primary schools open Delighted pupils and staff are enjoying their new homes as the final three primary schools in Knowsley’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Programme are now open.

The state-of-the-art buildings and world class facilities of Stockbridge Village, Park Brow (Kirkby) and Yew Tree (Halewood) opened their doors to pupils at the start of the new term.

The schools are a major step forward, providing learning environments and educational delivery to reflect the demands of 21st century learning.

Cllr Graham Wright, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services said: “This has been an ambitious programme and will ensure that we are able to provide the highest possible standard of education for the borough’s future generations”.

Work has also begun on a new Special Educational Needs (SEN) School in Southdene, Kirkby.

The specialist facility will cater for children aged three to 19 with needs ranging from Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty to Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

The new facility will accommodate both Springfield and The Elms schools and is due to open in September 2012.

SEFTON SHINES AGAIN

school league tables, based on the Pisa test results, to argue that England's standing has "deteriorated significantly".

The statement from the education secretary highlights advances by pupils in Singapore, Hong Kong, Poland, Alberta in Canada and Massachusetts in the United States.

"If our schools, and young people, are to become internationally competitive again we must learn from the best in the world," says Mr Gove's statement.

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

Education in Sefton has again won praise after a further six schools appeared in Ofsted’s annual list of ‘Outstanding Providers.’

This year's performance brings the current total of outstanding primary, secondary and special schools in the borough to an impressive 36, with a further three top scoring maintained nurseries.

In the latest Ofsted annual report, Crosby High, Greenbank High (Academy), Litherland High, Newfield, Rowan Park and St Monica's Primary all received the highest rating in the last year.

The performance means that 84% of schools in Sefton have been rated good or outstanding since the revised Ofsted framework was introduced in 2009. This is against a national average of 57%.

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Sixth Form Open Evening Thursday 9th February 4pm - 6pm

Fazakerley High School A Specialist Engineering College

Prospective students and parents from across Merseyside are invited to come and see our outstanding facilities and meet our staff and pupils in a relaxed and friendly environment.

A broad and varied curriculum available to suit the needs of all learners including AS / A2 Level qualifications, L3 BTECs and Level 2 courses.

Sherwoods Lane, Liverpool, L10 1LB Tel: 0151 524 4530 Fax: 0151 524 4532 Email: fazakerley-ao@fazakerleyhigh.liverpool.sch.uk • www.fazakerleyhigh.org

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Education News

Key political role for young Youth make their voices heard Pupils from schools across Sefton found their voice as part of this year's Local Democracy Week.

The event at Litherland High School looked at ways of promoting the voice of young people across the borough through their involvement in the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Cabinet and various youth forums.

It also provided a platform for a series of debates and workshops organised by Sefton Youth Service with secondary schools as well as Oakfield and Rowan Park special schools.

Young people planned and designed their own series of debates on a host of

issues, from improving the role of young people in local decision making to supporting them to present a more positive and realistic image of local youth.

Joining them in their debates were representatives from a host of organisations, including Chris Ashby from Sefton Park Rangers, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Merseyside Police and Safer, Stronger Communities.

Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families, Cllr Ian Moncur, said: “It was very pleasing to see so many schools across the whole of the borough get involved in Local Democracy Week.

"Events like these encourage young

people to have their say on issues that affect them and also helps build confidence and self-esteem."

Jennie Liptrot, from Sefton Youth Service helped coordinate Local Democracy Week in Sefton.

She said: “Local Democracy Week proved very successful, with young people telling us how they have learned new skills, gained knowledge and become more confident as a result of the debates. "Equally, key professionals from a wide variety of services have valued the challenges and ideas presented by the young people they met and will look to build on these relationships”.

Pupils from Litherland High School who took part in Sefton’s Local Democracy Week

SCHOOL PUPILS GET ‘SPOOKED’ Nationally renowned author of the Spooks series of books, Joseph Delaney, visited Knowsley Community College recently to talk about his work and the inspiration behind writing the novels.

College students as well as pupils from local schools including Wade Deacon, Kirkby Sports College and St Edmund Arrowsmith attended the event and had the chance to buy and have the books signed.

Many of the students were already huge fans of the book series and were delighted at having the chance to meet Joseph, especially since the books are set to be turned into a Hollywood Blockbuster in 2013. It was also a chance to capture imagination and understanding of creative writing, hopefully inspiring some to go on to further study in this area.

A fantastic morning was had by all and the College wishes to thank Joseph, as well as all the students and staff who attended the event.

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Education News

Recognising talent Knowsley’s celebration of achievement Sporting ambassadors, volunteers and fundraisers were amongst the pupils who collected awards at Knowsley’s Celebration of Achievement.

The annual awards recognise the outstanding academic and personal achievements of pupils from schools across the borough in a ceremony which was held at the new Huyton Leisure and Culture Park.

Sammy Scotland collected an award for her outstanding contribution to sport and volunteering. The Kirkby Sports College pupil is an ambassador for the national programme aimed at creating an Olympic legacy beyond the 2012 games. It’s a role she take very seriously; giving up her own time to volunteer at sporting events throughout the year and motivating other pupils to get involved and volunteer their time.

The Year 11 student also dedicates a great deal of time to working with younger children. Sammy coaches mini kicks football sessions, started the school’s successful Change for Life Handball Club and recently became a British gymnastics leader and now coaches younger pupils.

Her teachers say Sammy’s enthusiasm for sport and leadership is contagious.

They say she is an extremely talented young lady who is sure to have an amazing career in sports ahead of her.

Year 10 pupil at All Saints Catholic Centre for Learning, Stephanie Stuart,

Knowsley pupils - L/R: Thomas Philips-Langley from Knowsley Park Cfl with Rosie Black from St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School and Sammy Scotland from Kirkby Sports Cfl was nominated for helping to raise over £2,000 for charity and volunteering her time to teacher her peers PE and dance lessons.

Teachers at St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School put forward six year old Rosie Black for being such a well rounded and caring pupil, displaying maturity beyond her years while out of school helping look after her Dad who is wheelchair bound through MS. Thirteen year old Thomas LangleyPhillips was recognised for his great

achievements in fencing. The dedicated youngster trains three times a week after discovering a talent for the sport during a five week school taster session when at Evelyn Primary. Since then the Knowsley Park student has gone on to rank second in the national Leon Paul Junior Series, was 12th in this year’s British Youth Championship and has recently achieved European Cadet ranking. Thomas has also been selected to train at the North West academy under Olympic and Commonwealth champion Pierre-Harper.

Gold Star for services Liverpool’s Children’s Services department has received a gold star from the government’s independent regulator for education and care.

For the first time ever, the annual OFSTED judgment has given the council the top ranking of four out of four.

The inspectors have noted that there has been a “notable improvement” compared to 2010, reporting that the city council has “built upon its established strengths and there has been good progress in the areas for development”.

OFSTED say that leadership is strong and there is an “ongoing commitment 56

to children’s services, ensuring safeguarding is a high priority”.

Around three quarters of the 167 schools are ranked as good or outstanding by OFSTED and Liverpool is the only major city to have no schools in special measures.

Education results are at an all time high – with 86.5 percent of pupils in Liverpool getting five good grades and, significantly, the number getting five good grades including English and Maths at the national average for the first time ever Councillor Jane Corbett, cabinet member for education and children’s services, said:

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

“This report is testament to the hard work of our amazing schools and our own staff who work day in, day out to make sure our young people make the best possible start in life and stay safe.

