Summer Term 2023
Welcome to the first issue of our newsletter, a round-up of news from The Active Learning Trust. In my first two terms as CEO of the Trust I have visited all of our schools across Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and have been delighted to work closely with staff, pupils, governors and parents in developing our shared vision for The Active Learning Trust's future.
I hope our new termly newsletter will help give you a flavour of what is happening in our schools and provides some background about our Trust, which we are so glad you are a part of! It has been a pleasure to meet many of you during my time here so far and I look forward to continuing to work with you all to achieve the very best outcomes for your children.
Lynsey Holzer Chief Executive Officer
Pakefield Primary School, Lowestoft
During this term, we have continued to see lots of visits out and about in the local community and have been visiting areas of interest which reflects our ethos of community.
One particular recent highlight has been representing the school at Lowestoft's First Light Festival. The children made masks and dressed as bees, to represent our school mascot
Chantry
Academy, Ipswich
Our students were involved in some exciting activities for Suffolk Day The annual celebration recognises inspirational institutions, landscapes, icons and attractions from across the county English students in Years 9 and 10 from the school wrote and proudly presented their Suffolk Day Proclamation at both the Cornhill in Ipswich and Westminster Hall in London
The proclamation was read out on the steps of the Cornhill by the Lord Lieutenant and read out on the steps of parliament later that day by invitation of the MP.
We are very proud of everyone who represented the school on this very special day.
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Albert Pye Primary School - Burrowmoor Primary School - Chantry Academy - Chesterton Primary School - Cromwell Community College - Earith Primary School - Grove Primary School - Gusford Primary School - Highfield Ely Academy -
Highfield Littleport Academy - Hillside Primary School - Isle of Ely Primary School - Kingsfield Primary School -
Littleport & East Cambridgeshire Academy - Neale-Wade Academy - Pakefield Primary School - Ravensmere Infant School - Red Oak Primary School - Reydon Primary School - Sidegate Primary School - Westwood Primary School
Earith Primary School, Earith
There have been many highlights to the summer term at Earith Primary School. Examples have included our coronation activities, our Healthy Week and, of course, further supporting pupils’ personal development through a range of visitors and trips, linked to the curriculum or possible careers paths.
This year, we have had numerous visitors: Beekeeper; Stone Mason/Sculptor/Carver, Zookeeper, Animator, Garden Designer, people from the maritime profession and the RAF Regiment to name but a few. More recently, we have seen pupils extracting DNA from strawberries; welcomed a local Book Club into school; a Fireman and some pupils have even been taught the Charleston! Visits out have included local farms, cathedrals and even a boat trip up the river.
But there’s one thing, every year, which makes all the hard work, organising and planning really worth it – swimming. Getting our pool open and offering swimming to children in Reception to Year 6 throughout the summer term. Not only is it great fun and exercise, but a vital life skill for our young people, who live in a village surrounded by rivers. We are very lucky to have the pool and a trained swimming instructor teaching high-quality lessons throughout the week.
Sidegate Primary School, Ipswich
This term we celebrated being awarded the Platinum Artsmark Award alongside marking the coronation.
We take pride in championing the arts. As an academy school, we have had the opportunity to support many schools within The Active Learning Trust for several years, as well as other schools in and beyond the local community; demonstrating how the arts can be used to secure and enhance learning.
We annually showcase who we are and what we do with an Arts Festival and ‘open the window’ into what learning through the arts looks like at Sidegate. We place value in learning from and with others and whilst pupils perform and showcase learning throughout the day, they also take part in workshops led by professional practitioners.
Morris Dancing, Samba, drama workshops, festival-headband making, djembe drumming, looking at the world through a camera obscura, chatting with historical characters from Christchurch Mansion, as well as contributing to the painting of a school mural, were amongst some of the things pupils could get involved in.
Pop up galleries in corridors and classrooms celebrated the visual arts. Pupil tour guides escorted local dignitaries (including the Mayor of Ipswich) around the school. The school reverberated with music, colour and song throughout the day as parents and visitors mingled embracing the creativity and vibrancy of learning that was being showcased.
"The children were incredible and it was wonderful to see them showcase their learning with such joy, confidence and enthusiasm The staff have clearly worked very hard behind the scenes to put all the performances together and make them come to life "
"It’s things like this that make Sidegate, Sidegate "
Did you know...
The Active Learning Trust is proud to teach over 10,000 children and young people at schools across Cambridgeshire and Suffolk!
Kingsfield Primary School, Chatteris
This year, we have invested time and energy into supporting children’s oral hygiene having recognised it to be a major issue in our locality. As a result, we have been awarded the MySmile accreditation. Every day children in Reception have a period of time where they are supported in cleaning their teeth. It sounds such a simple thing that should be done at home but it has made a lot of difference to our children’s oral hygiene
We were also really proud of the work undertaken here on safeguarding practices
During our latest audit, we were awarded the Incyte International Platinum award for our approach to safeguarding. As a team, we were thrilled to hear that our hard work to safeguard children and staff had been recognised.
