Educate Magazine September 2018

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September - December 2018

DifďŹ cult Decisions How to choose the right secondary school

Inspiring Minds Students at Alsop get hands on with leading neurosurgeon

In Pictures All the photos from GCSE and A-level results days

The Power of Music Learning a musical instrument

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Educate Contents Welcome...

Welcome to the September edition of Educate

92

50-51

32

114

Features

91

6-9

Thoughts worth sharing Bitesize thinking

A different league How to choose the right secondary school

18-19 Meet the headteacher Jason Roberts, headteacher Gateacre School

25 GCSE results 2018

40 Private tutoring The benefits of one-on-one teaching

50-51 Meet the headteacher Joe Mangan, headteacher Alsop High School

56-59 School of rock How can music benefit pupils?

62-63 Eco news Sensory garden wins award

66 Asking the experts Early learning

Here at Educate HQ we hope everyone has had a great summer!

We know from attending dozens of schools and colleges in August that students across the region certainly did, and it was wonderful to capture on camera those celebrating excellent GCSE, BTEC and A-level results. In this issue we’re delighted to bring you Educate’s special results day coverage.

As schools open their doors once again to students for the start of a new term, one school making sure its students clearly understand that they’re entering a learning environment is Gateacre School, with the words ‘Ready to Learn’ painted across the floor. Christine Toner caught up with headteacher, Jason Roberts, to find out about the changes he has made since becoming headteacher there two years ago.

99-102 Educate 16+ Education, training and employment

104 Viewpoint Getting ahead with exams

106 Girls’ fashion Take a walk on the wild side

108-109 Where can we go?

Our pick of what’s happening out & about in the region

110 Boys’ fashion Hide and seek

112 Book review This season’s must reads

114 My school days Michael Welch - MiC LOWRY

77 A-level results 2018 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 Tel: 0151 709 7567 Front cover Alsop High School students Photography Liam Deveney, Robin Clewley Editorial Alan Birkett, Christine Toner 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.

In a different part of the city headteacher at Alsop High School, Joe Mangan, is also inspiring young minds by enlisting an amazing list of incredible speakers to visit the school. One such visit was from renowned neurosurgeon, Paul May, where students got to hear about the amazing innovations and work going on at The Walton Centre’s specialist neuroscience trust. Read the full interview p.50.

In November the glittering red carpet annual Educate Awards ceremony will once again take place at Liverpool Cathedral. The awards, in partnership with Copyrite Systems and Ricoh, is the biggest celebration of education in the North West and with 600 guests present and 21 awards to be handed out to schools in the Liverpool City Region (LCR), Lancashire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester, it is sure to be another night to remember. We will shortly be announcing this year’s shortlist, so please make sure you are following us on Twitter @EducateAwards to keep up to date with all the very latest news.

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Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

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HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SECONDARY SCHOOL

With a new system in place for rating schools, we take a look at how parents should interpret league tables and find how you should really go about finding the right school.

Christine Toner reports.

This month, thousands of pupils will have started senior schools up and down the country. Impeccably dressed in their new uniforms and ready to embark on the next stage of their education, their first day will be the culmination of months, if not years, of planning and research by their parents. Choosing a secondary school for your children is arguably one of the most difficult decisions for parents to make. Secondary school is the stepping stone to university and employment and what happens during the five of senior school can shape a child’s development considerably.

One of the most obvious ways of comparing schools when making the decision is by checking league tables. Of course, while these tables can be a good place to start, they can also leave parents a little bewildered.

Writing in The Telegraph in 2016, Peter Green - headteacher of Rugby School - said: “I don’t suggest that parents are confused by league tables, but I do think that league tables send parents confusing messages. League tables are simply statistics. And we all know how many ways statistics can be presented and interpreted and, dare I say it, manipulated.”

That’s even more so the case since Progress 8, a new way of ranking schools, was introduced in 2016.

Progress 8 measures the progress of pupils across a selected set of eight subjects, so that pupils’ results are compared to the achievements of other pupils with the same prior attainment.

The system assesses results achieved in English, sciences, maths, modern foreign languages and history or geography, along with a maximum of three other approved academic or vocational qualifications.

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HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SECONDARY SCHOOL

PROGRESS & ATTAINMENT 8 EXPLAINED GRADE SCORING

Progress 8 and Attainment 8 measure school performance, rather than pupil performance, although pupils’ GCSE results are used to calculate the measure.

From Summer 2017, a new GCSE 9-1 grading system will be phased in – the new system awards scores equivalent to the numerical grade.

The old system grades are worth the following points:

A* A B C

= 8.5 = 75.5 =4 =

Qualifications on the new system will receive a point score equivalent to the numerical grade.

D E F G

ATTAINMENT 8 SCORING Attainment 8 is based on pupils’ scores across eight qualifications. Only scores from three groups of government approved qualifications will count.

ENGLISH MATHS

= 32 = 1.5 =1 = FIVE POINTS

Worth double marks, but English will only count for double marks if courses in literature and language are taken.

EBacc SUBJECTS

EBacc & GOV. COURSES

The top three scores from science, computer science, history, geography and languages.

The top three scores from remaining EBacc subjects or government approved courses.

A survey published by the Department for Education (DfE) suggests parents are not yet fully aware of how the system has changed with only 30% of the of 1,735 parents polled saying that they had heard of it.

order rather than the methodology,” says Geoff Barton, general secretary at the Association of School and College Leaders. “In reality, whilst Progress 8 is probably the best of the many measures we’ve seen over the years, it has its limitations.

That’s why schools in certain contexts – for example serving disadvantaged communities – will rightly feel that Progress 8 doesn’t help them to celebrate success.”

“I suspect many parents find the performance tables pretty baffling and will look chiefly at the rank

Stephen Brierley, principal of St Margaret’s Academy in Aigburth is sceptical about

The new approach claims to be a fairer way of comparing schools. Many parents, however, don’t actually know what it is.

the need for such tables.

“Schools are amazing places”, he says. “Every school I’ve ever been to has been a real hive of activity. In every school, every day, hundreds of young people will be learning, trying things out, making friends, doing all the things that youngsters do. And every day, dozens of adults will be giving their all to help them learn and grow. A lot of what we adults do has nothing to do with learning – some of us make them lunch; some of us give them First Aid when they need it; some of us counsel

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HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SECONDARY SCHOOL

PROGRESS 8 FOR STUDENTS

Students that achieved the same results at key stage 2 are grouped together and their Attainment 8 scores are averaged. This gives an estimated Attainment 8 score for this group.

10 Estimated Attainment 8 score

Individual Student Attainment 8 score

PROGRESS 8 FOR SCHOOLS Total Student Progress 8 Scores

them when life at home is tough; all of us try to help them grow into responsible adults equipped with values that will last them a lifetime; oh, and some of us teach them to read, or to add, or to talk in French.

“For some reason, over the last 25 years politicians have tried to sum up how good each school is with a number. Just one number, like +0.44 or –0.06. It’s a bit silly really: when schools are such rich places with so much going on, how can you possibly sum up how good they are in a single number? It shouldn’t

Total Number of Pupils

be any surprise that over the years, we’ve had to change how that number is calculated several times.

Progress 8 is just the latest way politicians have set for measuring secondary schools. Personally, I don’t think it’s a very easy number to get your head round. Doubtless some parents will understand it whilst some others may not.”

Stephen says that while the new system does have some advantages over its predecessors, one of its disadvantages is that it’s harder to understand.

“The way it’s calculated means that schools with a traditional curriculum – where every pupil has to take a foreign language to GCSE, for example – will be at a slight advantage,” he says. “That’s meant that schools have adjusted what subjects they offer at GCSE to fit in with the Progress 8 calculations, and as a result entries in subjects like Design Technology, Food, and Performing Arts have dropped again this year. I don’t think it’s right that one number in our ‘Performance Tables’ should be having such an effect on what schools offer.”

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HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SECONDARY SCHOOL

SCHOOL RATING SYSTEM 0

NOT ACHIEVING THE MINIMUM STANDARD Indeed, research by the Education Policy Institute shows the proportion of pupils studying arts subjects such as music and drama has fallen to its lowest level in a decade.

Whether the new system is better or worst than previous systems, there remains an element of doubt amongst many experts as to the validity of league tables altogether.

Indeed, in their 2017 research work ‘The evolution of school league tables in England 19922016, Dr George Leckie and Harvey Goldstein noted: “All these progress measures and school league tables more generally should be viewed with far more scepticism and interpreted far more cautiously than they have often been to date.”

So in what other ways should parents be assessing a school’s performance?

“Good question,” says Stephen.

“Really, there’s only so much parents can find out from the internet.

Much the best way of finding out what a school is like it to go there in person. Every school has an Open Evening, and if parents can’t make that particular evening then school leaders will always be willing to show people around during the day when the school is in action (arguably a better way of finding out what really goes on!).

“I’d advise parents to meet the Headteacher, her/his team, some of

THE NATIONAL AVERAGE the teachers there: would parents trust them to look after their child, and to help shape them into the adults they will become? What about the school’s values? Do the staff just pay lip-service to them, or do those values actually help shape what goes on in school every day? If parents can take someone else to look round too – a grandparent, perhaps – that’s no bad thing: four eyes will notice more than two, and there can be a good chat afterwards about what was seen, what was heard, what was felt.”

“One thing that Progress 8 does show is that across, say, 10 GCSEs, there’s not a lot of difference between pupils’ academic progress at different schools” Geoff says one of the most important things to consider is the ethos of the school.

“What are its values and priorities?” he says. “Does it celebrate the full range of pupils’ abilities? Does it have a rich programme of extra-curricular

MAKING WELL ABOVE AVERAGE PROGRESS activities, such as the arts and sport?

Does it encourage pupils to get involved in fundraising and charity work? Does it give a commitment to developing the whole-child (not just academic results) and supporting the mental health of all children?”

Indeed, academic results are just one element of school life. And the right school for your child should deliver on a number of levels. “One thing that Progress 8 does show is that across, say, 10 GCSEs, there’s not a lot of difference between pupils’ academic progress at different schools” says Stephen. “If School A has a Progress 8 score of +0.10, and School B has a score of –0.20, then that means that across all a Year 11’s GCSEs, seven will be identical, and three will be just one grade higher at School A. That’s unlikely to make that much difference to the longterm future of that Year 11 pupil.

“What will make more of a difference is the confidence they’ve developed, the responsibilities they’ve been given, the friends they’ve made, the opportunities they’ve had to try new things, or visit new places, or think about new ideas… that’s what a truly good school will offer. It’s that sort of thing, far more than a narrow, unrepresentative number like Progress 8, that parents would be well-advised to consider when looking at secondary schools.”

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A pose for the camera

The staff clapped the children into school

The boys were busting a few moves

The children were given special cards to access the prom

CELEBRATING HAPPY YEARS Pupils dance the day away at leavers’ prom Headteacher Karen Hutchings (left) was very proud of the children

A pre-disco mocktail!

This young dancer put on a show!

New Park Primary School in Kensington rolled out the red carpet for Year 6 pupils as the school hosted its leavers’ prom.

The children posed for photographs and enjoyed mocktails before dancing the evening away at a disco in the school hall expertly DJ’d by staff member Fikrim Haxhifazliu.

Headteacher Karen Hutchings, whose son, Thomas, was amongst the partygoers, hailed the year group as “one of the greatest she has had the pleasure of working with”.

A kiss for Mr Groffiths who is leaving to take up a headship

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• Outdoor Adventure and Creative & Performing Arts • Full Board + Activities from and ““The The sense sense of of confidence confidence and £89 per night achievement the the children children gain gain from from achievement the amazing amazing experiences experiences on on o ffer aand nd the offer grow over the way way in in which which they they grow over tthe he the • Raising Attainment Courses week, does does not not translate translate easily easily onto onto a week, graph or or table. table. However, However, the the impact impact graph for GCSE, Art, Dance & Drama and long-lasting. it has has on on them them is is huge huge and long-lasting. it b i g t h a n k y o u t o o a l l i n v o lved, A big thank you too all involved, • Bespoke Residential Trips place.” it really really iiss aan n iinspirational nspirational place.” it T im C liffton Tim Cliffton • Planned Key Stage Progression Belgrave Primary Primary School, School, Chester Chester Belgrave • Experienced Staff; Differentiated Teaching P Part art o off

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Primary News

A passage from India Learners say ‘namaste’ to travelling teachers Garlands and greetings were the order of the day when young learners from The Grange School said a special hello to visitors all the way from India.

A delegation of 21 headteachers from across India popped into the Runcorn school as part of a countrywide tour.

The UK visit was organised by the British Council and supported locally by the Wade Deacon Trust.

Primary school learners gave the delegation a warm welcome and presented them with flowers and cards.

The touring teachers spent time in the classrooms observing how lessons are taught and joining in with the activities.

In return, the children were given a special lesson in how to perform the traditional Indian greeting ‘namaste’.

The visit was a chance for teachers from The Grange to swap ideas with their Indian counterparts. The group discussed teaching methods over lunch before exchanging gifts. The Grange was also presented with a special plaque for hosting the visit.

The Indian teachers were airportbound straight after the visit for the 8,000 mile homeward journey. But as they left they all agreed that they had ‘been treated like celebrities’.

Michele Bacon, lead principal with the

Wade Deacon Trust, said: “It was a delight to see all our learners in conversation with our visitors; they spoke with great pride about their school.

“As our guests were leaving they commented on how out of all schools visited, The Grange School had provided

the warmest welcome and the learners were polite, happy and very proud of their school.

“We hope as a school to build upon the links made and provide the opportunity for learners to establish international links with schools in India”.

Pupils from The Grange School greet their visitors

Pupils show the power of a smile Year 6 children from Holy Name Primary School in Fazakerley turned smiles into pounds for Marie Curie when they took part in the Windmills Foundation’s £10 smile challenge.

The scheme offers £10 to children to make someone smile and the pupils decided to use the money to raise further funds in support of children’s services at the Marie Curie Hospice in Liverpool.

Neil Morris, a teacher at Holy Name whose wife Rachel works at the hospice, said: “The pupils used their money from the Windmills Foundation to buy cakes and sell them at a charity cake sale. They also decided to have a car wash for staff, with staff donating £5 to have their car washed or a forfeit of £10 to not have their car washed. Altogether they raised £420 for Marie Curie.”

Rachel Morris, children’s counsellor at Marie Curie, said: “The amazing amount of money raised will go towards the setting up of a much-needed pre-adolescent bereavement group.

“Here the children will be able to support each other through what would otherwise be a very difficult time. We can’t thank the year six children enough for their hard work and generous donation.”

Marie Curie fundraiser Antony Jones praised the efforts of the 12

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

Holy Name pupils, and added: “The enthusiasm and joy they put into their fundraising for Marie Curie is so inspirational”.

Year 6 pupils with Marie Curie staff members (l-r) Rachel Morris, Diane Barker, Shirley Williams and Karen Allen

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Much Woolton Catholic Primary School

With Jesus we love, learn and grow

Open Day Thursday 18 October 2018 1.30-3pm & 4.30-6pm All children and parents interested in joining our thriving school community in September 2019, or before, are warmly welcome to view our school.

A short presentation will be held at the start of both sessions in the school hall.