“This is an incredible result when you consider the fact we are the most deprived city in the country with all of the additional challenges that brings.

“Despite the tough and difficult budget decisions that we are having to make, we are determined to prioritise services for children and young people to make sure they are protected.

"We are committed to

Councillor Jane Corbett

helping our young people develop into achieving, healthy and safe individuals and this report shows we are heading in the right direction.”

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Nugent Care is one of the oldest and largest charities in Liverpool providing support to over 7000 adults and children each year.

To help us continue our work Donate Don’t Dump your old clothes and bric-a-bac to Nugent Care!

How to donate: Drop items off at the Nugent Care Charity Shop, 73 Allerton Road, Liverpool Drop items off at Nugent Care’s Head Office, 99 Edge Lane, Liverpool.

Call us to arrange collection 0151 737 2951.

Nugent Care Charity Shop T: 0151 737 2951, 73 Allerton Road, Liverpool. L18 2DH www.nugentcare.org Registered charity number: 222930

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Education News

International hosts

Former Liverpool player, Alan Kennedy gave a guided tour of the facilities

Helping to fight disability Comenius School Project Partners with Springfield School pupils Back (L-R): Cllr Jackie Harris; Ishmail Bahadir from Turkey; Fran Villaecisa from Spain; Jelena Ditjatrina from Estonia and front: John Parkes, Headteacher Springfield School.

Teachers from across Europe have visited a school in Kirkby to learn about outdoor education for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

Springfield School, which serves the needs of children and young people with physical disabilities and complex needs, hosted partners from Estonia, Spain and Turkey as part of the Comenuis School Project established to explore SEN outdoor education.

The twelve teachers had a packed itinerary showcasing many of the outdoor activities Springfield pupils take part in, inspiring partners to consider developing similar sorts of activities in their country’s schools.

Delegates met pupils from the school’s Duke of Edinburgh group who have all recently achieved their bronze award after volunteering in the local community and completing an expedition with an over night stay.

The pupils’ demonstrated horticultural skills they’ve learnt tending the school’s garden and developed through visits to the Park Haven Trust’s extensive 58

gardens in Maghull.

The international partners took a trip to Acorn Farm, which pupils frequently visit. They also went to Bendrigg Outdoor Education Centre in Kendal, which the school uses for residential trips.

John Parkes, Headteacher at Springfield School said: “It’s been a really interesting four days for our international partners.

“Special education is in its infancy in many partner countries and children with profound and multiple learning difficulties are often cared for at home and don’t attend school.

“Seeing firsthand the range of outdoor education on offer at Springfield School has really inspired the group who plan to go back and share ideas to further the development of SEN education in their own countries.

“It’s also been a great opportunity for our pupils who have enjoyed showcasing their skills and talents and meeting people from overseas, which has been a first for many of our youngsters.”

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

St Vincent’s School, a specialist school for sensory impairment and other needs were invited to take part in Liverpool Football Club’s Equality 4 all project.

Pupils and staff were taken on a guided tour of the stadium and museum. The aim of the tour was, however, for pupils to look at the facilities offered to disabled supporters around Anfield. Pupils were encouraged to photograph and evaluate areas of the club and make suggestions for improvements to enhance the experiences of supporters with disabilities.

Suggestions and a montage of the photographs were used at the end of the day as part of a presentation.

Pupils took part in an interactive British sign language workshop, focusing on signing football chants.

They participated in an obstacle course organised by Guide Dogs for the Blind. Alan Kennedy, a former player at the club, took part alongside pupils in each event. Alan spent some time afterwards chatting to pupils and commended them on their achievements and positive outlooks.

Rishi Jain, Social Inclusion officer at Liverpool Football Club who organised the day said: “It was a real pleasure to have the school involved in the event, and the input we received was amazing. The children are a real credit to St Vincent’s, and provide a shining example of excellence”.

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Meet the Headteacher Patrick Ferguson, De La Salle Academy

Over the last decade, De La Salle Academy, in Croxteth, has changed dramatically. Under the leadership of Patrick Ferguson, who also celebrates 10 years as Principal this year, the school has enjoyed a renaissance from being awarded specialist school status in 2004 to the point where, after an outstanding Ofsted verdict in 2009, the school made a successful bid for Academy status in 2011.

A decade at De La Salle The Catholic, all boys grammar school established in 1952 on the Carr Lane site, provided a grammar school education throughout the fifties, sixties and seventies. As a specialist in English, Media and Humanities, the Academy has since introduced additional advanced level courses in law, psychology, media studies and film studies. Art at advanced level has also been introduced, with a view to accessing careers in design and architecture for aspiring students. For younger students there has been major investment in Spanish as a second foreign language, and Mandarin Chinese classes have been introduced for Year 7 and 8 students.

“We are very proud to be an academy,” says Principal Patrick Ferguson. “It has given us the opportunity to be entrepreneurial in our approach and to give our students extra resources. We’ve introduced Mandarin classes because even though it’s an ambitious challenge for our students when they leave here I would like them to study part of their degree in China. When they graduate they would have that global view and 60

would be more competitive and that’s part of our role here to give our students that edge so that they become highly successful.”

Patrick studied sciences at university before entering teaching. His early years in teaching were spent in Manchester and Stockport before moving to Liverpool. His vision for De La Salle emphasises the primacy of ICT as a teaching and learning tool in the 21st century.

These curriculum innovations have been underpinned by significant investment in the Academy’s ICT infrastructure as a means by which students can learn independently. Several Apple Mac suites are in development, and the school’s computer network allows students to link from home to facilitate out-of-hours learning. Students without the necessary software on their home computers can access it through the school’s Frog portal, and additional aids to education, such as Rosetta Stone for modern foreign languages and My Maths are accessible from school and from home for every student.

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

“

St John Baptiste De La Salle, as founder of De La Salle Academy, said: Treat all children as if they were the children of kings

”

He comments: “When we had Specialist School status granted the lead subject was English because the department was recognised across the city as a lead school for the teaching of English. Then we were looking at pathways for young people and where the job opportunities were in Merseyside and media fit well.

“This is an area where there’s a lot of media activity, with film production,

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animation and games development along with large newspaper, radio stations and only 40 minutes away from Mediacity.

Realistically these are fantastic opportunities for people and there are no other media specific specialist colleges in the area. We’re recruiting additional staff and investing in green screen technology for background manipulation in video so it fits in very neatly with what we’re doing.”

The effects of the additional capital of £10 million associated with De La Salle’s conversion to Academy status are already manifest, and the capital build programme will also include a range of brand new sporting facilities, including plans for an ice-climbing wall, where sixth form students train as instructors and assist primary pupils with their first experiences of climbing. Construction is expected to begin in July with a 12month completion date. This sense of adventure is an important component of children’s education, and is further encouraged by the addition to the curriculum of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

It is not just the impressive evolution of the school which has characterised Patrick’s time as Principal, it is also a manner he has brought with him, creating a school that is calm in its behaviour and innovative in its approach.

Patrick has given much back to the educational community in his role as a National Leader in Education, and the Academy’s status as a National Support School. He has provided support to a number of schools across the North West which were struggling to overcome particular problems which were affecting their leadership.