Reydon Primary School, Southwold
We are very proud to have opened Wentworth Woods in loving memory of our greatly missed Teaching Assistant Mrs Wentworth who died last year.
Mrs Wentworth was a passionate environmentalist and the driving force behind many of the school’s eco-activities, including the creation of the ‘Eco Committee’. Following her untimely death last year, the family and school community came together to bring about her vision of a bird hide in the wooded area at the school and honour her memory as a cherished member of the community.
“Wentworth Woods” is a culmination of the generosity and kindness of the local and school community, who donated materials and volunteered their time to help bring Mrs Wentworth’s vision to life. Teachers, pupils and family members created bird boxes, hedgehog houses, bug hotels and natural decorations for the woodland.
Albert Pye Community Primary School, Beccles
The summer term has seen so many successes for our children in sporting events at a local level, county level and also at a national level but we wanted to share an amazing achievement of a particular group of children The Albert Pye swim team took part in the Panathlon National swimming championships held at the London Aquatic Centre Stratford. The team took part in a range of activities and show amazing determination finishing 4th We are so proud of the whole team for this fantastic achievement
Ravensmere Infant School, Beccles
The children from Ravensmere put on an incredible performance at the Marina Theatre this term as part of the Dancing Through the Decades show. We were so proud of each and every one of them and thought that they were absolute stars! They were the youngest performers on the stage and got the biggest round of applause on the night
Neale-Wade Academy, March
The Combined Cadet Force (CCF)
The CCF was established as an RAF Section between Neale-Wade Academy and Cromwell Community College in September 2022. Supported by Sgt Trevor Sanderson from the CCF Training Evaluation & Support Team (TEST), the Section recruited over 30 Year 9 cadets from the two schools.
Cadets have had the opportunity to visit RAF Honington, speak to a former Neale-Wade student who is a Typhon fighter pilot as well as flying and gliding experiences. The last week of term will see 20 of our cadets on camp at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall.
The Brilliant Club
In 2022, we started working with The Scholars Programme led by The Brilliant Club. This programme helps students develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to progress to the most competitive universities. Students work with a tutor, usually a PhD student and a supporting university. They are set assignments which they have to complete in a set time. These are then marked and awarded a university ‘grade’ and the opportunity to attend a graduation ceremony at The University of Cambridge. This has been a fantastic opportunity and produced a very high quality of work. Next year we will run two cohorts – A Year 8 cohort in the Spring Term and a Year 9 one in the Autumn Term.
Chesterton Primary School, Cambridge
The children at Chesterton have enjoyed the changes across the school, including the introduction of Class Dojo. In our School Safeguarding Survey, 96% talked about enjoying coming to school. 96% say that they are happy at school and the pupils all celebrate the introduction of Class Dojo.
We now boast the professional capacity of an on-site Trauma Therapist who supports teachers, pupils and parents through a referral system. Jess Van Der Hoech founded 'The Gap Bedfordshire Limited' in response to the lack of trauma treatment interventions available within the area of Bedfordshire initially Jess is training all our staff in recognising trauma behaviour, as well as strategies that can be used in the classroom Her ongoing work has already proved crucial with a number of children who have faced some trauma in their lives, as well as supporting parents and staff when needed.
Gusford Primary School, Ipswich
This term, we celebrated being awarded the Artsmark Silver Award, in recognition of our commitment to excellence in art teaching and learning. We are delighted to have received thi award which recognises the importance that we place as a school on all elements of the arts
Our pupils really enjoy all the creative opportunities we offer here at Gusford and it is clear
sle of Ely Primary School, Ely
We have had a busy summer term at Isle of Ely. We celebrated the King’s coronation, enjoyed a fabulous arts week which saw lots of local artists inspiring our children and encouraging them to be creative, and the Year 6 and Year 4 pupils challenged themselves on the residential trips to Grafham Water and Inside Out. It has been another successful term which culminated in Isle Fest on 1st July which was a lovely celebration and brought the community together.
Westwood Primary School, Lowestoft
We have had a very busy summer term at Westwood including an exciting day of workshops with poet and author James Carter, family share sessions for all year groups to celebrate learning in DT, Reading, PE and PSHE, as well as a fabulous performance of The Wizard of Oz by our Year 6 pupils
We have also enjoyed a number of school trips and events: Reception visited the Co-op to learn more about healthy foods. Year 1 & 2 visited the local Transport Museum as part of their learning about inventions Year 3 & 4 took part in a Roman day to showcase their learning in History lessons and Year 5 & 6 spent the day at Hautbois Outdoor Adventure centre trying out new skills such as paddle boarding, climbing and orienteering
Grove Primary School, Lowestoft
Our summer term has culminated in lots of activities for our children and their families. We invited our parents in for an afternoon of ‘Sports Shares’ This was a great success, with parents getting involved in a variety of activities including Outdoor and Adventurous games We definitely saw the competitive streak come out from our families.