Mr M White Headteacher Watergate Lane, Liverpool, L25 8QH 0151 428 6114 www.muchwoolton.co.uk

Springwood Heath Outreach Established 2003 Offering bespoke advice, training and support to enhance inclusion for children and young people with a physical/medical need • Manual Handling • Risk Assessments • ICT/Assistive Technology Assessments • MiDAS Minibus Training • Fine and Gross Motor Skills Assessments • Elklan Training • School to School Support • PROACT-SCIPr from October 18

For more information: www.springwoodheathoutreach.co.uk Telephone 0151 427 7759 email c.beacall@springwoodheath.co.uk Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

13

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Primary News

PRAYER GARDEN IN MEMORY OF MEGAN The former school of one of the victims of the Manchester terror attack has opened a memorial garden to help pupils remember her.

Megan Hurley was one of 22 people killed at the Manchester Arena and her friends wanted to create a lasting legacy.

The garden at Halewood Church of England Primary School was opened by her parents and her brother, Bradley.

Halewood CoE Headteacher Mr Smith welcomed family and friends to the opening and described Megan as “A beautiful girl” and the garden summed up her personality, bright and colourful.

Mr Smith said: “We are so proud that Megan was a pupil at this school and it is great that we have a little oasis where people can sit down and remember her.

“The garden will always be open to the community, our children and ex-students who remember Megan.”

Mr Smith also read out a statement from Mr and Mrs Hurley and Bradley, saying: “We would like to thank all of the staff of Halewood Cof E and pupils and parents for making this garden a possibility, it means more than you will ever know to our family in knowing that Megan will live on through the garden.

“As many of you will know this is the

Mr and Mrs Hurley and Bradley Hurley with Mr Smith, headteacher at Halewood Church of England Primary School

second Halewood school to erect a garden in Megan’s memory, a testament to a model pupil and student that she was and how deeply the loss of Megan affected everyone. This garden will become a place for people to reflect and a

place to bring togetherness and love.

“We would like to again thank the community for continuing to show us love, support and kindness through these difficult times, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts”.

Liverpool teacher receives gold award

Jay Clarke with Olympic athletes Laura Weightman and Danny Talbot

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Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

A Liverpool primary school teacher is the first in the UK to receive a new national award after inspiring his pupils to be more active.

Jay Clarke from Rudston Primary School received the Gold Active Teacher award at a special event in Manchester.

Presented by Olympic athletes Laura Weightman and Danny Talbot, the award recognised Jay’s involvement with Active Kids Do Better– a Nike and Discovery Education programme to increase kids’ movement and play throughout the school day.

Mr Clarke was one of the first teachers to sign up to the initiative, which now reaches hundreds of schools across the UK. The programme has helped pupils at Rudston Primary School to be more active than ever before, boosting their attainment and even school attendance.

Jay Clarke said: “Being the first 'Active Teacher' to receive a gold award is a fantastic honour. It shows how dedicated myself and Rudston Primary School are to keeping children active on a daily basis and encouraging them to find their greatness.

“The Active Kids Do Better programme is for everyone.

You don't have to be a PE specialist to implement it.

“In my class I have seen a rise in attendance which has supported the increase of attainment levels in pupils. There is no secret that this is linked to the children's increased activity level.”

Jay continued: “I loved having the opportunity to share my practice and to show how I have developed an active curriculum. Seeing and hearing how I have implemented the Active Kids Do Better programme in our school will hopefully help others to make a change”.

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Primary News

App-ealing tips MP sees EasyPeasy in action at Park Brow School An app that sends game ideas and tips on child development to parents and carers is being used in Park Brow Community Primary School in Kirkby.

This has been implemented by the nursery teacher, Mrs Lyndsay Rogerson.

George Howarth, MP for the Knowsley constituency, visited the school to participate in a stay and play session and to see how the ‘EasyPeasy’ app works in practice.

Evaluation has shown that the app improves a child’s concentration and their willingness to complete difficult tasks.

It is aimed at parents and carers of children from aged two to six years and encourages positive play and interaction with children at home.

The app has been funded through successful funding bids to the government’s Education Endowment Fund and Knowsley’s Education Commission.

To date, 48 parents and carers at Park Brow School are using the app.

Valmai Roberts, headteacher at Park Brow Community Primary School, said: “I

George Howarth MP meets pupils from Park Brow School

was delighted to welcome George Howarth MP to our school to see how our parents and carers are using this app to create fun and innovative learning environments at home.

“We have seen a number of positive benefits from using this app, including seeing our children’s confidence develop as well as their cognitive, communication and language skills.”

Little Evie gets backing for Olympic bid

Evie Hutchinson with coach Jim Foggitt

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Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

Churchtown Primary School pupil, Evie Hutchinson from Southport has gone right to the top to get backing for squash to become an Olympic sport.

Evie, who plays at Southport and Birkdale Cricket Club, was asked to write a ‘persuasive’ letter for her homework, and decided to write about why she thought squash should be included in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Her teacher, Cassie Thornley, was so impressed that she said that she should send it off for real – and Evie has had replies from top players, including former world champion Nick Matthew, as well as the IOC president Thomas Bach, and the chairman of the British Olympic Association, Sir Hugh Robertson.

Evie, whose sister Elsie has also had a go at the sport,

gave three reasons to feature squash – including: squash is so much fun to play but is also a great spectator sport. You would be guaranteed to sell every ticket for every match so the atmosphere would be electric.

Evie also sent the letter to Blue Peter. “She was absolutely delighted to get all the replies, and thrilled when she got a Blue Peter badge as well,” said her father, Ian. Evie’s coach Jim Foggitt – chairman of squash’s North West Regional Forum - passed the letter on to England Squash, who also backed the youngster’s plea.

Jim said: “Evie, like many adult players – can’t understand why squash isn’t an Olympic sport, and she wrote an excellent letter to put her view forward. We’ve all got our fingers crossed that the Olympic powers take notice and do something about it!”

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Meet the Headteacher Jason Roberts, headteacher Gateacre School

Gateacre School’s headteacher Jason Roberts has taken the school from special measures to success. Christine Toner caught up with him to find out just how he did it.

The Special One

by Christine Toner Had you asked Jason Roberts what his career aspirations were when he was growing up, teaching would never have been mentioned. He wanted to be a fireman, he investigated joining the marines. He was looking for an action-packed career that required bravery and determination. And by all accounts, he found it – although not in the professions he had originally envisaged.

Indeed, it is two years since Jason became headteacher of Gateacre School – a school that was in special measures and on course to become an academy as a result. It was a high-pressure move, and one many teachers would have passed up on, yet it was one Jason came at with full throttle. Not surprising, perhaps, when you consider he has taken on the challenge of rescuing a school twice before – having helped schools in Oldham and Tameside out of their own special measures. Flash forward to today and Gateacre has won multiple awards, been praised by Ofsted for its ‘high quality teaching’ and had its academy order revoked.

So how did Jason go from setting his sights on the fire service to metaphorically putting out fires at struggling schools across the North West and turning things around for them? Well 18

it all began, surprisingly enough, on a fruit and veg stall.

“I was selling fruit and veg at my mate’s market stall,” he laughs. “I had to get up at 3 o’clock in the morning to go and set up a stall. I didn’t need to work mid-morning or early afternoon because it was quite quiet so I went and did some voluntary work at my local secondary school in Manchester, reading with SEN pupils, and enjoyed it.

“That progressed to being a teaching assistant at Stockport College and I worked with young adults with autism and young men who’d come out of prison. From that I applied to be a teacher at Manchester Met on their PGCE course, I’d already got my degree at that point.”

Jason’s first job as a newly qualified teacher was at Wright Robinson Sports College in Gorton, where he stayed for five years before moving on to Counthill School, in Oldham, as a head of year.

So how did Manchester-born Jason end up coming to Gateacre?

“I had been working at two schools over in Oldham and Tameside to help them out of their own special measures and someone I knew said that this school had struggled to recruit a headteacher,” he explains. “I think they had put out a national advert twice but didn’t get the

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

“

It comes down to this - we’re just about learning. That’s what school’s about.

Everything else is just icing on the cake.

”

candidates that they wanted. I had an interview and they offered me the job on an interim basis whilst we decided what was going to happen to the school. It had an academy order then so it was quite a challenge.”

Despite the challenge facing him, Jason says he was excited by the prospect of helping the school.

“It’s incredibly exciting because you’ve got to move things so quickly to turn things around for the kids and to give the staff a great working environment because they deserve to come to a school that they, rightly, should be proud of and have an attachment to, so working in difficult circumstances, special measures, is really quite exciting.”

One of the first things Jason set about doing was changing the school culture.

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“Why do you come to school?,” he says. “Why do parents send their kids to school? It comes down to this - we’re just about learning. That’s what school’s about. Everything else is just icing on the cake. So we made sure that, from walking in the door, to going to lessons, to finishing at the end of the day, the whole building, everything we do is centred around a good learning environment and high expectations around learning.”

stick,” says Jason. “In the first couple of months they all thought that the red line would disappear after two weeks and it’s still there now and it will be there until they knock the building down.

Indeed, at the front of the building on the floor there is a painted red line along with the words ‘Ready to Learn’. “It’s a cultural thing,” says Jason. “It’s to remind people about why we come to our school and what our school’s about.”

Jason’s efforts are certainly having results. Gateacre has picked up multiple awards over the past two years, including the Communication Award at the 2017 Educate Awards and its sixth form has been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted.

The level of teaching, throughout the school meanwhile, has been praised with the inspector noting ‘pupils benefit from particularly strong teaching in English, art, drama and music.”

And how did the students take to this cultural shift?

“To begin with I think they were in shock at the fact that when I say things, I follow them through and then they

“You know everything that we do is for the benefit and for the children to get great outcomes. We don’t do anything for just the sake of doing things or to tick boxes. That’s pointless and wastes people’s time.”

“The kids tell me that they like the fact

that we are now a strict school and take pride in the fact that I care about how they look and what they do both in the building and beyond the building,” says Jason. “For example, we’re across at the shopping centre almost every morning, saying hello to them and making sure they get to school on time. We’re talking to the public and talking to the shopkeepers because we’re a community.

It doesn’t start and end at my door, it extends beyond that.”

After orchestrating their huge success story and meeting the challenge head on, what does Jason now enjoy about his job.

“What’s your favourite thing about being a teacher?” I ask.

“Teaching,” he says. “I just love being in the classroom. That’s why I became a teacher. Everything else I’ve done since is all very nice, but I am a teacher, that’s what I am.”

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Primary News

Dragon slayers Lister Primary face the dragons and win

Quidditch event provides a magical day Hope Primary School in Huyton, experienced the magic of an Enrich Education school quidditch event. Since launching their ‘Introduction to Quidditch’ sessions at the start of the year, Enrich Education have delivered 43 of their events to North West schools and exposed this exciting, action packed, fully inclusive, new sport to well over 10,000 pupils across the region.

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Hope Primary School’s day started with a rousing, ‘sorting hat assembly’, were pupils were organised into their houses. This got the pupils excited and geared up to compete for points, in their very own school quidditch cup. The assembly also saw the Enrich team introduce the positions, points system and roles involved in the sport of quidditch.

Through the course of the day, each class had a turn at skill-based games associated with the different positions in quidditch and some time for competitive tournament play.

The most popular part of the game was clearly chasing the Golden Snitch, a role played by teaching staff, with great enthusiasm and determination.

At the end of a fun filled day, all the pupils came back together into their houses, to hear the points tally and witness the trophy presentation to the winning house.

As one of the Year 6 house captains said: “It was really fun and exciting, we were all really excited and nervous to see who would win. We all tried our best and I just want to relive the whole day again, because it was so good.”

Quidditch has been growing hugely in popularity, at an adult level over the past few years. It has a governing body, QuidditchUK and there is also a Quidditch Premier League which runs during the summer months. There is even a bi-annual World Cup, which took place recently in Florence and saw the UK team finish in 4th place!

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

Lister Infant School are celebrating after winning first prize at a Dragons’ Den inspired competition run by Liverpool Learning Partnership (LLP) for their Food Frenzy game app.

Pupil representatives from 14 Liverpool schools stepped up to face the ‘dragons’ in the LLP Year of Engineering inspired Dragons’ Den competition.

This year, students were asked to identify areas of maths teaching/learning which could be improved and to create an invention or design that would help to support maths in the classroom.

Pupils from a range of primary, secondary and special schools presented their maths-based designs to both their peers and a board of education and business professionals.

Presented designs ranged from an environmentally friendly pencil case with in-built maths resources (fraction wall, conversion tables etc), to apps and games designed to allow pupils to practice their maths skills.

Pupils presented their work formally but then had the opportunity to take part in a ‘marketplace’ where they could find out more about each other’s designs and ask their own questions of the other teams.

The standard of the work entered and presented was extremely high and it was incredibly difficult for the dragons to reach a consensus but eventually the winning schools were chosen.

Headteacher Mrs Janet Davies, said: “Our Years’ 1 and 2 children worked hard in after school club in the planning and design stages for the competition. They then used their skills to design a prototype of the app in Scratch, a programming language, where children can program and share interactive media.

“The dragons loved their pitch and their rap to market the app, which resulted in us being the primary school winner and we were up against 15 schools which made it a very tough competition”.

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EMOTIONAL DAY AT ROSCOE Not a dry eye on school leavers’ assembly Year 6 pupils from Roscoe Primary School enjoyed an emotional leavers’ assembly as they prepared to make the move to secondary school.

The assembly had an ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ theme as pupils were asked about their time at the school as well as sharing their best moments and experiences.

They were also presented with leavers’ hoodies which contained each pupil’s name on the back and there wasn’t a dry eye in the hall as time was officially called on their time at the school.

The assembly had a “I’m a celebrity” theme

Sign language charity “Talking Hands” performed alongside the children

Two Year 6 pupils made the opening address

One final floss!

Executive head Karen Hutchings welcomed everybody to the special assembly

The pupils were presented with leavers’ hoodies

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SHORTLIST TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON...

16TH NO NOVEMBER VEMBER A AT T LIVERPOOL CA CATHEDRAL THEDRAL

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GCSE results 2018

Exam celebrations Schools and students celebrate GCSE results After two years of hard work, revision and exams, hundreds of students across the Liverpool city region collected their GCSE results and celebrated with family and friends.

Educate Magazine visited schools up and down the region to celebrate their success.

The changes, introduce a numbered grade system, with an extra grade at the top for the highest achievers.

Syllabuses have also been given more content.

Last year was the first year of reformed GCSEs in English and maths in England, for 2018 most other subjects - including biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, French, Spanish, religious education, geography and music were awarded.

A third wave of 9-1 graded GCSEs including psychology, ancient history, business, information and communications technology (ICT) and media studies – are being taught with exams in 2019.

Comparing the results achieved by

16-year-olds between this year and last, The number of students receiving the top GCSE grades rose for first time in seven years despite major reforms The proportion of entries scoring a C or above – or a 4 under the new grading system – increased by 0.5 percentage points from 66.4 per cent last year to 66.9 per cent.

To view our full gallery visit our website on http://www.educatemagazine.com

GCSE success for Childwall Sports and Science Academy students Samir Ally, Tom Chen and Jack Fearon-Bilsbarrow OMG! An amazed Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College student

Big hug for this student at Archbishop Blanch School

All smiles for these students from Bellerive FCJ Catholic College

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GCSE results 2018

Divina Onwu celebrates with her dad after receiving fantastic GCSE results at Liverpool Life Sciences UTC

Calderstones School’s Ruby Day, looking thrilled at her results and then phoning home to pass on the good news.