“There are several things we aim for,” he comments. “One is to create a culture in the morning where students hurry to school because it’s so good here that they’re keen to arrive; we have 96 per

cent attendance. Then at the end of the day they leave calm and orderly.

“We want them to be happy students and enjoy their childhood but there’s a serious side and that is focus on your learning. So I’m pleased to say they take it seriously and in the words of St John Baptiste De La Salle, we should ‘treat all children as if they were the children of kings’. The students at De La Salle are a credit to themselves and their families; I have lost count of the number of visitors to the school who have commented on the warmth and friendliness of the welcome they have received.

“I also have to acknowledge the

outstanding contribution made by the staff at De La Salle, both teaching and support staff. They are always open to personal development and improvement, and the welfare and interests of the students are at the heart of everything the staff do. It is because of their outstanding performance that the GCSE results keep rising and the CVA (contextual value added) is consistently amongst the top few per cent of schools nationally.”

“It really is about that personal satisfaction in changing young peoples lives and that’s a wonderful, worthy profession to be a part of.”

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Help and advice

Dear Educate

**************************************************** I am writing to ask your advice on helping my 11 year-old son become more organised for school. He started secondary school in September, and has received a few detentions for forgetting to do his homework, or for forgetting to take it in on time. He has a homework planner, but even though he writes his homework in it he sometimes forgets to take the work in with him to the correct teacher on time. Now, at the start of the spring and summer term, I’m really keen to get him more organised and would like to do it in a way that also teaches him to become more independent. What is your advice?

Most secondary school pupils are issued with a planner, in which they record their timetable, and the subjects for homework issued each day and the due date. If you go through this with him each evening, asking him to briefly remind himself (rather than tell you) the tasks that have been set, you can encourage him to decide when he will be completing the work (to fit sensibly around his extra-curricular activities), before it is due. It may be a good idea, as some schools encourage, for you to tick off homework completed in the planner or diary so that you can both keep an eye on the work that remains outstanding throughout the week. This also creates a real sense of accomplishment for any tricky or complicated projects. For homework that is issued as a worksheet, or by its nature requires pupils to get online, it can be more difficult to track. However, encourage your son to make a habit of writing a brief note in his planner such as, ‘English – Spellings on VLE (Virtual Learning Environment), or ‘Maths – Algebra Worksheet’. Another good idea would be to store all homework sheets for every subject – in a thin, transparent folder in his schoolbag. By doing so, even if he gets mixed up on the dates work is due, then completed work will still be ready to hand in when needed.

My 10 year-old son is keen to be allowed to walk himself to school.

Although it is only a short walk, with only a few minor roads to cross, I am concerned about the traffic parking outside the school gates at that time of the morning. Also, I feel that I’ve really benefitted from being able to accompany him to school in the mornings and pick him up, because we have spent quality time together on the walk, and I’ve been able to meet and talk to his friends’ parents and his class teacher. What do you suggest?

In the final year of primary school it’s natural and healthy for children to search for ways to be independent. For many children, walking to or from school themselves is great practice before they attempt the, usually longer, journey to secondary school. However, if you’re concerned about the traffic outside of school – rather than on the route itself – have a word with the headteacher to voice your concerns and explain that perhaps parents could find somewhere safer to stop. In the meantime, quiz your son on road safety and find out whether he can make the right choices.

Then, when you’re confident, try letting him start the journey a few paces ahead while you walk behind him. If you have a dog to walk, or other children to drop off at the school or

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nursery, then you have a ready excuse for following him. If not, then don’t worry - you are sure to meet other parents following a similar strategy. To avoid missing out on the news at the school gates, try agreeing to walk together several days a week but to let him go ahead of you the other days. See how this arrangement works, as the novelty of the routine may wear off, and he may be happy to be accompanied by you again. However, to try to develop his independence more generally, allow him to go on small, short errands for you – perhaps to a neighbour, or friend you trust. When it comes to ‘buried treasure’ such as reply slips and letters about school trips, frequently crumpled at the bottom of his schoolbag, encourage him to take more responsibility for his bag and for letters by going through it and checking for anything each evening, which he can then pass on to you. This will stand him in good stead for secondary school, when he’ll be receiving more regular homework

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

We’ve recently moved house and my 13 year-old daughter has had to change schools. I am worried about her starting a new school this term, in the middle of the year, when everyone else has already made friends. She is generally a happy and outgoing child, but she was reluctant to move schools and I don’t want her work or her confidence to suffer. To add to the problem, she attends a dance class with friends from her old school, and spends a lot of time at weekends with them. I’m worried that she won’t make new friends while she still has such strong links with her old classmates. Please could you suggest how we can help her settle in to her new school?

It can be daunting to move schools in the middle of the year but it is often unavoidable, and many pupils find themselves in a similar position. It’s great that your daughter has such strong friendships and a talent which she enjoys practising and performing, as this will certainly help her approach adolescence with confidence and adapt to changing situations throughout life. Continue to support and socialising with old friends, but encourage her to find new friends at school who she can invite to your house for tea after school one night. If you are taking her to school by car, see if she has any potential new friends who she could walk with, or if she could take the bus to school. If you believe that she is feeling less than confident about facing new classmates, lessons and teachers, try going into the school to meet her new form tutor and ask for more information about after school and lunch clubs. If she seems to struggle with the work, remind her that every school follows a slightly different curriculum so that she can’t be expected to know everything about topics she hasn’t studied.

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Sponsored by

School Ec Warriors Educate Magazine takes a look at Eco School Warriors – we bring you stories from local schools and groups as well as companies involved with the environmental issues that are relevant in today’s society.

Each issue we bring you more stories about the environmental issues being addressed in schools and helping to raise awareness of the world we live in and how we can all help reduce our carbon footprints as well as advice on recycling and other energy saving advice.

The Government in England wants every school to be a sustainable school by 2020 and many schools in Merseyside are facing up to that challenge and starting their own environmental, garden and wildlife schemes and becoming ‘School Eco Warriors’ Sponsored by

Classroom on water Mersey Ferries Wildlife Eco-Cruise set to start in Spring School pupils across Merseyside will soon be able to set sail for an educational wildlife eco-cruise.

Commissioned by Mersey Ferries, the eco-cruise is due to start in Spring 2012.

Mersey Ferries in partnership with Climatlantic will run three, two-hour long cruises along Liverpool’s renowned waterfront each year. Featuring top environmental experts and professional RSPB field teachers, the Wildlife Ecocruise creates a living classroom on the water and will take place on 18th April, 2nd May and 11th July 2012.

Chris Murphy, Partnership Officer at Merseytravel said: “After completing a

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trial cruise over the summer, many teachers expressed how much they enjoyed the trip, both the educational aspects and also seeing how children and students gained a better understanding outside of the classroom, with experiencing it first-hand.

“The input we have received from teachers and pupils has been essential and we are excited to get started on the first of the cruises in the spring.”

As well as getting involved with bird watching, plankton trawls and maritime activities with National Museums and Galleries, the Wildlife Eco-cruise will also focus on Liverpool’s Three Graces at the Pier Head as well as Antony Gormley’s

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

‘Another Place’ on Crosby Beach, as the cruise observes the architectural and artistic landmarks that define our city down the Mersey.

A Wildlife Eco-Cruise workbook is provided free of charge to all passengers and is packed with educational fun and games.