We were lucky enough to be invited to join in with the First Light Festival at Lowestoft beach. Our children produced fox masks just like Farah the Fox the puppet, it was great to see such a turn out of families all supporting our local community. The year 4 children have also been to sing at The Royal Norfolk Show on the School’s Stage and taken part in the Grand Sing with Gareth Malone- we are all very proud of your hard work!
Highfield Littleport Academy, Littleport
We have had a very busy Summer Term at Highfield Littleport Academy. Our students have been taking part in lots of work experience activities this term as well as some local community work. Every week our Key Stage 4 students volunteer at the local Food Bank in Littleport. This is a valuable contribution to the local community particularly during these hard times.
Our students also benefit greatly from this experience developing their organisational skills as well as communicating effectively with members of the public. Some of our students in Key Stage 3 have been working collaboratively with the Adam’s Heritage Centre in Littleport. We have supported them to create a fantastic window display to mark the King’s Coronation. Our students developed their creative, teamwork and thinking skills to make an excellent crown for the local community to enjoy. These are examples of effective joint work with the community along with our students developing essential skills to prepare them for adulthood.
This term we have also held our very first art exhibition. Our students have been learning about ways to look after our environment and how to reduce, re-use and recycle. To link in with our under the sea learning our exhibition demonstrated the whole school's work creating pieces from recycled materials. It was a great sensory experience and students, parents and members of the local community were able to enjoy it.
We ended the term celebrating being awarded the Silver Artsmark Award, in recognition of our commitment to cultural education.
Highfield Ely Academy, Ely
As ever, a huge thank you to the Highfield Friends and Parents Association and all who support them by giving up their time and spending their money (or convincing others to!). The HFPA have raised well over £10,000 this year, which has to be some kind of record. We will be in a position next academic year to purchase specialist communication iPads which will literally give many of our students a voice for the first time
Muddy Boots Farm welcomed its first external visitors recently, with a small group of learners from Ely College being shown the ropes by our Uppers Animal Care team It was fantastic to see the confidence our students have developed through working on the farm We also added a large new shelter which will protect animals and people from the elements. Our Film Awards (led by our students) were another blockbuster success with some brilliant entries, great lighting and sound and hilarious work by the MCs Finally, we’re looking forward to seeing artwork by our KS4 students being displayed in Ely Cathedral very soon
Cromwell Community College, Chatteris
There have been some fantastic trips this year for all year groups, to Italy, a joint sixth form trip with Neale-Wade Academy to Rome France as well as primary trips to the zoo and the beach. All this a of subject trips to various museums and geographical features.
Year 2 h on
band from the North East They work through the ages with a particular focus on The Stone Age, which topic. This project has been organised through Heritage England with the opportunity to perform their song during a concert with other cluster schools in November
Hillside Primary School, Ipswich
This term we have been delighted to be able to expand out Student Leadership Team with the addition of our Inclusion Ambassadors and Anti-bullying Ambassadors The Student Leadership Team is an extremely important part of the culture of our school, ensuring all children have a voice and that those voices are heard. We are excited to announce that the team will grow even further in September when we appoint our Reading Ambassadors and Play Leaders.
This term also saw the coronation of King Charles the Third. In true Hillside style, we celebrated with a whole school picnic, music, crown making and of course the planting of our new Magnolia tree Hopefully, as the tree grows with the children in the school, they will remember fondly this momentous occasion
Burrowmoor Primary School, March
Burrowmoor had an amazing fundraising event that all the children took part in earlier this year They each filled a sock with loose change and the funds that were raised have enabled us to purchase a tree swing, wildlife story books and a wildlife camera to capture the creatures who visit forest school when we're not out there
We have also been able to purchase some mud recipe books which the children have loved using and a living willow dome. The dome was planted by our HLTA and Forest School Lead, Mrs Lakey with the help of some of the children It was planted during one of their forest school sessions back in January It's grown since then and it's a wonderful addition to our area giving our children shade and a lovely quiet place just to relax or share books together.
Red Oak Primary School, Lowestoft
We are very proud to have recently received the outcome of our Ofsted monitoring visit, which includes very high praise in all areas. The report confirms that we continue to be a "Good" school and Inspectors found no areas for improvement which is extremely rare. It is a wonderful achievement for us all to celebrate
In addition, we have also recently received Thrive Ambassador School status in two new areas, the Reading Award from One Education and the Gold Award for History Quality Mark.
Other news
Huge congratulations to the following schools for receiving the Incyte International Safeguarding Award:
Pakefield (Platinum Award)
Kingsfield (Platinum Award)
Gusford (Platinum Award)
Red Oak (Platinum Award)
Earith (Gold Award)
Albert Pye (Gold Award)
Ravensmere (Gold Award)