Futures Vision Bus Tours 2008

The Northern tour starts on Monday 6 October

The following schools will be visited:

• Springhill High School (Rochdale)
• Hadley Learning Centre (Telford)
• Rivington and Blackrod High School (Bolton)
• Newall Green High School (Wythenshawe)
• Beacon Hill High School and Family Business Centre (Blackpool)

Springhill High School formed as a Trust partnership with local community and business on 1st September 2008 and provides education for 11–16 year olds in the South Rochdale area.

Our community membership denotes Springhill as a facilitator for local people wanting to build a strong, cohesive community, equipped with the necessary skills to take advantage of the employment opportunities provided by a 170 hectare Business Park being developed on our doorstep. Enabling our business partners to work with pupils, staff, parents and governors with a broader perspective on the relevance of education and help focus each other on what skills are required to become an effective (lifelong) learner and global citizen.

Springhill has always taken pride in its strong links with the local community and these have been reflected in the school’s Arts College Status and more recently in its pioneering work with local Community Associations, the development of school and community learning platforms and its success in achieve Extended School Status. We are driving forward to achieve this aim in partnership with the local community and local business and development agencies.

Our ability to realise the school motto ‘Achievement For All’, extends to all cultural groups in school. Our record to welcome new arrivals with a rapid number of new nationalities over the last decade is testament to the ability of our pupils and staff to appreciate cultural differences. Our unique position working at family level to develop the education, training and support programmes necessary to support the physical redevelopment of the area in a way that will promote social and economic improvement.

As a school we continue to develop a community ICT infrastructure which can be used to enhance learning and promote social inclusion. The school VLE updates on a daily basis for learners and parents of up and coming events, activities in and out of school and informs of decisions made which will affect their children’s’ education. These are published on the school community site that features celebration articles from pupils and staff about the school.

The Hadley Learning Community is the flag ship school for the Borough of Telford and Wrekin in Central Telford serving the community of Hadley.

HLC was built using the Private Finance Initiative by Interserve at a cost of £70 million. Construction began in March 2005 and the campus opened to students on the 1st October 2006. There was a phased opening and the community became fully operational on the 8th January 2007. The building is operated by Interserve Education and they are responsible for all the Facilities Management (FM) contracts which include catering, cleaning, grounds maintenance and security, for 25 years, when the contract expires. We have won many awards as an example of an outstanding PFI partnership with Interserve.

The school is unique in education as it is all under one roof in a circular construction from which the teaching wings and radiate. The campus covers 25,000 square metres and has superb facilities for teaching and learning in all areas of the curriculum. ICT was integrated within the build and is a key component of the organisation.
HLC is an all-through school and consists of:-

• A secondary phase for 1050 students which opened with an Engineering Specialism
• A primary phase for 420 students with a 60 place LA nursery
• A co-located special school “The Bridge” for 160 students from 3 -19 with severe and profound Special Needs which is a Business and Enterprise specialist school form September 2008
• A children’s Centre which incorporates a private nursery (ABC) and a multi-agency team which includes over 30 professionals from across Children’s Services which work with our community to provide support and intervention for vulnerable children and families
• A Public Library for school and community use
• Extensive sports facilities including an indoor heated swimming pool, fitness suite, sports hall, extensive oudoor pitches and courts
• A theatre with full lighting and sound systems

The campus opens at 7am each day for early swim sessions and closes at 10 pm. The building was designed to be a fully extended school and is used by the public during the day, evenings, weekends and holidays.

Rivington and Blackrod High School has held an important place in our community for centuries. Many of our students have parents and grandparents who themselves were educated here. We are proud of this tradition and we maintain our strong values of respect and self-discipline through our commitment to providing a secure and caring learning environment which meets the needs of each and every student.

We prepare our young people for the challenges of the future by offering an excellent education in all areas of the curriculum and unique personalised learning opportunities. We encourage students’ progression helping them to recognise their individual qualities, develop their skills and ambitions and achieve their aims in the rapidly moving and changing economy of today. Through our commitment and belief, we have developed excellent vocational learning and community facilities across a range of sites, and a technological provision that is outstanding.

Newall Green High School sits at the centre of the community both as an agent of socialisation, a supporter of families, a gateway to academic success and a provider of a rich learning culture that provides opportunities for self improvement. Whilst Wythenshawe is characterised as a challenging community, the achievements of the students who progress through the school is outstanding. Currently four members of staff are ex-students of the school who have graduated from university. Three are teachers, one a learning mentor. Many employees are local people living within a mile of the school. Many of the parents were students at the school. Many of the staff have been at the school for over 10 years. Ofsted graded the school as “Outstanding” (May 2007).