St Hilda’s CE High School twins Niamh and Nyah Boorman with their proud parents

Jacob Raju and Luke Norris with executive headteacher Les Rippon from St Francis Xavier's College in Woolton

Sarah Fenney from Rainford High Technology College celebrates getting straight grade 9s

GCSE celebrations at St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School

Successful GCSE students at Notre Dame Catholic College

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GCSE results 2018

St Hilda’s CE High School students India Jones and Yasmin Jama proudly display their GCSE results

Lucas Murphy and executive headteacher Les Rippon from St Francis Xavier's College in Woolton

Rachel and Hannah Twist from Rainford High Technology College who both achieved grades between 9-7 across all subjects

St Julie’s Catholic High School students Megan Dunn, Lauren Conor, Lois Sweeney and Amery Obad open their GCSE results

Aymen Allaoua from St Margaret's CE Academy in Aigburth with Mr Harrison, head of Year 11

Mya Price from Broughton Hall Catholic High School with her GCSE results

All smiles at Notre Dame Catholic College

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GCSE results 2018

Emily Turner and Mia Sutcliffe from The Belvedere Academy with their GCSE results

High achievers – some of the St Mary’s College students who achieved seven or more A*-A / 9-7 grades

WOW - these students from Archbishop Blanch School can’t believe their results

Leon Doyle a student at Childwall Sports and Science Academy student

GCSE success at Fazakerly High School

St Michael’s Church of England High School students celebrate a superb results day

Kiara Wilson-Smith and Iona Townsend from St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School

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GCSE results 2018

A big surprise for this student from Archbishop Blanch School

Charlie and Alex Kevan from St Margaret's CE Academy in Aigburth

Successful GCSE results at The Academy of St Nicholas

Fantastic five – the quintet of top performers at St Mary’s College this summer Ben Dickinson, Christina Woods, Rahul Sahni, Alexa Campbell and Ryan Chiu

The Blue Coat School students Laura Gill, Sophia Jung, Anisha Gladston and Hettie McFarlane

Jhonn Leuffa from The Academy of St Francis of Assisi achieved a great set of results including a grade 9 in RE and grade 8 in English Literature!

Jumping for joy at Gateacre School

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GCSE results 2018

Celebrations all round for these students at Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College

Everyone happy at The Academy of St Nicholas

Students at St Julie’s Catholic High School check their GCSE results

Record breaking results at St John Bosco Arts College with many achieving the top grades of 9-7

GCSE success for The Academy of St Francis of Assisi students

The Blue Coat headteacher Mike Pennington with Alex Barnett and Sam McKenzie

Alsop High School student Lewis Francis-Price celebrates with his family

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GCSE results 2018

Another impressive set of GCSE results for Holy Family Catholic High School

Students from Calderstones School show off their GCSE results

Students celebrate their GCSE success outside Alsop High School

Gateacre School students with their GCSE results

Broughton Hall Catholic High School students Demi Brady, Chloe Roach and Emily Slade

These Belvedere Academy students are jubilant with their results

Taylor Egan from Fazakerley High School shows off her GCSE results

Charlotte Grant received excellent results in the Arts at Studio Liverpool

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GCSE News

St Mary’s College student ‘shocked’ by GCSE results One remarkable St Mary’s College student who achieved A*-A / 9-7 grades in all 12 of his GCSE subjects said he was “shocked” when he opened his results envelope.

Rahul Sahni’s achievements are all the more remarkable given the fact he has bravely battled leukaemia during his time at the Crosby college.

Rahul said: “I was quite shocked when I opened my results and saw that I got top grades in all of my subjects. I’m really proud and pleased that all my hard work has paid off.

“I’ve had a great time at St Mary’s, and I’m looking forward to staying on in the sixth form to study maths, further maths, chemistry and physics.”

Meanwhile, Ben Dickinson achieved an A* with distinction (a so-called ‘super grade’) in further mathematics as part of his 12 GCSE passes.

Overall, more than a third of all the GCSE passes at St Mary’s this year were at the highest grades and 91% of grades were at grade 4 or above.

St Mary’s College principal Mike Kennedy said: “I am very pleased with these results which reflect the hard work and commitment of our pupils, and the support they have received from staff and their families, throughout their time at the school.

“The high standards they have achieved are excellent foundations on which to build further academic success,”.

Kevin’s career ambitions on course A Liverpool student is one step closer to his dream of becoming a doctor, after picking up his impressive GCSE results last month.

Kevin Hilemichael, currently a student at the Academy of St Francis of Assisi (ASFA) in Kensington, achieved six grade 9s in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, religious studies and English literature; two 8s in English language and computer science and two A*s in psychology and financial education.

Kevin is originally from Eritrea in northeast Africa and arrived in England just five years ago with little English skills. He now lives in Everton with his parents.

Since starting at ASFA in Year 8, Kevin has learnt English and this summer enjoyed attending a prestigious summer school programme at Oxford University, after being awarded the Louis Albrecht Memorial Scholarship.

During the course, Kevin developed practical skills, medical knowledge and English language ability as he started his journey to becoming a doctor.

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Kevin Hilemichael

Kevin said: “The reason my family and I moved to the UK was for a better quality of education, and this is a perfect example of the opportunities I now have access to. My school worked with me in order to prepare my application and I am so appreciative of the support they have given me.”

Headteacher Tracey Greenough said: “Kevin is just one of our many success stories on GCSE results day this year.

We are so proud of him for achieving these fantastic set of results and will support him and his career aspirations every step of the way.”

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Rahul Sahni

Straight 9s for Rainford High student Student Sarah Fenney, from Rainford High, was just one of 732 students across the country to achieve all grade 9s on GCSE results day.

Sarah has been a standout student since the start of her journey at the school and has consistently exceeded the expectations of her age group.

She is now studying biology, maths and chemistry as well as an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) at Rainford High’s sixth form.

Principal Ian Young said: “We are extremely proud of our students who received their GCSE results last month. It was great to see that their efforts had really paid off.

“Sarah has a natural talent and we were delighted to see she achieved such fantastic grades which is testament to all the hard work she put in. No doubt she will continue to shine in our sixth form.”

Sarah Fenney, from Rainford High

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2019 ADMISSIONS

OPEN EVENING 27 SEPTEMBER 2018 6.00PM PRINCIPAL’S WELCOME AT 6.15, 7.00

Rainford High has another outstanding year of GCSE results. 67% of students achieved 9-5 grades in English and Maths, whilst overall 82% of students gained grades between 9-4.

If you want join our success story, visit our Open Evening on Thursday 27 September, from 6pm, and find out how you can continue your bright future, here at Rainford High.

For more information or enquiries call 01744 885914 or visit www.rainford.org.uk “Once again we are extremely proud of our students receiving their results today. It is great to see their hard work and dedication has really paid off.”

Ian Young. Principal

EVERY EVERYONE ONE Matt Matters ers EVERY EVERYONE ONE Helps EVERY EVERYONE ONE Suc Succeeds ceeds

Rainford Rainf ord High Higher Lane, Rainf Rainford, ord, St Helens, Helens, Mer Merseyside seyside W WA11 A11 8NY

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HELP AT HOME

Private tutoring:

The benefits of one-on-one teaching The history of private tuition goes back a lot further than you might think - all the way to ancient Greece in fact.

On the say-so of his father, a 13-yearold Alexander the Great was mentored on a range of topics, including the doctrines of morals and politics, by Aristotle himself.

Whilst the subjects covered by today’s tutors may have altered in the intervening 2,000 or so years, the benefits and popularity of one-on-one teaching have not.

A recent 2018 study carried out by The Sutton Trust/Ipsos-Mori found that more than one in four 11 to 16 year olds in the UK have received some sort of extra tuition outside of school.

This figure of 27% has risen by half since The Sutton Trust began collecting data in 2005.

Primary With ever growing class sizes and increasing pressure on teachers, oneon-one tuition can provide bespoke, targeted support for children at primary level.

A private tutor at this stage can work with a child on his/her particular weakness and prepare them for the challenging end of Key Stage 2 SATs. Many children find the demanding nature of these exams particularly tough, and can benefit from learning test techniques and strategies which will enable them to approach the assessments with greater confidence.

Similarly, as competition grows ever fiercer for secondary school places, a growing number of parents are turning to private tuition to help their children pass important entrance exams.

The skills needed to get through verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests, taken

by Year 6 pupils to gain entry to many secondary schools, are not covered at 40

primary level so the help of a private tutor at this stage can make a big difference.

Secondary According to the 2018 Sutton Trust survey, one in three pupils receive tuition for specific GCSE exams.

With the switch to a more exam-based assessment system and the elimination of coursework for many subjects at GCSE, more and more parents are employing private tutors to help their children.

As well as significant changes to the curriculum, a recent overhaul of the GCSE grading system means this period can be a particularly stressful and at times confusing time for both pupils and parents.

Hiring a tutor can be an effective way to boost a child’s understanding of the new examinations and help them keep abreast of the latest trends in secondary education. And whilst many parents choose to hire a private tutor to help their child with core subjects at GCSE such as maths, English or science, it’s not just traditionally academic study that can benefit from one-on-one teaching.

Music, cookery and drama are just some of the more creative topics that a

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

private tutor can offer a child valuable assistance with.

What should I look for in a tutor?

With the private tutoring market bigger than ever before, finding the right tutor for your child can at first appear a rather daunting task.

Before you jump in and book an appointment, it’s important you discuss the idea with your child first.

Once you’ve got them on board its time to discuss priorities; what does your child need extra help with?

Homework? Exams? General skills?

Music?

Armed with this information, the next stage is to get recommendations.

Whilst most online tutor sites offer reviews, often an endorsement from a fellow parent can be the best and most reliable option.

Finally, it’s good practice to meet with your child’s prospective tutor and see how the two interact before committing to a run of sessions.

It’s vital your child is comfortable with his/her tutor in order to ensure they reap the full benefits of one-onone teaching.

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Secondary News

Welcome Bosco host Chinese students for ‘unforgettable experience’ St John Bosco Arts College played host to 31 students from its sister school, Wenzhou No.2 Foreign Language School in China for an eight day exchange trip.

During the visit, the Chinese students were paired with a ‘Bosco Buddy’ and experienced what it’s like being a Bosco student. Lessons included making scones in food technology, practising writing skills in English and solving equations in maths.

Everton in the Community (EitC) were

also on hand to host a ‘Bosco World Cup’ and delivered coaching sessions to students in the sunshine.

The exciting partnership began in 2017 when St John Bosco was selected as an ambassador school by Access China UK, an organisation which funds school partnerships in China and promotes the exchange of ideas through different international programmes.

The school introduced Mandarin as a modern foreign language in September 2016 and currently offers the language to

30 Year 7 and 8 students. Sixth form students can also learn the language as part of their enrichment programme.

The students from China also visited Liverpool last July and before that, students from St John Bosco travelled over 5,000 miles to visit its sister school in the city of Wenzhou, which is in the South East of Zhejiang Province.

Catherine, a student from Wenzhou No.2 Foreign Language School loved the experience, saying: “I had an unforgettable experience today! It’s so different from the life in China. Taking part in the activities and making friends made me feel pleased.”

In April 2019, the school will head to China once again, offering students the trip of a lifetime with three days at the sister school and two days sightseeing.

Headteacher, Darren Gidman said: “It was a pleasure to welcome students from our sister school and continue to strengthen our relationship. Lots of memories were made and it’s a joy to see students develop an understanding of each other’s cultures and form friendships so quickly.

“We are excited to launch our next trip to China in 2019 which will continue to build on this fantastic international exchange.”

Medal success for St Mary’s student A St Mary’s College sixth former selected for the Great Britain under18 rowing team won two medals on her first appearance with the squad at a recent Euro event.

Georgia Shirley from Southport collected two bronze medals in the women’s single sculls at the Coupe de la Jeunesse European championship event in Cork in Ireland.

This regatta involved rowers from 14 European countries taking to the water to battle it out over 13 events.

And at the end of the three-day competition there was a double celebration for Georgia as Team GB also completed a hat-trick of overall team titles, adding to the silverware they won in Belgium last year and Poland in 2016.

Being selected for the British team is a dream come true for Georgia who is a member of the Royal Chester Rowing Club.

She has been rowing since the age of 13, and has trained incredibly hard in recent years to reach international 42

standards.

Georgia said: “The event in Cork was fantastic - I was really excited to be part of the team, and to be representing my country for the first time.

“Training six times a week on top of my academic studies hasn’t been easy, and I also had to dedicate a lot of additional time to taking part in the GB team trials, but all the hard work has paid off and I’m absolutely thrilled with Georgia Shirley in action in Cork, Ireland

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

the medals.”

St Mary’s College principal, Mike Kennedy, said: “To be selected for the national rowing team is a remarkable achievement, and everyone at the school is delighted at Georgia’s success.

“Over the years we’ve been fortunate to see a number of exceptional sporting successes by our pupils, but Georgia’s achievement is up there with the very best of them.”

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Secondary News

Bringing communities together School signs off anniversary celebrations Past, present and future came together in a music festival for the whole community at St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School staged in the school grounds.

In the final celebration of its 60th anniversary year, St Helens High School, St Cuthbert’s presented #StCuthFEST – a music festival for the whole community.

In their festival in a day, they celebrated the diversity of music from their past, present and future.

Hosted by Wish FM presenter and Saints Stadium announcer, Chris Milow, the festival included acts from Year 5 pupils at its four partner primaries, the school’s rock and brass bands, solo performances from current students and staff plus they also welcomed back past students in the form of Royal College of Music student, Daisy Hatton and Rock n Roll three piece from Merseyside, Sapho.

Headteacher, Mrs Cath Twist said: “Music is a great way of bringing our community together – therefore it was delightful to welcome members of our school family past, present and future to come and join us at this very special summer event, and celebrate 60 years of our school’s history in style.”

Just one of the many acts performing at #StCuthFEST

St Margaret’s students visit Normandy Five students from St Margaret’s Church of England Academy had the chance to take part in this year’s D-Day commemoration parades in Normandy.

The students who are part of the RAF Air Cadets 2359 (Woolton) squadron, as well as 90, 7F and 1913 squadrons, were given the opportunity to meet veterans of the D-Day landings whilst also visiting museums and memorials across five of the landing beaches.

The highlight of the trip for the cadets was being invited to march with veterans and other armed forces from across the world.

Year 10 student, Sgt Thomas Wilson and Year 9 student, Cpl Carl Hughes were appointed as banner bearers alongside the Normandy Veteran Association and Royal British and French Legions.

Thomas Wilson said: “This was the opportunity of a lifetime.

To be able to spend time with those who were prepared to give their lives for ours was very moving and we were all very honoured to meet them.”

Commanding Officer Flt Lt Phyll Whitfield from 2359 (Woolton) Air Training Corps, said: “It is important that the youth of today remember and understand what went on in World War II. The best possible way to understand is to visit the museums and cemeteries to see the loss. Listening and interacting with the veterans is also important. We will remember them!”

Principal Stephen Brierley, said: “Our students have had a 44

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fantastic opportunity to go over and watch this year’s D-Day commemoration parades. Now they’re back in school, they’ve hardly stopped telling their teachers and friends all about it – which can only help all of us understand more about how much our forebears gave for our freedom today.

“Well done to them, and many thanks to the Air Cadets for giving them such an amazing opportunity.”

The St Margaret’s students on their visit to Normandy to take part in the D-Day commemorations

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Secondary News

Well done to all School wins national awards for excellent results Archbishop Blanch CofE High School has been recognised nationally for its excellent results in 2017 based on data from the Department of Education and Ofsted, analysed by SSAT (the Schools, Students and Teachers network).

The school was found to be among the best performing secondary schools in the country, receiving two awards for being in the top 10% of non-selective schools nationally for attainment and the top 20% for progress.

