Whitchurch Infant School reaches Children Awards final

Press release - 14 June 2007

Whitchurch CE Infant and Nursery School has been shortlisted for the National Children’s Stars awards, which recognise excellence in extended schools services.

The school was nominated by Shropshire County Council, which supports the extended schools developments across the county. It was chosen due to the school’s dedication to partnership working through the extended schools process to support children’s learning - something exemplified by the headteacher, Greg Smallbone, who has reaped tangible benefits for the children, their parents and the community.

Ann Hartley, Shropshire County Council's Cabinet member for Children’s Services said: "Whitchurch CE Infant and Nursery School has targeted developing community learning through the Extended Schools process to help raise standards and promote life long learning. To be shortlisted for this award is a fantastic achievement for the school and their community."

She added: “By involving extensive consultation and facilitating regular discussions about the barriers to learning in the town, the school has developed a wide range of activities for parents and carers including, in response to their requests, providing more opportunities where parents and children work together. Many parents completing the formal family support programmes provided have accessed further education and work for the first time."

The awards take place in London on 28 June, where the school will attend a final interview with up to four school representatives, then attend the awards ceremony where they will find out if they are the winners.

Ends

Notes to editors

(1) This ‘large’ school by Shropshire’s standards with 240 on roll, and is situated in a market town in the north of the county, some 24 miles from the county town of Shrewsbury.

(2) The school works with, rather than in competition with, the wider community to promote learning including working very closely with the junior and secondary schools in the town. These links led to a multi-agency meeting in November 2006 to develop a Steering Group to support learning. A list of ‘quick and longer term wins’ to support families in the town has resulted in a Steering Group of engaged and committed agencies working together. For example, the school now works with JobCentre Plus to support families in receiving benefits by signposting parents/carers to the centre and providing access to the adviser in the school. This has led to an increase of 25% uptake of Free School Meals. The school also actively encourages families to use part of the additional income to give their children access to sport at weekends. The Leisure Centre now runs activities on the school site during term time and at the centre during school holidays. Other partners providing services on the school site include the local health visitors who run an ‘Under One’s and their Mums Group’ each week. The delivery of Community Speech Therapy for a full day each week easily accessible for parents on the school site and in a setting, the Community Learning Room, which has been designed specifically as ‘family-friendly’ is another example of a leading edge Extended Schools activity. A drop-in for Polish speaking families is a recent development in response to parents’ needs. Through the local steering group, other providers are now exploring joint-working opportunities to extend this service to others in the community.

(3) The partnership work continues … The following activities illustrate part of the wide range of the school’s Extended Schools core offer:
ICT drop in sessions
Family Literacy and Numeracy
City and Guilds Literacy and Numeracy
Parents reading support group
SHARE
Wildlife Explorer club
Healthy Eating and diet
Questioning techniques to support the more able reader
Story Sack Lending Library
Curriculum information sessions
Speakeasy
Family French
Parents’ Evening to discuss pupil progress
Sport: in partnership with Sportscape, football after school; with the Leisure Centre, multi sports; with the local Tennis Club, tennis
Music: melodeon workshops; Taiko Drumming; Mike Jackson – Australian Folk Singer ( The school organised the North Shropshire Schools Tour)
Arts: With Myths and Legends Museum, Wem: Bedtime Story Sessions; How to Tell a Story; South American Stories with percussion; Theatre opportunities in school and at the Leisure Centre and the school has applied for £4000 to run a Mosaic project with Adult Family Learning (this will involve children, parents/carers and the wider community with 6 mosaics being produced, 1 in school and the others across the town).

(4) In Shropshire there are many examples of good practice in schools. We recognise this school in particular because of its journey in developing its good practice as an Extended School, where activities are planned and sustained to meet children and families needs and where the whole school has a clear understanding that these supports raising achievement. This is also recognised by the other schools and by partners in the community, and by parents, as exemplified by these quotes from four parents obtained this year:
“We feel more involved with the school – we now know the teachers.”
“We enjoyed learning new things.”
“Some of us did qualifications that we would not have done otherwise.”
“The Literacy and Numeracy course gave me the confidence to look for a job.”