Climatlantic is part of a Europeanwide project in association with other countries located along the Atlantic coastline. Working in partnership with these countries, the scheme allows an opportunity for learning and development on ways to reduce collective carbon footprints around Europe.

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Wildlife EcoCruise The perfect choice for a fun, educational day out

Step on board and enjoy a journey through Merseyside’s waterfront heritage as you investigate the local wildlife within the River Mersey’s diverse ecosystem.

Mersey Ferries in partnership with Climatlantic will be running two-hour long cruises along Liverpool’s renowned waterfront. Featuring top environmental experts and professional RSPB field teachers, the Wildlife Eco-cruise creates a living classroom on the water.

Climatlantic is part of a European wide project in association with other countries located along the Atlantic coastline. Working in partnership with these countries, the scheme allows an opportunity for learning and development on ways to reduce collective carbon footprints around Europe.

Highlights of the Mersey Ferries Wildlife Eco-Cruise include:

• Birdwatching and talks with the RSPB – see up to 25 varieties of birds!

• Examine the Mersey’s ecosystem under the microscope

on the ‘Plankton Trawl’ with experts from National Museums and Galleries

• Burbo Bank Wind Farm and experts from Dong Energy discussing this new resource • Fascinating commentary from Mersey Ferries on the history of this renowned passage

• Liverpool’s Three Graces – The best views of the UNESCO World Heritage Site • Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ on Crosby Beach

Departs

Pier Head, Liverpool at 10.00am and Seacombe at 10.15am

Prices

£7.00 per child One free adult ticket for every 6 children’s tickets (additional adults £7.00)

To book please call 0151 330 1444 Advanced booking is required as places are limited.

Investing in our common future

Free Wildlife Eco-Cruise workbook for passengers

www.climatlantic.co.uk

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Sponsored by

Recycling gets Top Marks Centre proves to be a big hit with schools The Recycling Discovery Centres, which are a partnership between Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority and Veolia Environmental Services have proved successful in raising the profile of recycling amongst schools and community groups in Merseyside. The two centres located at Bidston and Gillmoss have seen over 1500 visitors in the past six months.

Visitors are able to grasp the importance and in depth detail of the recycling process from start to finish, whilst seeing it in action through tours of the materials recovery facilities.

Learning through play is promoted with the use of interactive games and awareness raising activities.

Teachers have commented “the educational but fun approach keeps the students engaged throughout the whole visit”. The centres offer a range of learning outside the classroom opportunities as well as covering numerous school subjects which are part of the National Curriculum and Key Stage themes.

But it’s not just the students who are learning, teachers say it has opened their eyes to the possibilities of recycling, and successfully changed their behaviour both in school and at home.

The Education Officer at Veolia Environmental Services, Alistair Baker, explains “it’s great to see the students excited about recycling, they have the opportunity to make a real difference to future recycling rates. The feedback I receive suggests that many local schools have improved their recycling facilities as a result of a visit.”

“We can accommodate group sizes of up to 30, with a flexible approach to timings dependant on group needs and availability”.

To book a visit contact DiscoveryCentre@veolia.co.uk, 0151 651 3200. Alternatively, search ‘Recycling Discovery Centres’ on Facebook or Twitter for more information.

See the recycling process in action from the aerial walkway

Green noses are healthy Eloise Nicholas goes green to Walk to School at Holy Family primary in Halewood.

Gillm

oss

Come and learn about what happens to your recycling A green nose is a good sign, according to one Knowsley primary school.

Pupils at Holy Family primary in Halewood painted the tips of their noses for Walk to School Week.

Green Nose Day is a regular event for the school to promote healthy living, such as walking to school and getting more exercise. Another initiative at the school is “Would You Dare to Walk to School with Mad Hair?” where the pupils make their way with messed up hair.

“We want to make these things as fun as possible,” said Diane Reeves, learning mentor at the school.

“The children love it and I think it encourages more of them to take part.

“We do a lot about how to look after your health and the children are quite savvy about eating well, exercising and reducing pollution.”

A survey carried out by the pupils revealed that traffic congestion at the start and end of the school day causes a lot of problems for local residents.

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Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

A joint partnership between Veolia Environmental Services and Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority, the new Recycling Discovery Centre with its interactive experience and latest technology aims to educate children of all ages and the local community on the importance of recycling and protecting the natural environment.

The centre is based in Fazakerley in Liverpool and is open all year round for pre-booked visits. PLUS if you book a visit you can apply for a contribution to your travel costs to the centre. To book call:

T: 0151 651 3234

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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, 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.

GO ON THE WEBSITE NOW

www.climatlantic.co.uk

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Bröadgreén Íntêrnãtiønal Sçhòol -----------------------------------------A FIRST CLASS EDUCATION -----------------------------------------Sixth Form Open Evening Thursday 9th February 2012 6.00pm – 8.00pm Broadgreen International School A Technology College Queens Drive Liverpool L13 5UQ United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0) 151 228 6800 Enquiries@BroadgreenInternationalSchool.com www.BroadgreenInternationalSchool.com

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HIGHLY CHARGED! Broadgreen play has a gritty array of characters When does fifteen plus five equal ‘Two’? No it’s not a maths quandary it’s the number of students and the number of weeks that Broadgreen International School took to put on ‘Two’, Jim Cartwright’s acclaimed play. As part of their International Baccalaureate the sixth form students had just over a month to create the array of characters that appear in the highly charged scenes set in a gritty Northern pub. From the emotionally scarred landlord and landlady to the irrepressibly flirtatious Moth and manipulated love struck Maudie the students tackled the roles with focus and flair. In a relatively short amount of time they worked hard as an ensemble to create a piece that was both challenging and entertaining and the audience really appreciated their efforts.

The cast assemble to receive some last minute diirectors notes

Moth tries and fails to woo the crowd with his dancing skills

Kristian Williams as the Old Man

Alice pays tribute to the king

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PUTTING ON A SHOW Music and dance extravaganza

GET INTO THE SWING St John’s Catholic Primary School Dance Club has been going for nearly two years growing from just over twenty girls and boys to over fifty at present. Emma Warrington is a professional dance teacher employed by the school taking both the KS 1 and KS 2 groups in this after school activity.

This Christmas the children put on a dance show which was a great success attended by over seventy parents and relatives who marvelled at the progress the children have made to perform their show. Emma commented, “I feel so proud of them, they have all worked really hard to perform so well, the kids are brilliant!” The children are now looking forward to their Easter show later this year.

BAND VISIT TO BECK Archbishop Beck Catholic College Music programme has experienced great success over many years. And 2011 was no exception and culminated in a special visit to the College by an Australian High school Symphonic Band.

At the beginning of December the College welcomed the Camberwell High School Symphonic Band, from Melbourne Australia.

They presented a combined concert in the College sports hall, but before that they were treated to a local dish, appropriately called “scouse” when both groups had a musician’s tea.

Director of Music Bruce Hicks at Archbishop Beck, (himself an Australian), spoke highly of the event and of the very entertaining and rewarding time both groups had together. The players then joined together to play an item en masse with well over 80 players performing a Merseyside Anthem “You’ll never walk alone”.

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YOU SHALL GO TO THE BALL Staff and students at Holly Lodge Girl’s College in West Derby took to the stage to perform a modern version of Cinderella.

They performed for two nights to an audience of over 400 who were left spellbound and aching with laughter from the wonderful performances.