The SSAT educational outcomes database compares all state-funded schools in England, with the highest performing for a range of key measures presented with SSAT Educational Outcomes Awards, sponsored by Lexonik.

Headteacher Miss Duggan was presented with their awards at a ceremony attended by winners from across the region.

Miss Duggan said: “I am so very proud of the pupils and staff of Archbishop Blanch. To be recognised with not one but two awards is testament to the hard

work and dedication of all involved in our school community - pupils, parents, staff and governors. Thank you and well done to all!”

Sue Williamson, chief executive of SSAT said: “I am delighted that Archbishop Blanch CofE High School has won two educational outcomes awards.

This recognises an important aspect of

the schools work, but, as we know, there is much more to recognise in a good school like Archbishop Blanch CofE High School.

“SSAT is pleased to recognise the quality of leadership and the hard work of all staff to ensure the success of every child. A big thank you and well done to pupils, parents, staff and governors”.

Rainford High’s Year 7s win rugby cup The Year 7 boy’s rugby league team at Rainford High are celebrating after winning the St Helens Schools Cup. The promising players capped off an extremely successful season following a hard fought and dramatic extra-time ‘golden point’ victory over Cowley International College, winning 20-16.

With only a minute of extra-time remaining, captain and man of the match George Whitby launched a cross-field bomb that was plucked out of the heavens by the mercurial Keiron Dawson, to win the cup in the most dramatic fashion.

The promising team also reached the semifinals of the National Champion Schools competition, where they narrowly lost out to St John Fisher, Wigan.

With a mixture of experienced club players and boys for whom school has been their first taste of competitive rugby league, they have impressed all with an expansive passing game in attack and improving desire and determination in defence.

Gary Makin, head of PE at Rainford High, said: “We’re so proud that our Year 7 boy’s rugby team was victorious in winning the St Helens Schools Cup. Each student played fantastically and showed great ability throughout the match.

“Rainford High is renowned for its excellence in sport and this further cements our ongoing achievements”.

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Secondary News

Budding artists City Region’s best young artists announced

Secondary school winners and runners up with guest judge Peter Ward

Two budding young artists are celebrating after battling it out with more than 900 pupils from 56 schools across the Liverpool City Region to be named the area’s best young artists.

Jacob Crummey, from St Margaret’s Academy and Harrison Fair from Eaves Primary School, were crowned the overall winners of the dot-art Schools competition at a special prize-giving ceremony at Liverpool John Moores University’s School of Art and Design.

Jacob’s winning mixed media piece ‘Exploding Head 5’ and Harrison’s collage piece ‘The Rainforest Alive 11’ both feature alongside the other shortlisted artworks, in the sixth exhibition in the competition’s history. dot-art Schools is already a wellestablished fixture in the academic calendar for many Merseyside schools; since its inception almost 4000 students from over 270 schools have taken part.

This is the sixth year it has taken place in the Liverpool City Region and due to its success and a new partnership with Liverpool John Moores University, a pilot scheme for Cheshire was also launched last year.

Entrants are asked to produce a piece of artwork that reflects themes they are already exploring at school and best showcases their skills and interests.

Schools initially submitted up to 25 student pieces of art, which were then shortlisted by a judging panel made up of representatives from some of the region’s best-known arts and cultural institutions, including Liverpool Biennial, National Museums Liverpool and LJMU, who selected their top three entries from 48

each school for a public vote.

The public were then encouraged to vote online for their favourite piece of work from each school to form part of the exhibition.

The overall winners and runners-up for both primary and secondary categories were chosen and announced by guest judge Pete Ward, (assistant headteacher at Childwall Academy and a specialist leader in cultural education) at the prizegiving ceremonies and exhibition launch.

Each shortlisted student was also presented with a certificate by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool Cllr Christine Banks and Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Peter Brennan during the ceremony.

Runners up awards in the secondary category were presented to Luke Hallman from Maricourt High School and Molly McMaster of Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy.

In the primary category runners up awards were presented to Charlie Beesley of St Michael’s Catholic Primary School and Alex Connor of St Bede's Catholic Junior School.

The winners were awarded a variety of prizes from Tate Liverpool, the Albert Dock, Rennies Art Supplies, Cass Art and Tangle Teezer. dot-art Schools project manager Carolyn Murray said: “The high standard of work continues to develop year on year and it’s rewarding that we have so many talented young artists in the region. We’re also delighted to hold this year’s exhibition at LJMU School of Art and Design for the first time, which is a wonderful space within a setting which can inspire creative young people’s future aspirations.”

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

School says ‘bonjour’ St Francis Xavier’s College (SFX) has strengthened its european links by welcoming a group of exchange students from France.

50 students from Collège VilleboisMareuil in Brittany visited the Woolton secondary school to exchange ideas and learn from each other’s cultures.

Prior to their arrival, each SFX student was assigned to a French pupil and wrote letters in the foreign language. They received letters back from their pen pals in France and strong friendships already started to form before meeting face-toface.

The French students were immersed in British culture during the two day trip; they tried new foods, took part in a treasure hunt and honed their language skills.

Year 9 students also wrote questions to ask the French pupils, who themselves had filmed a short video to show off their school.

Food was a key theme for this year’s exchange. The French pupils brought cuisine such as cheeses, cakes and sausages for the SFX students to sample – with some being more adventurous than others!

The French pupils were keen to discover music from Liverpool and sing along to some Beatles songs! Talented students also showed off their musical skills by playing instruments.

SFX has been building links with the Collège Villebois-Mareuil for over three years and it has been going from strength to strength. The French link is an integral part of the ethos of the school and strong friendships have been formed.

Head of French Carole Thiery said: “Programmes like this play a huge part in defining what is important to SFX. The impact the visit has on both sets of students is fantastic to see. Their confidence increases enormously along with their language and social skills.

“Our students were all really excited to welcome the students from France and show off Liverpool.

“It was a really successful visit and we are already planning the next one!”

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Year Six Open Evening Tuesday 11th September 2018 at 6.30pm St Francis Xavier’s College providing quality education in Liverpool for 175 years A new era in the College’s history has begun. Along with a recent £7.5 million investment in buildings and facilities, our new Headteacher has a strong vision for high-quality education with a clear focus on progress and achievement for all.

To find out more please call 0151 288 1000 or email admin@sfx.liverpool.sch.uk St Francis Xavier’s College, Woolton Hill Road, Liverpool L25 6EG

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Meet the Headteacher Joe Mangan, headteacher Alsop High School

Educate catches up with Alsop High School headteacher, Joe Mangan, to talk about the importance of community, the benefits of innovative thinking and why we should celebrate our differences.

Inspiring minds

by Christine Toner For all his success as a headteacher, teaching wasn’t Joe Mangan’s dream growing up. Indeed, even after graduating from university Joe didn’t immediately look to the world of education for a career. Instead he became a sales rep in the medical industry, a job he thrived in for several years. He was, however, surrounded by teachers as many of his friends were in the profession.

And this, along with a love of football that saw him working with young people as a coach, eventually led to his decision to qualify as a teacher.

“I finally came into the profession when I was 26,” he says.

Yet, despite not originally intending to be a teacher, Joe certainly knew what he wanted to aspire to once he did.

“As a child I went to Holy Family in Thornton and I had a few excellent teachers,” he says. “Mr Holmes was modern foreign language teacher and was a real inspiration and is now one of my best friends and godfather to my daughter. There was also Mr Whelan, my PE teacher. I was lucky enough to work with Mr Whelan in my first school, St George of England, and he was an outstanding man but sadly is no longer with us.”

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St George of England, which is now Hawthorne Academy, was Joe’s first school as a qualified teacher. His career has also seen him take up positions at Manor High School in Crosby, which is now St Michael’s and Maghull High School.

“I have been fortunate to work on the senior management team in three of those schools and learned a lot from colleagues I have worked alongside,” he says.

Nine years ago Joe came to Alsop and went on to become deputy headteacher (“I had been an assistant headteacher in two different schools and knew I was ready to make the next step,” he says) before being appointed head.

Since taking on the role it’s clear that inspiring his students has been a key priority - and one way of doing so has been to enlist the help of some amazing speakers.

“We have been very fortunate to have some incredible speakers in school, partly due to the Speakers for Schools programme It is important that we raise aspirations and broaden horizons,” he says. “Having incredibly successful people, such as the actor David Morrissey, shows are students that there is nothing that they cannot achieve.

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

“

Part of our role, and the role of all schools, is to provide life chances and help young people become responsible citizens.

”

England, was a true inspiration to our students and staff. Not only was he able to relate to the young people and inspire them, but he is a fine Evertonian so is welcome back any time!”

The school has also played host to holocaust survivor Ziggi Shipper, who Joe says is “a real friend of the school”.

“We are always in awe of his generosity of spirit and his message of love over hate,” he says. “When you are in the room with him you know you are in the presence of an incredible human being and someone we should all aspire to emulate”.

With such an amazing roster of visitors to the school, it must be hard to choose one in particular that stands out. But there is one that sticks in Joe’s mind.

“I have to say some of the most

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influential speakers have been Alsop alumni,” he says. “Colin Parry, an Alsopian, founded the Peace Centre in Warrington after his son was killed by an IRA bomb. Colin has worked with various groups in school and moves and inspires us with the work he carries out when it would be so easy just to hate.”

Promoting tolerance, understanding and inclusivity is something that is clearly important to Joe and his team.

Indeed, last year the school held an event to celebrate More in Common in memory of murdered MP Jo Cox. “We are extremely proud to serve our community which has a rapidly changing demographic,” he says. “It is incumbent on us to help manage that change through education and to help bring community cohesion and tolerance.

Our differences should unite us not divide us and should be celebrated. That is the message we are sharing with our school community.”

And that “community” extends beyond the school building. Alsop students are active members of the Walton community in which the school is based and regularly host events to help those in the local area.

“Our governors are committed to providing opportunities for the whole community to raise aspirations, provide experiences that will stay with students for their lifetime and provide the pathways to success in a variety of ways” he says. “There are elements of our community that face real hardships and the test of a community is how we treat one another in times of adversity not just in times of prosperity. Part of our role, and the role of all schools, is to provide life chances and help young people become responsible citizens.

Many of our governors are Alsop alumni or had children who came to this school so there is a deep rooted vested interest in the school being at the heart of the community.”

One area in which the school particularly excels is its 16-19 study programmes, which were recently rated good by Ofsted. Joe says the fact that the school and its staff are “constantly reflecting on our practice in all areas and striving be better” is the reason for this.

“The post 16 provision led the way

with some innovative strategies which proved successful and resulted in 125 students from Alsop going on to university last year,” he says. “Many of them were the first in their families to go and that is something we are extremely proud of. The successful approaches are now being embedded across the school and we are seeing real impact on pupil engagement and progress.”

Next year will see the school celebrate its centenary and Joe says he and his team are currently working on a series of events to mark this “incredible achievement”. .

In the meantime, the school plans to continue building on its current success.

“We have recently had an internal

restructure to enable us to build on the character and culture of our school community and continue to improve the academic progress of our students,” says Joe. “We have had some amazing achievements in recent years, 28% of 147 students last year achieving A* or A grade at GCSE Spanish for example. We need to continue to build on our numerous successes as we move forward with confidence but not complacency.”

And as for Joe, where does he see himself in 10 years time?

“Bless you for asking,” he laughs, “but in 10 years I will be retired with either my feet up or playing golf. I will remember with pride the time I had the great privilege to work with such amazing students and staff at Alsop.”

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CELEBRATING NHS70 Renowned neurosurgeon speaks at Alsop A Liverpool secondary school played host to lead consultant neurosurgeon, Paul May from The Walton Centre as part of a new initiative to celebrate the 70th birthday of the NHS this year.

As part of the celebrations, Mr May visited students at North Liverpool’s Alsop High School to showcase his work as a neurosurgeon.

Students heard about the amazing innovations and work going on at the specialist neuroscience trust. They then got to try their hand at removing blood clots from the brain, using watermelons as substitute heads.

Mr May said: “I think the main purpose of doing visits like this is to inspire in everyone, no matter their background, the drive to achieve in any field of life that they want. I’m only here doing what I do because of my family, my education, and my support networks.

“I’m in a privileged position to be able to pass on aspirations, to tell students that there’s no barrier to becoming a neurosurgeon, it’s about ability and commitment. Alsop is a fantastic school; it’s a very community and socially responsible school, and a real privilege to visit.”

Cutting the cake to celebrate 70 years of the NHS Celebrating 70 years

Watermelon Brain Surgery workshop

Mr May speaks to Alsop staff members

Question time!

Students take part in the Watermelon Brain Surgery workshop

Mr May meets the pupils

Peter Bull (Aslop High) with Mr Paul May and Sam Fleet (The Walton Centre) An attentive audience

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ADVERTORIAL

MSB Solicitors say giving all young people the chance to excel is their secret to success Liverpool law firm MSB, who operate three offices in Allerton, Wavertree and the city centre, are an ambassador for doing things differently.

The firm has instilled a number of progressive, people-focused policies to ensure they have a workforce that is diverse and dynamic.

One of the things MSB most keenly promotes is alternative access to careers in the law.

This month, three of its young paralegals, Rebecca Emmit, Sarah McGuiness and Thomas Stockton, will qualify as solicitors and take on roles within the firm. All three are a prime example of the firm’s commitment to invest in talent. Thomas joined the firm as an office junior aged just 18.

Pipeline of talent MSB managing partner Emma Carey recognises that the traditional, academic path to a legal career isn’t open or suited to everyone. She said: “It in the interests of our business that we sustain a pipeline of talent and nurture the next generation of lawyers and law makers.

“Time and again we have seen young people rising through the ranks at MSB whose skills and talents would not necessarily have been picked up via the usual academic routes. University is not for everybody, some of the brightest, most entrepreneurial minds have been nurtured in non-academic environments.

“We recognise that and we make it our promise to invest in the development of all our young people and help them discover their own individual journey. Having invested in Rebecca, Sarah and Thomas we can now boast three bright, young,

hungry lawyers who will each be a huge asset to our business.”

Three new young people will now take up trainee positions within the firm – Stephen Butchart, Gary Know-Hammel and David Tartellin.

In the deep end David, who after finishing his degree decided to become a paralegal rather seeking an immediate training contract, says he firmly believes it was the right decision that has presented him with invaluable experience over the last two years.

He added: “Two years ago I decided to take on a role as a paralegal in the property team at MSB. “I was really thrown in at the deep end.

There wasn’t much time to get used to the job and I had to learn quickly. Some people may not enjoy that, but I think that being pulled out of your comfort zone and forced to pick things up quickly is the best way to learn new skills.”

Rebecca, Tom and Sarah celebrate qualifying specialist cross-border mediator, Wendy has made the shortlist for Family Law Associate of the Year at the National Family Law Awards 2018.

She has amassed more than 20 years’ experience in family law, dealing with a whole range of often difficult and complex issues.

Lifelong learning And it isn’t just trainees or newly qualified lawyers who benefit from development opportunities at MSB. The firm has a steadfast commitment to “lifelong learning” and consistently challenges and encourages all its people to take on new skills.

Commitment to social value

Emma added: “We have worked hard to create an environment where all our staff, at every level, feel supported, empowered and able to achieve their full potential.”

Described by Emma as a “talented and passionate lawyer”, Wendy said: “I am staggered to be nominated, but totally thrilled. The breadth of talent in the UK family law sector is astounding and I feel hugely honoured even to make the shortlist.”

