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Education: Working as a team to build a brighter future
CLASS ACT: Youngsters in a cookery lesson at the Co-operative Academy.
Susan Press reports on how an academy is inspiring students in the inner city Leeds.
The Co-operative Academy of Leeds, formerly Primrose High School, is looking forward to record GCSE results this summer thanks to a host of initiatives designed to improve students’ learning experience and bring different cultures together.
A key success has been the Enrichment programme every Monday afternoon, where students enjoy everything from archery and rock-climbing to personal fitness, business skills and more domestic pursuits such as knitting and baking.
Pupils at the school in Burmantofts can choose from more than 60 different activities where they get the opportunity to try something new.
Headteacher Eileen McCarthy said: “We have made some radical changes since we became an academy last year and it’s been absolutely fantastic.
“The Enrichment project reflects the fact we are a very diverse community.
“There are 70 languages spoken in our school and we decided one way forward was to become more engaged in the local community.
“We visited every community group we could and one of the things that came out of that was parents telling us their children didn’t always get the opportunity to experience different cultures.
“We felt that was something we could provide.”
Under the scheme, each activity lasts for a half term, with young people currently getting the opportunity to try six different pursuits throughout the year.
Although directly funded by the Department for Education, the academy uses co-operative structures and values to raise students’ aspirations and gets support from the Co-operative Group as well as Leeds City College.
Instead of the traditional house system, the school has ‘guilds’ named after an inspirational figure chosen by the children.
The list of role-models includes brave fundraiser and athlete Jane Tomlinson and black civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, as well as Leonardo Da Vinci and Crimean war heroine Mary Seacole.
The guilds have 20 separate coaching groups, with a member of staff acting as mentor for each one.
And the co-op movement’s core values of self-help, responsibility, equity, equality, and solidarity are shaping the academic ethos at the school.
Mrs McCarthy said: “Everything we do is driven by those ideas and we work in partnership with each other.
“The results can already be seen, as standards are rising throughout the school and this year, we have high expectations of record results.
“Our attendance record has already improved significantly.”
In 2008, Primrose High School had one of the worst truancy rates in the country and also suffered from low attainment levels.
Only two years ago, parents and pupils were out in force to protest at plans to turn the school into an academy.
But in a recent survey, 97 per cent of parents said they were happy with the changes.
Mrs McCarthy, who has been at the school since December 2010, has already managed to double the number of students getting the Government’s benchmark of 5 GCSE A to C grades, including English and maths, from 16 per cent in 2010 to 30 per cent in 2011.
This year, she hopes to increase that figure to 40 per cent of students taking exams.
She said: “We know there is a massive challenge ahead of us but I’m absolutely delighted at what we have achieved so far and I have every confidence in our staff and students.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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