Year 11 BTEC Art students also worked extremely hard in creating amazing unique costumes for the cast!

FUN AND LAUGHTER Prove to be the best medicine

GOING GAGA FOR YOGA Over one hundred pupils from St Lawrence Primary school, Kirkdale took part in a special “Being Well and Staying Safe” week recently.

The weeks activities ranged from yoga sessions, the “fun food chef” popping in to show how to cook healthy meals, special lessons about the importance of eating healthily, the dangers of smoking, the importance of dental hygiene and even how to stay safe online.

Organiser Jo Campbell said: “We wanted to hold this special week of activities because the area faces huge health challenges, and it’s important we get our young people into good habits at an early age”.

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THE CHRISTMAS STORY Schools from the region celebrated Christmas in festive style.

Events ranged from the traditional nativity plays to christingle services and the collection for Operation Christmas Child boxes for those less well off. Bellerive FCJ College even had a Llama in their Nativity.

Also taking place where the Broadgreen International School Christmas Santa Dash and the Mosspits Primary Christmas Fayre, whilst children from St Albert’s Primary School, Stockbridge Village became ‘Toy-testers’ for the day’.

Whatever the event all agreed that it was a wonderful and colourful Christmas.

Bellerive FCJ College Christmas Nativity - Mary was portrayed by Macy Iwiedibo and Joseph by Edward Chihumbiri

Belvedere pupils with a van load of Shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Child charity

St Vincent’s School Nativity

St Alberts Primary school Christmas toy testers

St Christopher’s, Speke with Snow White and the Eight Dwarfs

Broadgreen International School Santa Dash

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St Vincent de Paul, Liverpool Nativity play this year called, “Whoops a Daisy- Fallen Angel”

Childwall C of E Primary Nativity play

The Bluecoat Christmas concert

Knowsley Centre for Learning shoebox appeal

St Anne’s Overbury Street Christmas Christingle service

Springwood Heath Primary School nativity

Mosspits Primary Parents Association Winter Fair

Our Lady’s Primary, Prescot entertain shoppers at Liverpool One shopping centre

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“WHAT A HIT SHOW” Bugsy Malone production proves a hit Gateacre's latest spectacular Music and Drama Christmas production was ‘Bugsy Malone’ which took place in their new theatre.

The production saw over 150 talented students of all ages sing, dance, play music and choreograph the show. Students also worked on lighting, sound, stage management, set, props and costume design.

Collaboratively, the students pulled together an outstanding production attended by families and friends along with the local community at the first production in their brand new school.

Everyone had a great time and the pupils really outdid themselves to plenty of audience laughter and cheer.

The Grand Slam dancers

Fizzy played by Josh Simpson

Don’t mess with the mob!

Blousy Brown played by Taylor Burke

Knuckles and Fat Sam played by Nathan Jacks and Louis Crawford

The Ventrilioquist and Dummy played

by Catrina Kenward and Jamie Pike

Jazzy Jeff and The Temperance 17.

Jack Dodd, Danielle Bowers and James Kewley playing Bugsy Malone, Louella and Dandy Dan

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T

ES A H QU'IL

BON

LE BON DIE U

Notre Dame Catholic College Established1869

Sixth Form Open Evening Thursday 9th February 2012- Starts 6.00pm 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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Students run through their lines for the next scene

LIFE BEHIND THE CURTAIN Theatre opens its doors for a glimpse behind the scenes Liverpool Empire Theatre recently opened its doors to 100 13-16-yearolds as part of the Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural’s ‘Offstage Choices’ programme.

The project offers young people a taste of the wide range of jobs available behind the scenes in technical theatre and live music.

The pupils met and experienced the work of a number of professionals, sharing tips and offering the chance to experience working outside the spotlight.

Andrew Rawlinson, General Manager at the Liverpool Empire, said: “We are proud to be part of ‘Offstage Choices’ and welcoming them into our fantastic venue and maybe even a career in the theatre industry”.

Testing, testing 1 2 3

The workshop also covered technical support Warmup exercises

Take a bow That’s a wrap!

Keeping the audience enthralled

Ladies and gentlmen may I present!

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Take a closer look 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

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CULTURAL FESTIVAL

A thriving world marketplace

Diversity within the harmonious Calderstones School held its inaugural Cultural festival in December 2011. The event featured music, food, dance, drama, activities and displays from across the world, drawing on the wealth of diversity within the harmonious, multicultural school population.

The event, co-ordinated by Miss York, head of year 11, was an ideal opportunity for pupils, parents, staff and the local community to gain an understanding of different cultures with interactive displays and traditional costumes on show.

Sharon Maguire, deputy head commented: “Calderstones is commited to ensuring that all students have an equal opportunity to reach their potential and this is at the heart of all that we do�

Local Yemeni musicians entertain the crowd

Miss Day and pupil Weronika Kozinska in traditional Polish costume

Daniel Pye sings Frank Sinatra Henna decoration display

Origami on the Japanese market stall Traditional Breton costumes on the France market stall

GCSE students perform a Bollywood routine

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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 207 8580 or email musicservice@notredame.liverpool.sch.uk

ES

T

A H QU'IL

BON

LE BON DIE U

ES

T

A H QU'IL

BON

LE BON DIE U

IN ASSOCIATION WITH NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC COLLEGE

liverpoolmusicsupportservice.com

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RESONATE STUDIOS Vasily Petrenko officially opens new resource Liverpool Music Support Service, in association with Notre Dame Catholic College, have launched their spacious new premises in Everton. Resonate Music & Creativity Studio, which will not only enable LMSS to flourish but also allow for a greater range of on-site activity and learning to take place, all under one roof.

LMSS is working in partnership with Liverpool Philharmonic on developing Liverpool’s future plans for music education and was delighted to welcome Vasily Petrenko, Chief Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic to officially open the new facility.

The LMSS Team at Resonate

Vasily Petrenko with ‘Chronic’ (L to R) Ashley Hancox, Liam Kelly and Mark Naylor from St Margarets C of E High School

Jonathan Dickson (LMSS), Cllr John McIntosh and Francis Harrison

Above: Mark Naylord of St Margaret’s C of E High School

Pat Naylor, Mel Rooney and Jean Tremarco (LMSS)

Jonathan Dickinson (LMSS)

Vasily Petrenko with Jonathan Dickson

Collette Peaker, Lesley Bentley, Alf Westwell, Francis Harrison, Bruce Gilham, Andy Rannard and Patrick Kerney of Notre Dame Catholic College

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The Blue Coat School Not For Oneself but for All

Sixth Form Information Evening Tuesday 17th January 2012 at 5pm Do you want the opportunity to achieve excellent Advanced Level results in a stimulating academic atmosphere? Then join us at our Sixth Form Information Evening for external applicants where you can find out what we have to offer.

Open Evening Thursday 5th July 2012 at 6pm YEAR 7 ADMISSIONS 2013 The School will hold its Annual Open Evening on Thursday 5th July 2012 6.00pm-8.30pm.