Family solicitor Wendy Eves offers a powerful example of how MSB’s policy of nurturing talent pays dividends. A

Through her work, Wendy represents some of the most disadvantaged members of society, including refugees, asylum seekers as well as victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, modern day slavery or childhood sexual abuse.

Emma added: “Wendy demonstrates that being committed to Legal Aid and probono does not prohibit you as a lawyer, not does it prevent you from realising your potential. It is quite the opposite.

“Wendy is not only a passionate lawyer, but she has developed an excellent reputation in the field of family law and is leading the way in new and emerging areas of law, issues that directly affect the communities we work in.

“I only hope that those young lawyers coming through the ranks at MSB can learn lessons from Wendy and the fantastic, experienced team we have at MSB.” Wendy Eves and Emma Carey Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

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A MERRY EVENING IN LIVERPOOL Robin comes to Merry Old Childwall

Leila as Nurse Gerty

Nurse Gerty with Will Scarlet

It was a lovely evening in the leafy suburbs of Childwall when Childwall CE Primary School drama club donned their tights and took centre stage to wow the audience with their hilarious production of Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies.

With the scene set the sheriff announced that King John was doubling taxes in the village of Sherwood. The discovery of an advert in the local newspaper for The Merry Men appears to be the answer to the villagers’ problems. With a ‘helping hand’ from the skunk scouts they are tracked down. With comic lines and a lot of laughter, the audience hailed the rescue of Maid Marion and the return of King Richard to reclaim the throne. The performance finished off with a show stopping performance of ‘Men in Tights’.

Mary Carew and Eddie Hawthorne were the directors of the performance.

Eddie said: “The children had worked really hard throughout the year as they attended drama club which was offered as an extra curricular programme”.

Charlie as Will Scarlett

Aaron and Christopher as Bolt and Robin Hood

Evie as Maid Marion

The Merry Men

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SCHOOL OF ROCK

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Ask a group of adults to list their regrets and you can bet that at least one of them will cite not learning an instrument. Giving up those piano lessons because you wanted to play out instead, packing up the guitar because it was too difficult or never even trying to play an instrument at all - we’ve all been there. And it seems the next generation haven’t learnt from our mistakes.

According to official figures only one in 20 students took GCSE Music in 2017 and researchers have warned music as a secondary school subject could face “extinction”.

But is this really just a result of disinterest on the part of pupils? Or is there another issue at play? For many experts and commentators, changes to the curriculum and pressures on funding are behind the decline.

A survey of 650 state school teachers, by Sussex University, found the general consensus is that music is being squeezed because of pressure on pupils to

ils deve

take subjects included in the EBacc school league table measure.

Duncan Mackrill, a senior lecturer in education at the University of Sussex, said: “Our research clearly shows the EBacc is having a detrimental effect on the uptake of music in state secondary schools. We also have evidence that the EBacc policy has resulted in a negative impact on the wider musical life of schools as well as curriculum provision.”

lop

and councils around Britain, music teachers have tried to protect and strengthen the position of music in primary and secondary schools.”

The power of music The cuts to music provisions across UK schools is all the more concerning when one considers how important the subject is.

Meanwhile, a BBC survey found nine in every 10 schools have had cut back on lesson time, staff or facilities in at least one creative arts subject (including music).

Various studies and reports have been published, in particular in the USA that have led music educators to argue that learning a musical instrument supports the academic progression of students in their other subjects.

“The Performing Arts and in particular the learning of a musical instrument have typically played a relatively unimportant role in British schools over the past few decades,” says Andrew Byers, director of music, St. Mary’s College, Crosby. “Due to increasing financial constraints set upon the majority of schools

“The disciplines needed to learn a musical instrument are clear; patience, determination, dexterity, perseverance and emotional control are the obvious ones, but we must add to that the cognitive processes of perception, memory, evaluation, problem solving, reasoning and the production of a new ‘language,” says Andrew.

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SCHOOL OF ROCK

Our research r re clearly clearl arlly shows the aving v a detriment EBa cc is ha EBacc having detrimental effect on the upt taake of mus uptake music in state sttatte secondary secondary schools. school ols At St. Mary’s C College, all pupils learn a musicaal instrument from Yeear 4 at its Prreparatory School and from Year e 7 at the College.

College All symphonic and wind band instruments are on offer, (including the “lesser popular Bassoon and Double Bass” says Andrew).

St Cuthbert’s in St Helens is another school which recognises the value in music.

“At St Cuthberts we value music at the same level as any other subject,” says music teacher Dave Conlan.

“It continues at both KS3 and 4 and there are many extracurricular opportunities on offer to all students and if there is a financial constraint we strive to ensure that all our young people have the opportunity. As a Catholic school we value music throughout school at assemblies and celebrating mass at school, dance and music festivals.”

Dave says the younger a child starts to appreciate music the easier it will be in older children. “However age should not be a barrier as we

have ave seen many of our young youn people take ake up an instrument in secondary se school chool as a way of complimenting complim heir studies and helping their th their eneral well being,” he says. says “All general [off our pupils] are given the same pportunities and we encourage encou opportunities experi alll instruments to be experienced.

We have a rock band, a cho kulele band to name but a few ukulele arren Henley OBE, chief executive e Darren off Arts Council England has voiced his is support for more music in schools chools h l on severall occasions. occasion Hee says: “Schools across the th country ountry seek to provide high hig quality music education for a whole host off reasons. Advocates of music mu education ducation will often cite the subject’ contribution to a school’s et positive ositive impact on attainment attainme in other ther subjects, its role in developing de social ocial oc a skills s s and a d the t e opportunity oppo opportu tu forr self-expression. All of these the are important mportant points that should shoul be taken than aken into consideration. More M anything, however, music s be a part of children’s scho for its own intrinsic good.”

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SCHOOL OF ROCK

how can music benefit our pupils?

Playing an instrument might also improve control and coordination skills in older children

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THIS LITTLE GIRL

Matilda (Lily Mae)

A magical evening at Gateacre School This year Gateacre School’s drama and music department took on the challenge of the musical version of Roald Dahl’s famous Matilda. The musical’s narrative centres on Matilda, a precocious girl with the gift of telekinesis, who loves reading, overcomes obstacles caused by her family and school, and helps her teacher to reclaim her life. Students from nearly all year groups were involved, whether it be acting, dancing, singing, playing instruments in the band or behind the scenes. A number of students took on the responsibility of choreographers creating incredible dance routines. The show was seen by over 500 thrilled audience members, and during the interval they were also treated to workshops from different subject areas based on the books of Roald Dahl. Science created wonderful potions from George’s Marvellous Medicine with the English department playing name the book and drama hosting a props booth.

The Matilda company

Mr and Mrs Wormwood (Hadley and Freya) look on in disgust at Matilda (Lily Mae)

The Gateacre Matilda Band in action

Rudolpho (Jack) and Mrs Wormwood (Freya) strutting their stuff for Miss Honey (Georgia

Matilda (Lily Mae) being a little bit naughty

The Matilda singers, Sophie and Miss Allwood

Matilda (Lily Mae) telling her extraordinary stories to the librarian Mrs Phelps (Makenzie)

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SCHOOL

SPONSORED BY

SENSORY GARDEN WINS AWARD Students and staff from our Carmel College Foundation Learning department enjoyed an afternoon at the 2018 Archdiocesan Awards ceremony, celebrating winning the Contribution to the Community award.

The college’s sensory garden project received help from Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) Community Fund, Tesco’s Groundwork Fund and Veolia UK. The year-long project has transformed an overgrown patch of ground on Carmel’s campus and turned it into a beautiful, relaxing space for students and staff to enjoy.

Lauren Molyneux, tutor at the college said: “A lot of schools have a sensory room for students with additional needs, but we

thought as we have the room outside why not turn it into a sensory garden.

“We’ve repurposed household waste materials and all the students have taken part in it and will work to maintain it as well.

“A typical day in college can be overwhelming, particularly for students on the spectrum who sense things differently, so for them to have a space that is quiet and peaceful, it makes them feel a lot safer and gives them an opportunity to calm their minds.”

Joshua Palmer, 19, a student in the department said: “I think it looks wonderful. My favourite parts are the doors at the back, especially the red one with numbers on and the flowers in the bath. I feel really cheerful seeing everyone in our garden and I’m happy I helped to make it”.

£11m investment for school playing fields in Knowsley Councillors in Knowsley have agreed an extensive programme of improvements, which will see schools right across the borough enjoy investment in their outdoor spaces.

Over the coming years, £10.825 million will be used to significantly enhance the quality of the playing spaces for children and young people in Knowsley.

It means pupils in the borough can enjoy fantastic sporting, leisure and other outdoor learning and development opportunities.

Phase one of the programme will see more than £4m spent on projects at 19 schools this financial year, with another 34 schools benefitting in the second phase.

Cllr Margaret Harvey, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “Our schools want to ensure that they are offering pupils the very best opportunities to get involved in sport, leisure and outdoor learning – and this investment will make sure that happens.

“It is so important for children’s health and wellbeing that they are able to get outdoors and enjoy sport or exercise, so I’m delighted to see so many schools will benefit from this money.

“Drainage improvements, new play equipment, new hard standing play areas, environmentally friendly landscaping and new fencing works being provided by this investment demonstrate the council’s continued commitment to the health and wellbeing of the borough’s children and young people all year round”.

Among the schools to benefit in the first phase will be Roby Park Primary in Huyton, which will receive a total investment of more than £900,000 for new play equipment and hard surfaced play areas with improved environmentally friendly landscaping.

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Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

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Sponsored by

Future Food Challenge Students tackle issues of global food security Schools from across Liverpool came together for the finale of the first ever Future Food Challenge, a 12 week programme delivered by social enterprise Farm Urban and The University of Liverpool’s Institute of Integrative Biology.

The programme, funded by Shaping Futures, the Merseyside partner for the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP), inspires young people to do science and enterprise differently, challenging Year 9 students to find solutions to tackle the issue of global food security by focusing on ways to grow more food in our cities using aquaponics - growing fish and plants together in a closed-loop ecosystem.

The programme started in January with Farm Urban touring local schools to deliver their TEDx talk, “Fixing the Broken Food System” and then inviting Year 9 students to apply to take part in the 12week after - school programme.

Following a launch event at The University of Liverpool, where participants took part in a host of workshops, including an aquaponics challenge, business masterclasses and scientist speed-dating, students then returned to their schools ready to start the 12 week challenge.

Each team immersed themselves in the science of aquaponics, with their very own Produce Pod system from Farm Urban to experiment with, before forming their own startup, developing a business idea and designing and building their own aquaponic food system.

The programme provides students with the opportunity to gain an insight into startup businesses, social enterprise and how they link into Higher Education activity, whilst developing skills in project management, leadership, finance, teamwork,

communication and scientific research.

The finale event, held at Farm Urban’s agri-lab space at the Liverpool Life Sciences UTC school, gave teams the opportunity to exhibit their work, display their systems and pitch their business idea to a panel of judges, comprised of local business leaders and university academics.

Business ideas ranged from systems for use in primary schools to hospitals and local cafes.

The overall winners from Woodchurch High School, on the Wirral, carried out research using recent data from the Trussell Trust and spoke to local charities and churches to create a system that would provide fresh food for those accessing food banks.

Dr Iain Young, senior lecturer at The Institute for Integrative Biology and the University lead for the programme said: “Teaming up with organisations outside the university can be a really powerful way of delivering public engagement, showcasing our science and involving the public in research.

A discussion on how the process works

The judges discuss the exhibits

The winning Woodchurch High School

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LEAVERS’ SERVICE Year 6 children celebrate moving on More than 3,500 children and staff attended four services at Liverpool Cathedral, representing schools across the entire diocese. The services are designed to help students reflect and give thanks for their time at primary school and to look forward to and celebrate the move to secondary school.

The theme this year was ‘Moving on’ told through the story of Moses and Pharaoh. David Thorpe diocesan adviser for RE, collective worship and Christian distinctiveness at Liverpool Cathedral, said: “As an education team we are delighted that over the four services, 3,500 Year 6 pupils, along with parents, staff and clergy joined together in worship at our Cathedral.

“These services give us the collective opportunity to celebrate in worship and give prayerful thanks for the children as their time at primary school ends, and they prepare for moving on to their respective high school. The traditional elements of our Year 6 services, such as the banner procession and presentation of children’s prayers remained central to the worship but by adding a more biblically dramatic focus to the service made it more accessible to the pupils”.

Proud pupils and their banners

The story of Moses

Each school present paraded their own banner

Following the footsteps of Christ

Staff and pupils enjoy the day

Raising their voices

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Asking the experts:

Early learning How do we ensure that the children in Early Years get the best start and are ready for school?

Starting school is one of the most important milestones in a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life.

Taking the next step of their development and embarking on their educational journey is a hugely important moment. But what happens before that journey begins?

We caught up with Lisa Dorrity, senior school improvement officer at School Lisa Improvement Liverpool to find out.

Dorrity Tell us a bit about the work you do Lisa: Each child in Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is allocated a key person who is responsible for getting to know them well and meeting their needs - emotionally, physically and educationally. At School Improvement Liverpool (SIL), we work closely with practitioners to focus on the support they offer children as their important adults, helping them to look for opportunities to help children to develop their skills, offering ideas, encourage them to think critically, to model language, ask questions, offer 66

emotional support where needed and have a solid understanding of the curriculum to know how to move children on to their next steps.

Reading is clearly a vital skill in education, how do EYFS practitioners help children to develop in this area?

Lisa: Practitioners who work with babies have focused on singing with babies to develop early communication.

Sharing books and stories with children is key to developing skills in reading. Practitioners have worked

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

with us to understand the purpose of books, to learn how to use them creatively across the provision. We encourage practitioners to read with children, use props and actions to bring stories to life, retell stories orally.

Non-fiction books help to give children information, particularly about the world around them.

Role play is vital across EYFS. Areas such as the home corner, allow children to communicate through talking, reading and writing for a purpose in familiar situations. Many schools have made role play a focus

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SPONSORED CONTENT

The EYFS Team

this year and as a result, children are more imaginative.

When children enter nursery, they start to focus on early phonics.

Through games, songs and rhymes, children can start to embed the key skills they need to be successful readers of the future. Many schools and settings have worked with us this year to know how and when children should be taught phonics. A key focus has been to encourage children to orally blend and segment sounds in nursery.

What role can families play?

Lisa: Families are the most important link to a child in EYFS. A key person, the adult that knows a child well, liaises with families every day that a child is in their care. The information that families can share about their

child helps practitioners to understand what a child can do and can be used to inform assessments.

Can you tell us a bit about some of the successful projects youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ran this year?

their setting. These sessions allow families to attend practical book making workshops with their children, focussing on the importance of reading. The families then make the books and read them at home.

Lisa: Projects this year, such as Building a Bridge of Books, have seen successful reading take place with practitioners, families and their children. Building a Bridge of Books project provides training delivered by an artist and a SIL specialist, alongside a plan that can be delivered by a practitioner back at

The CHATTA project has allowed families to communicate with their childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s school using the CHATTA app. The pictures and voice messages accessed on a phone or tablet, allow children to recall their learning experiences in the provision with their family and use them to talk and to write.

If you would like to learn more about the EYFS training or services School Improvement Liverpool offers visit: www.schoolimprovementliverpool.co.uk

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CONFERENCE HAILED A SUCCESS Powerful day at safeguarding event Delegates who gathered in Liverpool for the North West Safeguarding Conference 2018 have hailed the event as a huge success. The annual conference brought together experts and speakers on e-safety and protecting children in the modern age for what was described by organisers, School Improvement Liverpool, as a “thought provoking and powerful day”. Among the keynote speakers where Lorin LaFave, whose 14 year old son, Breck Bednar, was groomed via online gaming platforms and subsequently murdered.

