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Following the success of the masterclasses we ran with Oval Learning, Windmill cluster and Royal Institution in February, we have been able to put together a short virtual series of further opportunities for some of the gifted young pupils in our primary schools. Just before the end of term we ran 2 virtual sessions, delivered by Rachel Dorris from Royal Institution, on Curves and Parabolas. The children did lots of interactive work exploring shapes and their use in Physics to invent satellite dishes etc and made their own curved stitching drawings. We are delighted to be able to continue this series, with children joining after school – either in school or at home, with monthly masterclasses into the summer. Thank you to the Royal Institution team for enabling this opportunity.

For over 2 years now, we have developed a programme of work, in partnership with Windmill Cluster of schools and Pegasus Opera, Confident Creators: developing a growth mindset through the Arts. This Paul Hamlyn Foundation funded programme has trained teachers to embed Art, Music and Drama into the curriculum as a tool for learning. Our arts practitioners from Pegasus Opera have produced some short, simple video resources for teachers to use, which will soon be on our Confident Creators website, along with a wealth of other materials. You can see some of these resources on our You Tube channel now:Story Pots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YQvLi1UvVs

One Minute Expert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrl3yt6zwJY

Conscience Alley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hVt62QVzR8

Music
Soundscapes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hVt62QVzR8

Numbers Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0X5qHNk7ow

Graphic Scores
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNnxw1ru9w

The Primary Science Teachers Trust have produced this excellent resource for primary classes to develop their scientific talk and questioning skills. https://pstt.org.uk/application/files/4016/1599/1844/Picture_for_Talk_Booklet_FINAL.pdf

It is so fantastic to have the Ebony Horse Club in the heart of our area near Loughborough Junction and many children have been able to take up riding there, during the school day and after school. I really enjoyed watching local rider Khadijah Mellah, on BBC iplayer’s Celebrity Supply Teacher, who learnt her riding at Ebony and went on to be the first Muslim jockey wearing a hijab to ever compete in a professional horse race – and she won! Have a watch as Khadijah gives us more information about equestrian studies.https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000q14t/celebrity-supply-teacher-series-2-15-khadijah-mellah-equestrian-studies

We were delighted to be part of 2 Royal Institution Maths master classes over the last 2 weeks where 22 schools from BLC, Windmill and Oval Learning, including 100 staff and children from year 5 and 6, tackled A level and higher education mathematics looking at Pascal’s triangle. A big thank you to Alison Eves at the Royal Institution for leading these sessions on Googlemeet. Children learnt how the patterns and maths of Pascal’s triangle had real life use now as experts use the principle of binomial numbers in their estimates of Covid 19 numbers. Well done to all the children who took part for their great contributions. We hope to run more of these sessions next term.

We have been very fortunate to have a close working relationship with Oval Learning and Windmill clusters of schools: as groups of schools we share a similar vision for our schools’ communities in our area. Oval Learning led on a joint National Lottery Covid 19 response fund bid with us and Windmill, and we were able to secure funding from Walcot Foundation, our local charity, which has allowed us to offer specialist creative arts therapy services to a number of primary schools since September, working with pupils who have been in desperate need of additional therapeutic support during these turbulent times. The whole process has been an opportunity for us to learn and value what this kind of support can bring to school – not only for the targeted pupils who have been able to access 1 to 1 support over a period of time, using the arts to explore and express their feelings and needs, but also to support parents and staff in the school. We currently have a number of highly qualified, experienced therapists who understand our school contexts and have been adapting to continue their support either remotely using video conferencing, on the phone or in risk assessed socially distanced face to face sessions since January. Many of them are offering sessions to staff as part of their day, checking in on parents, being as flexible as they can.
Our challenge now is to find ways to sustain this service which has proved so valuable to support a whole school approach to good mental health and recovery.
We are very grateful to the funding support from National Lottery and Walcot Foundation, which has enabled this work to happen.

This week teachers across the BLC have come together as a Steering group, as Science Leads and as Year 1 and 2 teachers to share with each other how they are managing this new term under another lockdown. These challenges times have brought to the fore yet again, the amazing work all staff in schools are doing to support children and their families. Live and recorded teaching is happening in every school, not only in Maths and English but in Music, Languages, Science and PE. In addition phases and whole school assemblies are taking place, enrichment activities (such as Masterchef at Evelyn Grace Academy) and staff are in contact with all parents and carers on a regular basis. We are very grateful to School Food Matters Healthy Breakfast boxes being delivered to families via schools again, as part of Guys and St Thomas’ Charity Impact on Urban Health programme. As a cluster we are planning events this term, moving to virtual ways of ensuring children and young people can connect across schools, learning and celebrating their learning together.