Presentations will take place at 6.15pm, 7.00pm, 7.30pm & 8.00pm Requests for an Application Form will be available on this evening, for parents of boys and girls considering entry to The Blue Coat School in 2013 The Blue Coat School, Church Road, Wavertree, Liverpool L15 9EE Telephone: 0151 733 1407 Website: www.bluecoatschoolliverpool.org.uk

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ASIAN ADVENTURES Broadgreen pupils experience culture at first hand In October 2011, 18 year 13 pupils and three members of staff from Broadgreen International School headed off for a fantastic adventure in Southern India. For some pupils, it was the first time they had experienced such a diverse culture and environment. The pupils relished the opportunity to deal with different scenarios and situations, which really tested their character.

During the visit, they attended five schools and were overwhelmed by the welcome they received by all of the staff and the children. It was not unusual to be greeted by a full procession of musicians, singing and dancing.

Mia with pupils from NSS High School

Meal time at Janaseva Orphange

Working together - St Thomas High and Broadgreen pupils

Typical morning assembly at SNDP Up School, Kerala

Football - the international language

Holly, Rachel and Holly enjoy an elephant ride

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Orange girls blazer jacket £18, River Island

e to n i r e g n ipe ta e orange, r a From tion con this s c e u d r a t ll sh cons a n i er. m m o s m s u blo nd s a g n i spr

Feather headband £10, Claires

Wildfox girls NYC jersey £46, Kids Cavern

APPLE iPod shuffle £39, Currys

For the

Girls Cotton rich adjustable waist shorts £12-£18, Marks and Spencer

Coloured skinny girls jeans £15.99, New Look

Pretty scarf with pom pom £14, Claires Girls orange handbag £20, Claires

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Adidas boys DRAGON lace trainer £35, Kids Cavern Two pack orange and blue (not shown) plastic watches £6, River Island

Light weight anorak £22-£28, Next

Adidas boys orange LA trainer £35, Kids Cavern Boys t-shirt £6, River Island

For the

Boys Hesh Paul Frank Devil Julius headphones by Skullcandy £49.99, Currys

Monkey trunks (part of a three pack) £9-£10, Next

BOSS boys classic polo t shirt £35, Kids Cavern

Stockists claires.com, currys.co.uk, kidscavern.co.uk, newlook.com, next.co.uk, marksandspencer.com, riverisland.com

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Education News

21st Century Teachers iblossom Training are taking a revolutionary approach to training teachers in the use of technology A lot has been documented about how 21st century learners are able to collaborate, appreciate a trial and error approach to learning and learn by doing something.

We are told we need to harness technology such as the flipped classroom and web 2.0, also to utilise social media tools such as twitter in order to engage with our 21st century students. iblossom believe teachers are 21st century learners too.

Teachers also want to be taught differently.

They too look to the internet when they have a thirst for knowledge and use social media sites such as

Twitter, Facebook and Ning to connect with other teachers and share ideas and tools. Teachers also learn by doing and their technology training should reflect this.

With this in mind iblossom trainer’s work in partnership with schools and academies to build tailor made CPD programmes.

Working with departments and individuals finding out what tools best suit their needs and coach and support them in using technology in the classroom.

With St Aidans, C of E Academy teachers had a varied level of skills in ICT when opening in their new building. iblossom conducted a training needs

analysis and set out a plan, which involved a mixture of group workshops, coaching and departmental projects.

The results were amazing with every teacher learning and more importantly using a new ICT skill. This ranged from recording a video of kneading bread and placing this on the whiteboard for students to replay to creating a wiki for a school trip.

You don’t have to invest in expensive equipment, a lot of the tools which are most valuable are free and online. Here are some amazing tools you can start using today: www.livebinder.com Online storage tool where you can store links to websites and documents all for free! www.wordle.net Amazing word clouds from text, the more frequent the words the larger it will appear. This is really gaining popularity within the education community. www.prezi.com - Bored of PowerPoint try these zooming presentations. iblossom offer a number of training workshops including

Clare Amin of iblossom new iPad courses. They work with you to determine what it is you want your staff to be able to do following the course, this ensures you get a service tailored to you.

For more useful tools follow our blog at www.i-blossom.co.uk Or follow us on twitter @iblossomt

Junior Chefs Academy Delivering fun, educational, hands on workshops to hundreds of North West Primary schools Themes inc. 2012 Olympic Power foods/ Fairtrade /Krazy kitchen science/ Food Miles /Multicultural and many more...

Tel: 07754-411710 Web: www.juniorchefsacademy.co.uk Email: juniorchefs@btinternet.com

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Education News

It’s a FACT FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) has been leading the UK video, film and new media arts scene for 20 years with groundbreaking exhibitions, education and research projects. The organisation aims to pioneer new forms of artistic and social interaction with individuals and communities.

FACT’s Schools and Learning programme focuses on the creative use and critical understanding of film, art and creative technology. Education projects at FACT cater for both pupils and teachers - and are delivered by practitioners such as speakers, presenters and, primarily, artists with a developed philosophical practice of their own. FACT provides schools and colleges with events and resources that complement its exhibition and film programmes, enhance curriculum work and stimulate an interest in, and understanding of, moving image culture.

The programme aims to offer multidisciplinary opportunities that fit within the national curriculum, collaborate with teachers to develop cross-curricular activities and projects and inspire and engage new audiences in film, video and

new media.

FACT can come to your school to deliver day-long skills based workshops to your class. All workshop leaders are practicing artists or industry experts with experience working in education settings As well as offering workshops and screenings FACT works to commission young people, teachers and students to

create artworks to be exhibited alongside the work of national and international artists.

If you are interested in working with FACT or would like further information please contact Anna Kronenburg (Schools and Learning Co-ordinator) anna.kronenburg@fact.co.uk / 0151 707 4417

Animation workshops at The Academy of St Francis of Assisi

Just off Bold Street...

88 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ fact.co.uk / 0151 707 4464

awesome-art-hub booming-blockbusters tactile-technologies peoples-playspace fantastic-futurefest come & play

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Education News

No nonsense in the classroom Edward Lear brought back to life Peter Casey has taught drama in Liverpool schools for 35 years. He is a teacher, actor, writer and director who has extensive experience of working with children of all ages.

Peter set up Blindseer Productions in order to bring exciting characterisation and storytelling into the classroom to stimulate children's desire to learn.

To celebrate the bicentenary of Edward Lear (born 12th May 1812) Peter will be resurrecting the master of nonsense verse for schools throughout 2012, spending the full day with

students, delivering the great man's verse and helping them to create their own poems in the style of Lear.

Last year Peter added the gloriously eccentric and hirsute Dmitri Mendeleev to his repertoire of famous scientists including Galileo, Darwin and Einstein available for school visits and now there is Lear.

Peter will spend a full day, in character, with your students, informing them on the history of the characters themselves as well as their teachings.

To find out more about Peter Casey coming to your school visit www.blindseerproductions.com

Dmitri in action

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Viewpoint

Ofsted announces plans for no-notice inspection for schools Ofsted’s new Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has announced plans to introduce no-notice inspections for all regular school inspections from September 2012. Arguments say that this will put undue pressure on teachers not knowing when the inspectors will visit their schools.

Sir Michael Wilshaw

Sally Beevers

Russell Hobby

Sir Michael Wilshaw HMCI Ofsted has been moving towards a position of unannounced school inspection over a period of years. I believe the time is now right for us to take that final step and make sure that for every school we visit inspectors are seeing schools as they really are in the corridors, classrooms and staff room.