Following his death Lorin set up the Breck Foundation which aims to educate young people on the dangers they face online. Also speaking at the event was Dean Coady OBE, managing director at Urban Pure Solutions and a former Parachute Regiment soldier and Greater Manchester Police officer. Dean gave a particularly powerful speech on the importance of youth engagement and his experiences serving on the frontline in some of the most challenging areas in the UK. Meanwhile Charlotte Aynsley, director for E-safety Training and Consultancy brought her broad range of experience in the field of internet safety to offer advice on keeping children safe online.

Julie Knowles, Assistant Director of Safeguarding at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

Delegates take notes during the keynote speeches

Lorin LaFave, who set up the Breck Foundation after her son was groomed online

School Improvement Liverpool’s Yvonne Sutton welcomes attendees

The event was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel

Dean Coady OBE, a former Parachute Regiment soldier, is an expert in youth engagement

The delegates worked in groups in the workshops

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A-level results 2018

Top grades Tributes paid to hardworking pupils After so much hard work and dedication Year 13 students from across the region celebrated their Alevel results and Educate Magazine were on hand to capture them celebrating all their academic and

personal achievements.

Recent changes to A-levels meant students this year sat their exams at the end of two years of study, instead of taking modular exams throughout the course.

Rebecca Robertson Enciso, Lauryn Thomson, Faye Sikora, Hannah McCombs and Eve Turner all celebrate straight Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s at The Belvedere Academy

Bethany Johnson (A*, A*, A, A) from Carmel College celebrates her A-level success

Nationally, the proportion of A* and A grades has stayed the same this year at 26.2 per cent. Last year, it rose by 0.4 percentage points which was the first hike since 2011.

To view our full gallery visit our website on http://www.educatemagazine.com

Head boy Joseph Murphy will study History and French History at Oxford after obtaining straight A grades at The Blue Coat School

Gateacre Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s head girl, happy with her A-level results

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A-level results 2018

St Margaret’s Church of England Academy Principal Mr Stephen Brierley congratulates one of his students on attaining her A-levels

Pupils at St John Bosco Arts College relax after the agony is finally over

Students from Stonyhurst College celebrate A-level success with 36 per cent of all entries achieving an A* or A grade and 61 per cent achieving A* to B

St Mary’s College, students Charley Moran, Tori Gordon and Kayleigh Greenwood check their A-level results

Eve Machin, Rebecca Robertson Enciso and Yumma Kaleem all celebrate straight A’s at The Belvedere Academy

St Michael’s Church of England High School student celebrates her success with her family

Lucy Walsh collects her results with her family from The Blue Coat School

Ethan Boyle, a student at West Derby School did extremely well

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A-level results 2018

Some of the 38% of St Mary’s College students who achieved three or more A*, A or B grades

All Saints Sixth Form students gain five A*’s between them

Ellie Brindley, Heather Quayle, Jessie Yu, Laura McCormick and Eleanor Maguire all celebrate excellent results at The Blue Coat School and university places

Olivia Sumner from Rainford Sixth Form looks over her A-level results

Hannah Michell (A*, A, A) from Carmel College shows off her A-level results

Alex Edwards (A*, A*, A*) from Rainford Sixth Form checks his A-level results

A group of St Margaret’s Church of England Academy students look through their A-level results

James Murray, Peter Lynch (head of sixth form) and Lewis Longman from Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College

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A-level results 2018

A group of friends gather round a table in the main hall at St Francis Xavier’s College to open and share their results with one another

St John Bosco Arts College head of sixth form, Charlotte Murray, poses proudly with her students

St Helen’s College student looks very happy with her A-level results

Carmel College student Tiana Pennington is very happy with her A-level results (A*, A, A)

St Mary’s College head girl Sophie James (middle) joins her sisters Bethan and Eleanor at University to study medicine

These West Derby School students obtained six A grades between them

University places confirmed for students Emily McDonnell, Amelia Hedley and Beth McShane from Holy Family Catholic High School

Big hug from mum for this St Helens College student

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A-level results 2018

Gateacre School’s Year 13 World Challenge students celebrating their results in Mozambique whilst trekking through the country

A very happy UTC Life Sciences A-level student

Students from Archbishop Blanch made it look easy, with amazing results getting A* A’s & B’s between them

A St Francis Xavier’s College student arrives in the main hall to collect her A-level results

Calderstones School student Suri Singhania (A*, A*, A*, A) and Luke Anthony (A*, A, A, A*)

Two happy St Michael’s Church of England High School A-level students

Stonyhurst students celebrate A-level success

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A-level results 2018

Samanta Mata from Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College

Students from St Helens College celebrate their A-level success

Becky Marsh (A, B, B) and Calum Thomas (A*, A*, A) from Rainford Sixth Form

Students from Bellerive FCJ Catholic College celebrate

Miss Judson from All Saints Sixth Form with students Kyran and George who both gained double distinctions

Ben Owens ((B, B, B, A*) and Mona Khodary (A*, A*, A*, A*) both from Calderstones School

A-level results at Holy Family Catholic High School

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GLITTERING END TO THE YEAR Year 11 pupils bid farewell Year 11 pupils from Gateacre School in Liverpool celebrated the end of their GCSE exams with a glittering prom held at the Palm House in Sefton Park.

Over 160 students joined staff at the stunning location to let their hair down and dance the night away as they marked the end of statutory education with the glamorous gettogether.

The highlight of the evening was the crowning of the schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; prom king and prom queen.

Zak, Anthony, Will and Michael

The prom was set in the beautiful Palm House

Lauren, Erin and Josh Erin and Marc

Beautiful ladies

Gateacre staff

Joel, Seth, Owen and Jay Jay

The pupils enjoyed the evening

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A-level News

Best A-level results at Belvedere - EVER! The Belvedere Academy were celebrating the news of this year's amazing results, their Year 13 students have recorded the schools best ever results.

Peter Kennedy, principal at The Belvedere Academy said: “Almost 10% of all of the grades were at A*- the highest proportion of the top grades ever achieved by a Belvedere cohort and over a third of all grades were awarded an A* or an A, this is simply outstanding considering most of these courses were the new, linear, reformed A-levels.

“It is also the first cohort of girls who sat

some L3 Vocational Certificates, nineteen of our students achieved a 100% pass rate in these new courses with two of the grades at ‘Distinction Plus’ level in PE! “Congratulations to all of the teaching and support staff at Belvedere, to our fantastically supportive parents and most of all to our hard-working and committed Year 13 girls.

“We will miss you but good luck with the next stage in your lives, stay in touch and remember you will always be ‘Belvedere Girls!’”.

The school are also celebrating with students achieving an outstanding set of

GCSE grades.

Peter said: “Despite more demanding GCSEs this year, the quality of the grades remain fantastic with over 20% of all grades awarded at the new 9 or 8 grade (equivalent to A*) and with 43% of all of the grades at 9-7 (equivalent to A), the girls, their parents and all of the staff at Belvedere should be really pleased with themselves.

“It was wonderful to see so many happy faces in school on results day. We are all looking forward to working with the vast majority of this cohort of students in the sixth form”.

Carmel College bucks national trend

Caitlin Corrigan 84

Carmel College in St Helens celebrated an impressive set of A-level results, with no fewer than six students set to continue their studies at the prestigious Oxbridge universities.

The class of 2018 achieved an incredible 98.7% pass rate, with 51% of grades at A*-B and 80% at A*-C. The number of students receiving A*-C grades was up 0.3% on last year bucking the national trend which saw A*-C grades fall overall compared to 2017.

Once again, Carmel’s BTEC courses achieved a 100% pass rate with 88% of grades at Distinction* and Distinction.

Caitlin Corrigan, Katherine Cleary, Hannah Mitchell, Anna Elliot, Natasha Clieve and Anthony Walker are the super six students who will be heading to Oxbridge universities in September.

A further seven students will be studying medicine or veterinary science when the new term begins.

Carmel College Principal Mike Hill said: “We are really pleased with this year’s outstanding results. The number of our students who have achieved a grade C or above has increased which is really pleasing, particularly compared to the national picture.

“Not only does this show how hard our students have worked, it also illustrates how our staff continue to be passionate about working with students both in passing on their knowledge and supporting them to achieve their best.”

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Scores of pupils attended the event

WELL READ PUPILS Author launches book at St Hilda’s Young adult fiction author Cathy Cassidy celebrated the launch of her book Sami’s Silver Lining at St Hilda's Church of England High School.

The event was organised by two Year 10 pupils Holly Hughes and Isabel Blore.

They organised a ‘wear your slippers to school’ day and sleepover themed bake sale to raise funds for Cathy’s visit.

Cathy waived her fee as it was the launch day of her book, so the money will go towards buying copies of her book for pupils in school who can’t afford to get a copy and the rest to a refugee charity of Cathy’s choice as the main character of the book is a young refugee from Syria. St Hilda’s also invited Year 6 pupils from Greenbank Primary School as a reward after their SATS. The school has strong literacy links with Greenbank. Literacy Coordinator, Jacqui Hale said: This was a wonderful event which brought past, present and future readers of Cathy’s books together, we also celebrated books, literacy, libraries and imagination but also got pupils thinking about some serious issues and what they can do to help.”

Organisers Holly Hughes and Isabel Blore get their own copies signed

The author read a chapter from her latest book, Sami’s Silver Lining

Saad and Khadijah from Greenbank School pose with the author

The pupils listen intently

Headteacher Jo Code welcomed all to the event

One girl couldn’t wait to start reading!

‘Hands up who daydreams!’

All smiles from these two pupils from Greenbank School

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Pupils look forward to their celebration

CELEBRATING IN STYLE Year 11 pupils enjoy stylish prom Pupils from St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School, St Helens celebrated in style to see off the school year.

The prom-goers made a stylish redcarpet entrance to the Premier Suite at Haydock Park enjoying breath-taking views over the racecourse.

As the sun shone throughout the day the pupils gathered to discuss their memories before dancing the night away. It proved to be an unforgettable evening for the young people as they look forward to their future life.

Pretty in pink and blue

All smiles!

Capturing the memories

The boys ‘scrub up well’

Looking forward to the evening’s entertainment

Smile please!

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Thoughts Worth Sharing

My Favourite

and why “ You must be the change you wish to see in the World ” Mahatma Gandhi

This is my favourite quote because: It’s the best feeling when you can make a positive change in someone’s life. Music did this for me, and through music I know I can bring its many benefits to those I am lucky to teach.

Jessica D’Silva

Director Prelude School of Music

Tweet all about it The five best educational tweets Educate Awards - @EducateAwards Thank you to every school for submitting an entry! They are now with our esteemed judging panel #Exciting! #EA18 Gilmour Infants - @gilmourinfants Today is a very emotional day for the #GilmourCommunity. After 25 years of teaching in the Infants Mr Robin Surtees is taking his well-earned retirement! Everyone wishes Mr Surtees all the best for his future adventures! #Inspiration #Cycling #Guitar Liverpool City Council - @lpoolcouncil Provisional results show GCSE results have improved in Liverpool, with English results now above the national average - well done to all students and teachers.

Kim O'Brien - @ExecEdEducate Fantastic news that both @CatalystSDC and @eurekamuseum have secured funding from the Inspired Science Fund. Exciting plans and hopes of engaging with new audiences in relation to #STEM now one step closer! #Education #NorthWest #Investment National Careers - @NationalCareers If you're getting started on something new this September and feel a little unsure, don't forget there are always those here to help! Give us a call (0800 100 900) or use #AskNationalCareers to get in touch! #BackToSchool2018

EDUCATION STATS

64 per cent National curriculum assessments at key stage 2 in England provisionally shows that in 2018, 64 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths, while 10 per cent of pupils reached the higher standard .

21.8 per cent For all schools, the 2017-18 figure of 21.8 per cent of heard appeals being upheld (that is, successful) was unchanged from 2016-17. Within that, however, the success rate at primary level increased whilst it decreased at secondary level.

66,000 Between January 2017 and January 2018 the number of pupils across all school types rose by 66,000. Although some of this increase was still in primary schools, with 26,600 more pupils in January 2018 than in 2017, most of the rise is now seen in secondary schools.

315,900 There have been 315,900 apprenticeship starts reported to date between August 2017 and May 2018 for the 2017/18 academic year. This compares to 457,200 and 420,800 starts reported in the equivalent period in 2016/17 and 2015/16 respectively.

91 per cent There were 27,065 postgraduate trainee teachers in their final year of course in academic year 2016 to 2017. 24,765 (91 per cent) of these were awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This is the same rate as in the previous academic year.

The proportion of final year postgraduate trainee teachers awarded QTS has ranged between 87 per cent and 92 per cent since academic year 2008 to 2009.

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DEVELOPING LIFE SKILLS Tournament plays a crucial part in region Day two of the Summer Games saw action as hot as the heatwave as thousands of children from across the region took part in a range of sports at the Wavertree Athletics Centre.

Primary school children battled it out in sports including futsal, netball and swimming whilst a tag rugby tournament for secondary schoolgirls was held at the same time, and the standard of competition was of the highest order. Speaking about the event Merseyside Sports Partneship’s chief executive, Jean Stephens said: “The Level 3 School Games in the Liverpool City Region plays a crucial part in offering opportunities to see lives enriched and skills for life developed.

“Participation in sport and physical activity, along with the volunteering opportunities they provide, is the key to so much more than simply having a healthy body. It’s critical to maintaining good mental health and offers phenomenal opportunities for character development”

All six school boroughs took part

Mini-tennis action

A stretch to catch the ball

A Maricourt pupils makes a break

The sand is raked in the long jump pit

The cross is made under pressure

Defence!

A girl surges towards the try line

Pool action!

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Students Shereece Lovell and Emma Moore doing hand massage

The student council

Rosie the pet therapy dog

Stalls for students to look at regarding mental health

Miss Mather at the cake stall

RAINFORD RAISE AWARENWESS Promoting positive mental health Rainford High held a five-dayprogramme to help raise awareness of mental health within the school.

Designed for both students and staff, each day a range of activities took place in order to help those dealing with stress, anxiety or if they weren’t quite feeling themselves. Before the beginning and the end of the school day, the song ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman soundtrack was played to inspire and uplift the school.

Throughout the week, students proudly wore wristbands with ‘This Is Me’ to empower them and promote selfimportance. Lunchtimes were jampacked with engaging and relaxing activities for students who also got to meet and pet therapy dog, Rosie, from the national charity, Pets as Therapy.

Ian Young, principal at Rainford High, said: “The mental and physical health of everyone within the school is of the utmost important to us. The dedicated programme was created to raise awareness of mental health and provide some form of stress relief to students and staff, helping them to focus on their own wellbeing.”

Staff coffee and cake tent encouraging staff wellbeing, the importance of taking a break and chatting to colleagues

‘This is Me’ wristbands

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THE GREATEST SHOW IN TOWN Thousands help celebrate Big Bang 2018 Building on the amazing success of last year, The Big Bang North West returned to Liverpool and thousands of young people from across the region enjoyed exciting exhibits, sensational shows and ingenious innovation while celebrating STEM! Visitors to the event held fire in their hands, performed with celebrities, fished for viruses, rode a mechanical horse, immersed themselves in virtual reality and enjoyed explosive science shows, gadgets, slime, robots, coding and more – there was even a balloon that flew into space! TV’s science adventurer, Huw James, demonstrated how to survive the outdoors and attendees learned how to protect themselves from the elements, survival techniques and how to forage for food… there were plenty of volunteers when it came to munching on bugs! This year the event also featured companies from TV and film. Students learned about careers in production, visual effects, make-up and green screen technology.