Work with the three main primary schools is excellent. They all benefit from extensive specialist teaching support through specialist status, access to multi agency support through our full service school provision, and the three headteachers sit on each others governing bodies. In addition there has been a tradition of an annual joint training day stretching back to 1986.
Whilst the school is in the final phase of a BSF programme and construction is still underway, the buildings offer imaginative provision that students and staff find stimulating and emotionally calming. The design concept has produced clever solutions to the needs articulated by the students. The emphasis of the school is one of producing successful confident young people who are equipped to cope with challenges of the 21st century. Whilst the building is imaginative and stimulating the real success is about the people who operate within the building. The students and staff especially enjoy the ICT provision and web sites which they can gain access to from home.
Our full service extended school programme which integrates Education, Health, Social Services, Police and Education welfare and attendance gives families and students great emotional support. Many students gain access to this provision by a pastoral referral or a self referral. These agencies operate on-site, full time, throughout the day. Dedicated workers are available at all times and facilitate considerable opportunities for co-ordinated provision.

Community cohesion is delivered through many arts based programmes for all schools in the locality, community work with the local hospital, senior citizens homes, primary schools, environmental programmes and rural studies activities. Our leisure centre as a community resource is managed by the Headteacher and governors. With over a million users in the last 10 years it has supported many local sports clubs and individuals across the age range. As part of the extended school programme it provides subsidised and free holiday provision for young people from the estate.
Applied learning is delivered via the applied learning day at key stage 4 for each year group and link courses from year 9. Work experience is undertaken twice for a week in year 10 and a week in year 11. A particular feature has been the sponsorship of a business diploma by the Royal Bank of Scotland with students attending a full day per week at the RBS headquarters in Manchester for an NVQ level 2. It culminated in a graduation ceremony at their Edinburgh headquarters and this year the bank has donated a brand new mini-bus because of the success of the scheme. There are numerous other success stories such as the move to a hard federation, the 6th form presumption and the environmental projects within the local community. At the start of each year over 300 students participate in a residential and almost everyone remaining at school go to Blackpool for the day.

Beacon Hill High School was the first school in Blackpool to be awarded specialist status in Business and Enterprise in September 2005. Through our specialism, enterprise, innovation, creativity and achievement form the cornerstone of all subjects, to allow us to prepare our pupils for the world of tomorrow. Our  specialism creates opportunities to work with businesses, promote vocational courses and provide exciting business and enterprise activities; this also allows us to develop a creative environment for our wider community to thrive. We provide opportunities for our wider community including parents and local groups through the provision of state of the art facilities that are accessible by our whole community. Our vision includes a clear family and community focus, promoting the ethos of Lifelong learning from 0 – adult, all on one site.

In 2000 Beacon Hill High School became a co-educational comprehensive school (formerly Warbreck Boys School) there are currently 700 pupils on roll. We believe there are many advantages to our medium size - we are well known for our caring support of all pupils; teachers and support staff know all the pupils, ensuring that they are safe, happy and make good progress. New changes and challenges ahead involve an exciting future under the Building Schools for the Future programme in Blackpool which proposes to see our school evolve into a 0-19 learning campus in partnership with our neighbouring Bispham High School. This will bring forward many exciting new community led opportunities.
We are a forward looking school and we recognise that Blackpool is changing and that we want our pupils to play a role in their community, this is supported by our Links to Blackpool’s regeneration strategy and Blackpool Borough Council’s Economic Development unit.
Our community facilities include:

• A purpose built Family and Business Centre open 50 weeks per year 7.30am to late!
• Vocational centre including Headmasters Salon
• Painting & Decorating Suite
• Community Café
• Children’s Centre offering full day care
• Range of multi-purpose rooms for drop-ins, health care, group activities and community training
• Stepping Stones Integration & Vocational Centre
• Business training, support and facilities
• Multi Use Games Area available for community use
• Homestart support for young families, supported by community volunteers

Most importantly the community facilities underpin the curriculum at Beacon Hill High School, all of the areas mentioned are used to support the delivery an aspect of vocational education. This academic year has seen the development and pilot of a new concept at Beacon Hill “Studio School” which allows learners the opportunity to follow a practically based curriculum on vocational programmes of their choice, with a heavy emphasis on enterprise and work related learning.