With our new Parent View online questionnaire we can now make this change and have confidence that we can still consider the views of parents during inspections. Ofsted already has considerable experience in undertaking unannounced inspections and we know it works. With this further change, parents and all those interested in what is happening in our schools can have absolute confidence in Ofsted’s findings.'

Sally Beevers, Headteacher Broadgreen International School Schools are regularly inspected by Ofsted Inspectors and currently receive only a couple of days’ notice. Schools work extremely hard to ensure that all their students are given every opportunity to achieve to the best of their ability and it is this that drives school improvement, not the “threat” of an imminent Ofsted inspection. The process of inspection works most effectively when it is based on trust and respect.

The concern is that the introduction of this initiative may be underpinned by the belief that giving schools a period of notice allows them to somehow “cheat” the system.

It would be most beneficial to be able to work with Sir Michael rather than having changes imposed on schools without due consultation.

Teachers are already fully committed to continuing improvements in teaching and learning and it is rather disappointing that Sir Michael feels even more pressure is necessary without perhaps considering the full implications of his proposals.

Russell Hobby, General Secretary of the NAHT (National Association of Head Teachers) It is disturbing to see Ofsted change its position in a matter of days and suggests the policy has been created with an eye more to the soundbite than the evidence. If a school could conceal evidence of widespread failure in just two days then the whole concept of inspection is flawed and Ofsted's protestations that it examines progress and behaviour over the long-term ring hollow. It will reduce the school's ability to engage with the inspection (through a preinspection briefing, for example, or setting up team meetings). And it is this engagement which translates inspection judgements into real improvements. Unless inspection leads to such improvements it is a waste of time. The Parent View questionnaire is a deeply flawed alternative. There is no way to verify that it is completed by parents or provides a representative view of opinions on the school.

Catherine Chapman, Deputy Headteacher, Gateacre School We welcome No-Notice inspections as we’re very proud of what happens on a daily basis in our school. Visitors often comment on the excellent working atmosphere at Gateacre. The only problem I foresee is if the school has something significantly ‘different’ happening on the days of the inspection such as a whole school sports day, it means they will not see our great students and teachers in the classroom.

Catherine Chapman

Since the first Ofsted school inspections in 1992 there has been a steady journey towards unannounced visits. Initially, schools received over a year’s notice of inspectors turning up. Over time this shifted to six to eight weeks’ notice and then, from 2005, around two days.

As part of the changes introduced in 2009, Ofsted consulted extensively on no-notice inspections and also piloted unannounced visits. They commented: “We found a great deal of support for the move. At that time, however, we could not overcome the important issue of being able to get parents’ views as part of the process. With the introduction of our new Parent View online questionnaire last year, parents can now share their opinions of their child’s school at any time, making a move to no-notice inspections possible”.

The details of how the changes will work will form part of a wider consultation on the future of inspection that will be announced in coming weeks.

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

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A new platform for learning with Merseytravel Educational Resources

PLATFORM

CALLING AT

Each guide plays a part in the curriculum of the school as well as offering pupils useful skills and knowledge for life’s journey ahead.

To order the education pack call the Community Links Team on 0151 330 1200 or write to: Community Links Team, Merseytravel, 24 Hatton Gardens, Liverpool L3 2AN

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Book Review

In association with

by Jennifer Dobson

5-8 Years Hank Zipzer the World’s Greatest Underachiever and the Crazy Classroom Cascade by Henry Winkler - £4.99 According to ten-year-old Hank Zipzer, there are many reasons why he shouldn't have to do homework, e.g. every pen he owns has run out of ink, his thoughts are controlled by alien beings, he's allergic to lined paper...Or could it just be that Hank has dyslexia and doesn't want to look stupid? This is the first book in the highly acclaimed series. You’ll laugh your socks off!

Opal Moonbaby by Maudie Smith - £6.99 Martha's decided friends are stupid. Especially if they're anything like Colette and Chloe. She never wants another friend. Ever. But it's the first day of the summer holidays, and there's not that much to do...until she spots a strange little furry creature who leads her to Opal Moonbaby. Read on and find out more!

The Diabolical Mr Tiddles by Tom McLaughlin - £5.99 Meet Mr Tiddles - he's not your everyday cat. He's a cat with attitude! When Harry gets a cat of his own, he does everything to make Mr Tiddles happy. Mr Tiddles wants to make Harry happy too. He brings him little presents ...the odd ones too. A train set, a bizarre mouse, expired that is! A fun book that will keep you giggling!

9-12 Years Fiction The Cupcake Diaries by Coco Simon - £5.99 Sometimes starting from scratch turns out to be the icing on the cupcake. It's Katie Brown's first day at her new school and she's already feeling miserable. Her best friend Callie has been invited to join the Popular Girls Club and Katie's been left out in the cold. Is their an Unpopular Girls Club she can join? The only thing that makes Katie special is the cupcake that her mum gives her. A really nice little story.

The Flight of Dragons by Vivian French - £5.99 Marcus, Prince of Gorebreath, has a plan - he wants to take Gracie Gillypot on an adventure for her birthday, preferably to see a dragon or two. But then he discovers that there may be a dragon's egg somewhere within the Five Kingdoms and, what's more, it could be due to hatch at any minute! Read on for fun and mayhem!

The Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells - £10.99 One day in a house at the end of Lucifer Street, on the Mississippi River side of Cairo, Illinois, eleven-year-old Oscar Ogilvee's life is changed forever. The Crash of 1929 has rippled across the country, and Oscar's dad must sell their home - with all their cherished model trains - and head west in search of work. Forced to move in with his aunt things in his world take on a distracting change and Oscar is set on a journey to travel from coast to coast. Riveting!

Teenage Fiction The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan - £6.99 Armed with a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother head for England. Life is lonely for Kasienka. At home her mother's heart is breaking and at school friends are scarce. But when someone special swims into her life, Kasienka learns that there might be more than one way for her to stay afloat. A new classic.

Night School by C J Daugherty - £6.99 When everyone is lying, who can you trust? Allie Sheridan's world is falling apart. She hates her school. Her brother has run away from home. And she's just been arrested. Again. This time her parents have finally had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to a boarding school for problem teenagers. And then there’s the secretive Night School, but who can she trust?

India Dark by Kirsty Murray - £6.99 A story of secrets, lies and lost innocence. MADRAS, 1910: Posey Swift and Tilly Sweetrick are caught up in a scandal that will change their lives forever. Singing and dancing across a hundred stages as members of a troupe of Australian child performers, they travel by steam train into the heart of India. But as one disaster follows another, money runs short and tempers fray. What must the girls do to break free and also protect themselves! An unusual tale.

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 Elaine Green, Children's Department, Liverpool ONE, 12 College Lane, Liverpool, Merseyside L1 3DL. Tel: 0151 709 9820 Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

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WHERE CAN WE GO? Your guide to what’s happening out & about in Merseyside

Not to be d misse

Festival of Olympic Sports

Column

22nd January Echo Arena Liverpool Free Event 0151 233 5433

31st March 2012 (Date to be confirmed) East Float Wirral Waters Greato Birkenhead one t h Wirral watc CH41 1BP Forming part of the Cultural Olympiad, 'Column' by Anthony McCall will be sited in East Float, within the Birkenhead Docks.

'Column' will be a spinning column of cloud, rising into the sky as far as the eye can see from the surface of Wirral Waters. A landmark taller than Blackpool Tower, it will be visible across the North West region and beyond.