There were gasps from the crowd when the stars of Hollyoaks and presenters from ITV entered the arena!

The Big Bang North West 2018 competition finalists

Scientists lit up the arena with their explosive reactions

How loud can you get!

Pupils had the chance to make their own slime!

Welcome to the greatest show!

All About STEM, managing director, Michelle Dow welcomed guests

Metro Mayor, Steve Rotherham was guest of honour,

Students learned about careers in production, visual effects, make-up and green screen technology

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LAMBANANA Hands of friendship reach out to schools

The grand unveiling of the newly redesigned Lambanana outside Toxteth Annexe has taken place at an event run

by School Improvement Liverpool (SIL).

A competition was held over the months of May and June for Dingle, Granby and Toxteth schools for them to re-design the Lambanana outside Toxteth Annexe, using the School Improvement Liverpool EMTAS 'Hands of Friendship' theme.

Over 50 entries were received for staff to shortlist and the chosen designs were sent to a Twitter poll to decide the winner!

The winning design was by Noor Abd Zaid from Smithdown Primary School and was interpreted onto the Lambanana by artist Steve Molyneux.

The unveiling event was attended by Lord Mayor Christine Banks, Jeff Morgan from City of Sanctuary, Cllr Nick Small, Levi Tafari, Junior Lord Mayors and a number of students from some of the School of Sanctuary schools within the city.

@Lpooltraining

Abass Issah Karim - Phoenix Primary, Malik Killen - School Improvement Liverpool CEO, Lord Mayor Christine Banks, Levi Tafari, Noor Abd Zaid Smithdown Primary, Jeff Morgan - City of Sanctuary andCllr Nick Small

Gill Rowlands - EMTAS Manager School Improvement Liverpool

ips berapprenticesh @sthelenscham

Fast Track to an Apprenticeship

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Thinking about starting an Apprenticeship?

W Wee will give you the skills, knowledge and qualiďŹ cations tto o help you get an Apprenticeship Apprenticeship..

Apprenticeships are available across Merseyside sectors. in a wide range of sect ors. Training is delivered at our bases in Liverpool City Centre or St Helens.

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EDUCATE16+ Education, training and employment

Creating links LJMU welcomes students from China Liverpool John Moores University has strengthened its relationship with its partners in the Shanghai Delta by hosting over 30 students from Shanghai Normal University (SHNU), Shanghai University of Engineering and Science, and Suzhou University of Science and Technology for LJMU International Summer School 2018.

Many of the students attending the summer school recently hosted LJMU students in Shanghai during the LJMU China Summer School – so this was a chance for the university to repay that kindness!

The academic and cultural programme involves workshops and lectures in art and design, engineering and humanities, English language classes, entrepreneurship sessions and visits to the likes of the Lake District and Chatsworth House.

The summer school provides the students with the chance to live like a true LJMU student in city centre accommodation and attend classes relating to their courses at home. The trip also offers the chance to explore more of the UK, with many students opting to visit cities such as London and Edinburgh to learn more about British culture and history.

SHNU Foreign Language student Yolanda enjoyed reuniting with the LJMU students and said: “I am an English major, so I applied for the LJMU International Summer School to improve my English skills. This is my first time here and so far I think Liverpool is a very charming city, full of traditional culture. I also think LJMU is a very nice university - I love the teachers and the teaching style here.”

Hannah Dutton a LJMU student, said: “It felt really good to ‘give something back’ to the Chinese students as they did so much for us when we were there recently.

“I was excited to show them the differences between our

cultures and the things we have in common - students can learn a lot from each other especially when there are so many differences in the way that they act.

“Chinese students are focused and work-driven - school really does come first for a lot of them - whereas in the UK, students can sometimes tend to put university on the back bench and focus more on work or their social lives.

“Chinese students’ lives are focused on what they are doing in school, how they can take this further outside of school and what it can do for their future. The teachers are very strict, so it was really interesting to watch the students shopping with their teachers, for example, having seen them working with them in their school… they were all much more relaxed.

“This was a fantastic opportunity and I would love to do it again if the opportunity came up”.

Liverpool City Region announced as ‘Careers Hub’ Liverpool City Region is to become one of 20 ‘Careers Hubs’ around England to help transform careers education for young people.

The Liverpool City Region Careers Hubs will be made up of 34 local schools and colleges working together with universities, training providers, employers and career professionals to improve careers education.

Careers Hubs are a central part of the Government’s careers strategy, published in December. The strategy aims to improve careers education and help prepare young people for the world of work.

The Government asked The Careers and Enterprise Company to scale up a model successfully piloted in the North

East by establishing 20 careers hubs across the country, allocating £5 million over a two-year period to support the hubs.

The Liverpool City Region hub will have access to support and funding to help them meet the eight Gatsby Benchmarks of excellent careers education.

This includes: • A ‘Hub Lead’ to help coordinate activity and build networks • Access to bursaries for individual schools and colleges to train ‘careers leaders’ • Central hub fund equivalent to around £1k per school or college • Access to funding for schools to support employer encounters

Welcoming the news, Asif Hamid MBE, chair of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “This is fantastic news for the City Region. The Careers Hub will enable us to promote the wide range of opportunities for employment and learning to our young people across the region, ensuring they are given the right information at the right time to make informed choices about their future.

“Importantly, it will also enable businesses to raise awareness of the skills and attitudes that they require from their future workforce.

“Having a dedicated hub will pay dividends for the future of our City Region, its economy and the people that live and work here.”

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Prestigious professional qualifications launched Knowsley Community College are celebrating following the launch of Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualifications.

The new management and HR qualifications, which launched this September compliments the college’s existing professional qualifications portfolio which includes accountancy qualifications accredited by Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), growing the portfolio of business and professional qualifications.

The Chartered Institute of Management (CMI) is the only chartered body in the UK that awards management and leadership qualifications with The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) being the main professional body to accredit and award professional HR qualifications.

Paul Mushrow, head of faculty said: “I am pleased that we are able to launch these world-renowned qualifications in

Knowsley.

“These professional qualifications offer an excellent opportunity for anyone with an interest in a career in management or human resources, or those already working in those areas to gain

Students raise funds for local cancer centre Students from St Helens College hair and beauty department have teamed up with Soroptimist International St

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Helens, to raise a generous £275 for The Lilac Centre, a haematology and oncology day unit based at St Helens

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qualifications to help with career progression.”

Qualifications on offer will include level 3 and 5 award and diploma courses in management and human resources.

Hospital, to support the fantastic work they do with local cancer patients.

The proceeds were raised as part of this year’s International Women’s Day celebrations, with inspiring charity, Soroptimists International St Helens, a global volunteer movement working together to transform the lives of women through education and empowerment, hosting a fundraising event at the St Helens Town Hall to mark the occasion.

The hugely successful event brought together students and staff from St Helens College’s hair and beauty department and local businesses run by successful women, with students offering various pampering treatments such as mini facials, massages and mini manicures.

The students raised a total of £200, with a further £75 charitable donation from Soroptimist International St Helens as they mark their seventy-fifth birthday, which was then presented to the dedicated staff at The Lilac Centre.

Counsellor and holistic therapy coordinator, Gillian Levey said: “We would like to thank St Helens College and their students for their extremely generous donation. The money raised will be used to buy items to make patients more comfortable.

“In the past, donations such as this have bought reclining chairs, televisions, murals, thermometers and head scarves.

“We try our best to create a relaxing and comforting environment at the centre as patients undergo treatment and generous donations such as this, really do help”.

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Students achieve gold Students honoured at Buckingham Palace

Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) students from Rainford High have received their gold awards following a prestigious event held at Buckingham Palace.

Over 20 students from the school were awarded their gold certificates, presented to them by Roz Savage - the first (and so far only) woman to row solo across the world’s three oceans.

Held in the gardens of the iconic royal building, thousands of DofE participants from all over the UK attended the highly coveted event.

The Rainford High group spent time

speaking with Princess Eugenie of York, who was keen to find out what the students had got up to during their time completing the programme.

The DofE Award scheme was created by the Duke of Edinburgh as a way for those from all walks of life to garner life skills, volunteering experience and to complete an expedition.

Gold awards require participants to complete a number of challenges and outdoor activities, including a four-day expedition and five-day shared activity in a residential setting away from home.

This year, Rainford High students took

part in a four day expedition in Scandinavia.

It was announced at the presentation that nationally 50 per cent attain gold, with Rainford High achieving around 8590 per cent success rate.

Ian Young, principal of Rainford High, said: “We were incredibly proud to see our students honoured at the DofE gold award presentation at Buckingham Palace.

“The programme is an incredible opportunity for them to gain new skills which will continue to benefit them throughout their adult life.”

Student satisfaction smashes national average An annual survey measuring the quality of teaching and learning alongside the student experience at universities and higher education providers across the country, has revealed that University Centre St Helens sits 4% above the national average for overall student satisfaction and 5% above the set benchmark.

Achieving 87.3 per cent for overall student satisfaction, compared to the English average of 83 per cent, University Centre St Helens also met or exceeded the set benchmark in the majority of individual questions, scoring significantly for questions relating to clear and fair assessment marking criteria, efficient timetabling and effective advice and guidance in relation a student’s chosen degree.

The National Student Survey, commissioned by the Office for Students (OfS) is an annual survey open to all eligible students in their final year of a course leading to an undergraduate degree.

The survey provides a platform for feedback on all aspects of the higher education experience, affording students the chance to respond to a variety of questions relating to teaching, learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, the learning community, student voice, Students’ Union (where relevant) and their overall university experience.

Announced ahead of A-level results day, Victoria Roberts, vice principal at University Centre St Helens said: “We are delighted with our NSS results. The survey provides a platform for students to provide their honest feedback on all aspects of their Higher Education experience and these results are testament to not only the highly experienced and dedicated lecturing teams on each degree course but also to our ongoing drive to continuously improve, providing a wide range of higher education opportunities, with a variety of flexible study modes to an array of students.”

“2018/2019 will see University Centre St Helens expand the portfolio of degree courses on offer, to reflect the demands of both local employers and students’ needs.

“We plan to add a new university to our growing portfolio of validating institutions.”

Speaking of her time as a student at University Centre St Helens, social policy, health and housing student, Deborah, said: “My advice to anyone considering a degree course at University Centre St Helens is to go for it! It’s a great experience that I would recommend to anyone.

“There is plenty of opportunity here, everyone from students to staff are pleasant, supportive and keen to help. From the day I enrolled to the day I leave, I know I’ll get fantastic support, guidance and patience."

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MATHS BOOST College will provide world-leading education The University of Liverpool has received approval from the Department of Education to establish a specialist maths college which will provide world-leading maths education for young people from all backgrounds who have a passion for mathematics.

The University of Liverpool Mathematics College (ULMC) is set to become the first of its kind in the north of England and will follow in the footsteps of successful schools opened by King’s College London and the University of Exeter.

Due to open in 2020, at a location close to the University campus, the ULMC will welcome up to 80 pupils per year when fully operational to study maths, further maths and physics A-levels with other subjects like computer science and music under consideration.

The ULMC will work in partnership with local schools to raise aspirations and attainment levels in mathematics across the region. It will provide professional development programmes for maths teachers throughout the region working alongside other schools, colleges and organisations.

It will benefit from the close

Liverpool school’s ‘positive impact’ on excluded young students A Liverpool school where pupils are getting a second chance to learn has been given a glowing report by education watchdog Ofsted.

Teenagers at Progress Schools in Toxteth – whose behavioural, emotional and social difficulties excluded them from mainstream schooling – are now going back to college, getting apprenticeships or full-time jobs.

Delivering her report, Ofsted inspector Judith Straw said: “The school has a positive impact not only on academic outcomes but also on most pupils’ attendance, behaviour and attitude to learning.

“Most of them leave Year 11 with clear destinations and continue to courses such as in engineering, motor maintenance and health and social care. Some gain apprenticeships and others go straight into employment.

“The school gets positive feedback from employers who offer work experience placements, confirming pupils make good progress towards developing the skills that are valued by employers.

“As a result of Progress Schools’ work, pupils are well-prepared for the next stage of the education, training or employment and for the future.”

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association with the University, and pupils will have the opportunity to boost their skills and learn from staff and students in the University’s Department of Mathematical Sciences.

The ULMC will also look to address the gender imbalance that exists in the study of further mathematics and will work with employers in the region to establish partnerships, giving pupils the chance to gain business experience and the opportunity to see how their skills will support their career choices moving forward.

Professor Dame Janet Beer, vice chancellor of the University of Liverpool, said: “The University of Liverpool Mathematics College will be a hub for the most able young mathematicians in the Liverpool city region so they can develop their knowledge and skills through the study of maths and related subjects.

“In today’s global economy, it is essential that the UK develops the potential of our most talented maths students and this initiative is a much needed response to that challenge.”

Help your teen get ahead this autumn As a parent or guardian of a teenager, you’re probably worrying about how your son or daughter will get on in life after school. For some of you it will be about securing a job and for others about getting them on the next rung of the further education ladder.

There’s no doubt that the world is increasingly competitive. Employers, colleges and universities are all looking beyond educational qualifications to show personal achievement and life skills. This is why NCS (National Citizen Service) was created. It has been exclusively designed to give all 16 and 17-year-olds the chance to build skills for work and life, whilst taking on new challenges, making new friends and contributing to their local community.

NCS is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all 16-17-year-olds that builds skills and confidence. They’ll spend four days away from home challenging themselves through a range of exciting outdoor activities such as abseiling, archery or rafting, as well as building their CV and employability skills for the future in three days of skills-focused workshops. They’ll also get the chance to plan and deliver a team project that will make a real difference in their local area.

Not only will they have great fun, but

Educate The Magazine for Parents and Pupils

they’ll make loads of new friends and get some fantastic new skills to help them progress at college or into apprenticeships, uni or work.

NCS takes place during the October half term holiday. As a governmentbacked programme, they are able to offer NCS for only £50 this autumn, with bursaries available on a case-by-case basis. More than 400,000 teenagers have already stepped up, said yes and enjoyed their time together on NCS.

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Viewpoint

Early GCSE exam entry Around 30,000 Year 10 students, according to data from Ofqual, were entered in the English Literature GCSE exam this year, up on the previous year’s number. We asked the views of secondary school headteachers in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) whether entering students early for the GCSE English Literature or Language exam is something they allow their students to do, and what they believe are the advantages and disadvantages of Year 10 students sitting the exam early.

Ian Young, principal at Rainford High Year 10’s at Rainford High on the whole do not sit their English Literature GCSE exams early. We do have a small number of students who do, for individual reasons, as we feel it makes strategic sense to allow them to focus on one exam subject for a year. By getting it out of the way, it allows them to focus on English Language in Year 11 and reduces the number of papers they have to sit that year.

However, for other students we feel that the increased levels of learning and depth of study that can be achieved in a two year programme allows them to achieve higher levels of attainment and progress.

I feel that a broad brush approach to entry strategies do not take

into account the individual child. I believe that a school should be flexible when it is the right thing for the young person to sit the qualification early but should not put the school’s outcomes ahead of the individual student.

As the new system progresses, schools will develop effective strategies to maximise outcomes. Early entry for English Literature may become one of these strategies dependent on the student and the circumstances of the school.

The national data suggests that students don’t do as well as a cohort when they take English Literature GCSE early but that data does not show the details of the individuals involved.

