Carnival time at Bracken Edge

The carnival spirit arrived early in Leeds this week as Bracken Edge Primary School celebrated the academic year with their own vibrant and colourful festival on Wednesday.

All children from nursery to year 6 prepared costumes as part of their design and technology classes to parade with during the gala, which has become an annual event on the school's calendar.

Children and staff proudly displayed their work in front of parents and guests around the playground that brought the whole community together through dancing and singing.

The Newton Road-based school sits at the side of Potternewton Park where Chapeltown's famous West Indian Carnival culminates and parents of children who attend Bracken Edge said that the procession got everyone excited and ready for the big celebrations at the end of August.

The school, which received a good rating from Ofsted last June, is very proud of the work it does to showcase the local community as part of its curriculum.

Ms Carr, the headteacher, said: “The carnival is always a great way for us to end the year at Bracken Edge and celebrate all the achievements of the children.

We pride ourselves on our inclusivity and links to the local community and this is the perfect way to bring that all together.” Ms Carr went on to say, “We have so much to be proud of and celebrate at this school.

On the back of our positive Ofsted report last year, we have now produced the best SATs results the school has seen in recent times whilst still maintaining our holistic approach, which allows every child to prosper and progress.”

Shagufta Rafique, the head of year 6, backed this up by saying: "All the year 6 children have worked so hard this year and were rewarded with some fantastic SATs results and it's so lovely to see them with a big smile on their face and enjoying themselves. They should be really proud of everything they've achieved this year."

Bracken Edge Primary works closely with the local community and have produced a bespoke curriculum that allows children from all backgrounds to celebrate their own culture as well as being proud of their own area.

The school's curriculum lead, Mark Crossland, explained: "We have worked closely with outside agencies such as Leeds Museums and Galleries to create a bespoke curriculum that ensures we learn about our local area whilst still celebrating the fantastic diversity of our school. We do a lot of work around the positive aspects that immigration has had on our community and the carnival is a prime example of this and how it has put our local area on the map."

The year 5 teacher went on to say, "This carnival today allows us to show pride in where we live and introduce it to parts of our community that may not know about it or feel that it wasn't for them. Hopefully, everyone here today will now know what the carnival is all about and attend the actual one at the end of August."

The last word should go to the children though and year 5 pupil, Amayah, said this about the day's events: "The carnival is an amazing, fun way of bringing everyone together to celebrate the Caribbean community but also show that this festival is for everyone. It was so good to see children from all different backgrounds singing and dancing together and enjoying the colourful party."