'Column' is part of Artists taking the lead, a series of 12 public art commissions across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Artists taking the lead is an Arts Council England initiative, in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Wales.

This festival event will bring a real Olympic feel to the city, giving everybody the opportunity to celebrate the Olympic Games, sporting excellence and to encourage grassroots participation.

On display will be a wide range of NGB exhibitors and Olympic sports demonstrations and there will also be taster sessions for everyone to enjoy and get involved in.

National Governing Bodies and Sports Development officers will also be on hand to offer a range of information and advice about taking up a sport or joining a club.

Also present will be past and present Liverpool Olympians including gymnast Beth Tweddle, highjumper Steve Smith and swimmer Steve Parry.

Lion Dance Chinese New Year

Legally Blonde

Swallows and Amazons Must See

All aboard The Swallow!

Follow Captain John and his able crew as they set sail to Wildcat Island on an exotic adventure to encounter savages, capture dastardly pirates and defeat mortal enemies. An action-packed musical adventure for the whole family, Swallows and Amazons is a story of an idyllic era, of endless summer evenings and the beauty of youthful imagination.

Swallows and Amazons is presented by the Children’s Touring Partnership whose recent production of Goodnight Mister Tom received public and critical acclaim.

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FUTURE EVENTS

27th-31st March Liverpool Playhouse, Williamson Square, L1 1EL 0151 709 4776

21st January Museum of Liverpool Pier Head, Liverpool 0151 478 4545

7th-11th February Liverpool Empire Theatre, Liverpool 0844 871 3017

Liverpool’s Hung Gar Kung Fu Club perform a lion dance to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Since forming in 1970 the Liverpool Hung Gar Kung Fu club has performed a Lion Dance display in Liverpool's chinatown every Chinese new year, this year they perform for the first time at the Musuem of Liverpool.

Back by popular demand!

Starring Claire Sweeney, Les Dennis & Ray Quinn!

The international awardwinning hit Legally Blonde The Musical goes on tour. Winner of 7 major awards including Best Musical 2011 (Olivier Awards) this all-singing, all-dancing romantic comedy is about knowing who you are and showing what you've got!

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FILM REVIEW

GAME REVIEW

War Horse 12A

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Director: Steven Spielberg Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, David Kross, David Thewlis, Emily Watson, Jeremy Irvine, Niels Arestrup, Peter Mullan,

Nintendo Wii Verdict: ★★★★✩

By Andy Kelly

Verdict: ★★★★✩

By Andy Kelly Steven Spielberg’s lush, moving and epic adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s acclaimed book is a real sentimental movie.

But despite the fact that it is largely set amidst the mudand-blood of the battlefields of World War I it is an old-fashioned family film brimming with values and a very British love for animals.

At the outbreak of World War I, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land.

But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to the trenches to find him and bring him home.

The horse stranded in the battlefield caught in the barbed wire leads to the film’s most powerful and moving moment as a German and an English soldier have a brief truce as they cut him free.

Spielberg – as always - packs his film with beautifully shot scenes, never dwelling on the realistic bloody horrors of World War I, but instead dwelling on an intense bond between one young man and his very special horse.

Sporting Anthems to Welcome the 2012 Games

Red Riding Hood

Skyward Sword stays true to the Zelda formula, carrying many of the same strengths and weaknesses that have been present for years.

When a twister plucks Zelda out of the sky, events are set in motion that only Link, her trusted friend, has the power to rise up against, but this is not your typical Zelda story. There is no damsel in distress here. Zelda is every bit Link's equal, and as the pieces of her own quest slowly come into focus, you appreciate the stirring sacrifice that both of these characters make. The supporting cast members made up of an absurdly evil villain and one-note citizens - don't resonate in quite the same way. But this is still a well-written story that calls forth a variety of emotions on your quest to free the world from evil.

For those who loved the original Zelda, you will love the new quest, Skyward Sword still feels like a nostalgic retread. Those yearning for something new will be disappointed, but anyone thirsty for another exciting adventure will find plenty to enjoy here.

Spotlight On Youth 2012

12th February Liverpool Philharmonic, Hope Street, Liverpool 0151 709 3789

25th February Unity Theatre 1 Hope Place, Liverpool 0151 707 0427

25th March Floral Pavilion Theatre New Brighton 0151 666 0000

As athletes gear up for the world stage, preparing and practising to excel and to win gold medals in London we invite you to join the massed choir of Sing Live Merseyside as they perform some of the best sporting anthems including ‘Proud’ the official theme for GB’s Olympic Bid

A young girl, a hungry wolf, and a walk through the woods - it sounds like a recipe for disaster, but Red Riding Hood’s not scared… well maybe she’s a little bit scared. A gorgeously rendered re-telling of the classic girl-and-the-wolf tale. Exquisite visuals blend with pantomime-style silliness and spooky moments to create an enchanting piece of theatre.

The Mayor of Wirral’s Special Charity present an evening of spectacular entertainment performed by the youth of Merseyside. If you are looking for a great family night out Spotlight on Youth is one of the premier children’s variety shows that showcases the many talented youngsters we have on Merseyside.

Sea Odyssey

20th-22nd April Liverpool City Centre 0151 233 2008 A giant story of love inspired by the Titanic will take over Liverpool’s streets. The world’s leading street theatre company is creating an event which will be the biggest of its kind in the UK in 2012.

A Little Girl Giant will take to the city streets in a spectacular produced specially for Liverpool by renowned marionette experts Royal De Luxe.

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My School Days David Aliu – Basketball

My School: Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, Sports College, Liverpool.

My Favourite Teacher: That would have to be Mr Mewton, he really inspired me to aim high and achieve my best.

Favourite Subject at School: Surprisingly it was art, I loved art, though I never really wanted to be an artist, it was something I enjoyed.

Were you streetwise or a bit of a geek?

Definitely streetwise, I grew up in Toxteth and you had to be streetwise but it also taught me to do well at school.

My Favourite Childhood Singer/Band: I was never really into music but I loved the music my parents used to

play, people like Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind and Fire.

My Favourite ExtraCurricular Activity: Basketball was my favourite after school past-time, I joined the Toxteth Tigers at a young age and really enjoyed it.

Do you remember your first school crush?

One of my school teachers who shall remain anonymous, going to an all boys school it had to be a teacher.

My Favourite Book: I am not really a big reader, I enjoy reading but there has never really been anything, as yet, that has gripped my attention.

School Dinners: I loved them at senior school.

My Ambitions at School: Although I really enjoyed art I always wanted to do well at basketball, I have been lucky to travel and visit many places around the world - it’s like going on holiday and getting paid.

Mersey Tigers captain and local lad David Aliu became the Mersey Tigers all-time record points scorer in the BBL in December, and he’s showing no signs of stopping just yet. He also made his 100th appearance for the Mersey Tigers this month.

Daliu started playing basketball at the age of 14 in his home town of Liverpool, playing for local side Toxteth Tigers. He landed a scholarship in the USA, playing at the Notre Dame Academy High School in Virginia, before moving on to and graduating from Morehead State University in 2004.

Throughout David’s career he has played in Italy, Iceland, Spain and Switzerland, amongst a spell in Scotland with the Rocks and two spells in his home city with the Tigers.

David and his teammates are currently touring Merseyside schools holding coaching sessions.

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