Phil Denton, headteacher, St Bede’s Catholic High School We have made the conscious decision to have our Year 10 students tackle the content heavy English Literature paper for several reasons.

Firstly, it gives them a ‘real’ experience of sitting a GCSE exam and collecting a ‘real’ grade in August.

Secondly, the students can focus their revision efforts on the literature rather than having to balance that with other subjects.

And thirdly, in Year 11 we believe the students have more time to spend on study and revision for their remaining subjects.

This year’s results would support our approach as we had record breaking English ‘best’ results with 88% achieving 4+ and 83% achieving 5+. This included 83% of students achieving a 4+ in English Literature the year before along with 74% achieving 5+.

As to disadventages to sitting it early, there are some who are not ready to take their exam in Year 10 and so we do defer their entry.

In addition, when we have students who join us in Year 11, English Literature is not studied to the same level as during the

previous year rather there are booster classes for those who wish to re-sit or for those who were not ready to take the exam the year before.

That said, we have not seen any students who have been disadvantaged by this approach and so it is something we will look to continue.

To whether it helps or hinders pupils, I believe it will help students even more as there are even more terminal exams across the board. That said, what does not change is that the students who work hard, study and look to improve every lesson do well.

Those who are not quite there yet in terms of enthusiasm and commitment can fare less well. For the latter, we are though in a position to use the outcomes from the Y10 exam to demonstrate how attitude and work ethic are crucial to success in any terminal exam.

Dominic Mackenzie, headteacher, Formby High School Students at Formby High School took their English Language GCSE at the end of Year 10 as we wanted them to sit one GCSE in English at the end of Year 10 and felt that language was more accessible. We felt greater maturity in Year 11 would help students with accessing and understanding the content and the sophisticated assessment framework of the literature course.

We feel that the main advantage of this is that it allows a very substantial English curriculum to be organised into smaller, more manageable chunks. It also provides students with the experience of preparing for and sitting a GCSE one year early, and this can only benefit them as they progress to Year 11 when they take the bulk of their GCSEs.

There is an element of risk in sitting the exam early but, provided the students are well taught and comprehensively prepared, the advantages outweigh these risks. Putting your faith in the students and their teachers to take the GCSE a year early also provides a huge vote of confidence all round!

We also find that given the demands of the new GCSEs and their additional content, as well as an increase in the number of exams they sit, it helps students to spread the load over two years.

Returning to Year 11 with ‘one in the bank’ helps students to better manage their workload, boosts confidence and provides motivation.

Have your say: To suggest or contribute to a topic for debate in Viewpoint email us at: educate@merseymirror.com www.educatemagazine.com

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GIRLS’ GIRLS’ F FASHION ASHION

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bold

Leopard print baseball hat £10 River Island Black ‘feel good’ leopard crop top £12 River Island Red leopard print shirt £12.99 New Look Animal print sweatshirt £12.99 Zara White t-shirt with animal print heart motif £10 Debenhams Animal print ankle boots £24 Next Vans Era trainers leopard print £56.99 Office riverisland.com / newlook.com / debenhams.com / zara.com / office.co.uk / next.co.uk

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WHERE CAN WE GO? Our pick of what’s happening out & about in the region

Royal de Luxe Giant Spectacular

Saturday 13 October

4-7 October Liverpool and the Wirral (Route TBC)

The Dark Room (For Kids) Leggate Theatre, Victoria Building, 150 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF

Former resident museum kids’ entertainer turned comedy improv evil genius John Robertson comes to the University of Liverpool to present his one man/multiple victim contestant interactive game show THE DARK ROOM (For Kids!). The Australian expat will entertain your tween angels with a live-action videogame that started life as a viral YouTube sensation with over 4million hits. Audiences up and down the country have since played The Dark Room live in their thousands at theatres, gaming expos, comedy clubs and science fiction conventions, including an eight-year run at the Edinburgh Fringe. Earlier this year, Robertson adapted his adult routine for a younger audience, promptly winning a ‘Best Kids Show’ award at Leicester Comedy Festival 2018.

Turns out, kids love yelling, floating heads and computer games. Parents love the nostalgia of the 8-bit graphics and letting the kids know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a barrage of unreasonable demands for a change.

The Giants will make their third return to Liverpool bidding a fond farewell to the city their creator, Jean Luc Courcoult, hails as their 'second home'. The visit marks 10 years since the European Capital of Culture celebrations and it has been revealed that the Giants will grace both sides of the Mersey this October encompassing the Wirral into the excitement. The adventure, entitled 'Liverpool's Dream' does not have a confirmed route as of yet but the previous years have seen the Giants make appearances across the city centre's streets and parks. The Giants first came to Liverpool in 2012 to commemorate the sinking of the titanic on its centenary and then again in 2014 to remember the city during the First World War. During both visits the city's people and tourists alike lined the route of the giants snapping pictures and making memories to last a lifetime. Liverpool can only wait in anticipation to see if any of the iconic characters will be making a return to the city or if a new theme means new faces.

Liverpool Literary Festival

5 - 11 November

19 - 21 October University of Liverpool, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 7ZX. Tel: 0151 794 2650

Various locations around Liverpool Tel: 0151 233 2008 Brittle Heart marks both the centenary of the end of the First World War – the ‘war to end all wars’ – and of women over 30 winning the right to vote, in a programme which will look back to the world of 1918 and consider comparisons with our world now.

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FUTURE EVENTS

Don’st mis

Brittle Heart

D mion’t ss

A fascinating weekend of discussions, readings, workshops and debates in one of the most dynamic culturally vibrant cities in the world.

Hosted by the University of Liverpool, this year's line-up will include Sir Tony Robinson, Val McDermid, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Colm Tóibín, James Naughtie and Claire Tomalin and Fiona Sampson, amongst other well-known literary figures.

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13 - 15 September

Monday 24 September

Film and Video REVIEW

14-18 NOW

Must see

Various cinemas and venues Verdict:

The Hunting of the Snark Delamere Forest, Delamere, Cheshire CW8 2JD

An Audience with Simon Reeve Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BP

This outdoor theatre performance, based on Lewis Carroll’s original poem, The Hunting of the Snark, will take you on an unforgettable journey through the woods, where you will interact with the poem’s characters and become part of the quest to find this mythical creature.

Simon Reeve’s first ever theatre tour will feature the world-famous journalist recounting tales from over 15 years of travelling to the most remote and extreme corners of the planet. From being chased by pirates, to being hounded by the Mafia.

Friday 5 October

Sunday 14 October

The Men Who Marched Away The Brindley Theatre, High Street, Runcorn WA7 1BG

Alder Hey 10k & Family Fun Run Croxteth Hall & Country Park, Muirhead Avenue East, Liverpool L12 0HB

The Men Who Marched Away is a scintillating mixture of soldiers’ songs, music hall numbers, war poems set to new music and original compositions. The show does not flinch from conveying the full horror of the first global conflict but also celebrates the courage and humour of the tommies under fire.

Saturday 27 October

Family Stargazing Night Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, Macclesfield Sk11 9DL You are invited to for an unmissable opportunity to get started in astronomy. During the fun-packed evening you will enjoy a journey around space in our inflatable Planetarium, be surprised by the exciting experiments, get hands-on with telescopes and binoculars and learn to navigate the night sky.

The Alder Hey 10k & Family Fun Run is back! This is a great event that everyone can get involved in! Last year saw hundreds of runners taking on a 10k route around Croxteth Hall and Country Park to help raise money for the Alder Hey charity.

The First World War proved to be a landmark in cinema history – the first time that the horrors of war could be caught on camera. Peter Jackson, best known for directing The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will be compiling and presenting this footage in a way that has never been seen before.

By transforming footage from Imperial War Museums’ extensive archive, Jackson will present a new and sharp perspective, as if shot last week rather than more than 100 years ago. Setting this original footage alongside BBC interviews with veterans recorded over the decades since the end of the war, this film will provide a unique new perspective on the 20th century’s most shocking conflict. The film will be screened in cinemas and schools across the UK, and broadcast on BBC One; further details of theatrical distribution will be announced later this year at 1418NOW.org.uk.

Set to premier at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2018. Every UK secondary school to be gifted a copy of the film to screen to pupils in the autumn term following its premier.

Goosebumps the game Nintendo Switch Verdict: By Andy Kelly

Sunday 2 December

Big Fish Little Fish Liverpool ‘Merry Xmas Mash up’ Hangar 34, 34 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BS World-famous, award-winning, Glastonbury Festival performing, family rave sensation BFLF NW are back at Hangar 34, for a family Christmas rave up! Tunes for families to dance together on the dancefloor with confetti cannons, bubbles, giant balloons and parachute dance finale.

You’re in for a scare in the exciting NEW Goosebumps video game to be released on 9 October. Experience R L Stine’s Goosebumps Universe as monsters have been released from their books and looking to wreak havoc! Werewolves prowl the woods, Gnomes roam underfoot, and scarecrows walk at midnight. It’s your job to investigate with this point-and-click adventure game and outsmart the monsters before it’s too late! You’ll need to use your wits to investigate the surroundings, puzzle out clues, and outsmart the monsters before it’s too late! Survive a trek through your neighbourhood, unravel the mysteries of the Dead House, and sneak through the mall after hours: only then can you confront Slappy and stop his plans for revenge!

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Book Review

In association with

5-8 Years The 104-Storey Treehouse - Andy Griffiths £5.99 Join Andy and Terry in their now 104-storey spectacular treehouse. They've added thirteen new levels, including a never-ending staircase, a burp bank, and even a mighty fortress.

But Andy and Terry are in a race against time to find a funny story for their next book - will the tooth fairy, the two-million-dollar shop or even the riddles of the deep-thoughts thinking room be able to help? Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!

The Creakers - Tom Fletcher £5.99 Isadora is excited for her first ever trip to the fun fair, but when she arrives it's not quite as magical as she expected. Luckily, her cousin Mirabelle has a plan to make the fairground rides extra special. What could possibly go wrong?

Daisy and the Trouble with School Trips - Kes Gray £4.99 Daisy is going on a school trip to Bobbington Hall, with lots of other children and a few teachers. There’ll be suits of armour, there’ll be olden toilets and there may even be secret passages. Trouble is, can anyone find them? And what happens if they do? The perfect, laugh-out-loud adventure for readers 6+.

9-12 Years Fiction The 1,000-year-old Boy - Ross Welford £5.99 Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy - except he's 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. Obviously no one believes him. So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire, and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance, and a different way to live... which means finding a way to make sure he will eventually die.

Birthday Boy - David Baddiel £5.49 A hilarious rollercoaster ride of pure entertainment for 9+ readers everywhere, Birthday Boy is the new Baddiel blockbuster: featuring David’s inimitable and award-winning combination of wish-fulfilment, heart and hilarity, all brought to life by regular collaborator Jim Field’s witty, stylish illustrations. What if it was every day?

Ella on the Outside - Cath Howe £5.99 Ella is the new girl at school. She doesn’t know anyone and she doesn’t have any friends.

And she has a terrible secret. Ella can’t believe her luck when Lydia, the most popular girl in school, decides to be her new best friend - but what does Lydia really want? And what does it all have to do with Molly, the quiet, shy girl who won’t talk to anyone?

Teenage Fiction To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han £5.99 Now the inspiration for a new Netflix drama, Han’s original love story follows the trail of Lara Jean. Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. One for every boy she’s ever loved. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only.

The Darkest Minds: Book 1 - Alexandra Bracken £5.99 A major new film franchise, The Darkest Minds is the first novel in a brilliant dystopian series that already has American readers hooked. Ruby is sixteen. She is dangerous. And she is alive. For now. A mysterious disease has killed most of America's children. Ruby might have survived, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse than a virus: frightening abilities they cannot control.

The Boy At the Back of the Class - Onjali Q Rauf £5.99 Told with heart and humour, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a child's perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense. There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it.

Are you a librarian, teacher or purchasing manager? Do you buy books for your school?

Waterstones Liverpool offers a comprehensive account sales service. Contact Sarah Hughes, Children's Department, Liverpool ONE, 12 College Lane, Liverpool, Merseyside L1 3DL. Tel: 0151 709 9820

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TELL ME MORE! Grease is the word in North Liverpool At the end of the summer term 50 talented pupils from North Liverpool Academy came together to perform a full-scale production of the classic musical ‘Grease’. An incredible amount of work went into the production, which featured a collaborative arts department showcasing actors, dancers, singers and a full pit band from across all the year groups. Principal Mike Westerdale said: “Despite being the hottest day of the year ever I was delighted to experience and enjoy the ‘coolest’ school production of Grease I have seen. “I was in awe of the talent on show and marvelled in the positivity and compliments being made by parents, carers and community members.

“I am indebted to the team of teachers, support staff and of course students who have dedicated so much of their personal time to make this production so outstanding.

‘Grease is the word’.”

The wonderful cast tell us more

The Pink Ladies

Danny and Sandy and those summer nights

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My School Days Michael Welch – MiC LOWRY

My School: Booker Avenue Junior School and Calderstones School.

Destiny’s Child, Lauryn Hill, there’s too many to name!

My Favourite Teacher: Of course our music teacher, Miss York.

Also our student mentor, Earl Jenkins.

My Favourite Extra-Curricular Activity: Football all day, once had dreams of playing for Liverpool but I couldn’t finish to save my life.

My Favourite Subject at School: Definitely music, but who doesn't love PE as well, both of them were a lot more fun than maths!

Were you streetwise or a bit of a geek?

Well I thought I was quite streetwise but given my love of comics and good grades I’d say I was probably more of a geek.

My Favourite Childhood Singer/Band: Well we all grew up listening to old Motown and soul, but as 90’s babies, favourites would be Boyz II Men, Usher,

Do you remember your first school crush?

Yea, hopefully she remembers me...

My Favourite Book: Do comics count?...

The Amazing Spiderman Spiderman Wanted!

School Dinners: To be honest, our school dinners in secondary school were really good. There were a lot of options and variety each day, so I can’t complain really. Still wish Jamie Oliver hadn’t robbed us of our turkey dinosaurs though.

My Ambitions at School: Besides music and football, I always wanted to get decent grades and get into university. Luckily though, the band ended up getting signed while we were still in sixth form and we dove straight into our music career.

Mic Lowry, stylised as MiC LOWRY, are a vocal harmony boy band from Liverpool singing pop, contemporary R&B and soul music. The fivemember band was formed in 2011 and is made up of Delleile Ankrah, Akia Jones, Kaine Ofoeme, Ben Sharples and Michael Welch, who all attended Calderstones School in Liverpool.

The band’s name comes from Manchester’s The Lowry Centre, which was the first venue the boys performed in, it is also Will Smith’s character, Mike Lowrey, from the 1995 film Bad Boys.

The band released their EP The Show in 2015 and their first single ‘Oh Lord’ in 2016, with sampling and large rearrangement of parts of the Phil Collins hit ‘In the Air Tonight’. They appeared on BBC Introducing Merseyside stage and BBC Radio 1Xtra.

In 2014 they won the MOBO Unsung Award, in 2015 were nominated for the BET Best International Newcomer and in 2016 won Liverpool's GIT Award.

They opened for Justin Bieber the European leg of his Purpose World Tour and performed in 37 European dates in 22 cities.

You can see the MiC LOWRY on tour on the following dates: Monday 5 November Islington Assembly Hall, London Tuesday 6 November Band On The Wall, Manchester Wednesday 7 November O2 Institute2, Birmingham Saturday 10 November Arts Club, Liverpool

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