Ridgeway feed us an application for a goal third!
We are very pleased to give our third award this year to Ridgeway Academy - a cheque for three sets of netball posts and padding. Football, basketball and netball are the big three sports at the academy but the first two have benefitted from investment recently whereas netball has fallen behind a little.
The posts will not only help facilitate more training and matches during school time but also help Ridgeway in their push to further extend extra-curricular activities, especially for PP pupils. In addition to this, they made a good case for needing the nets to ensure they can successfully host their family of primary schools in league matches and tournaments.
Townsend double-up in maths.
We were very pleased to grant a second minor award to Townsend C of E school early in the season, this one for a STEM subject.
Anna Berry, Assistant Headteacher and Head of Maths, has long been a fan of Matt Parker, an inspirational "Stand-up Mathematician" who appears on the BBC, YouTube and on stage and has written in The Guardian. Anna researched his work and found he is part of a group called Think Maths who give presentations and run workshops in schools. As they say on their website:
Our sessions are interactive, engaging and cover mathematical content which will grab the attention of students and inspire them to get excited about maths. We show students the wider world of maths beyond school while giving them a chance to develop invaluable mathematical thinking skills. Our aim is to inspire students to be more motivated in normal lessons.
Think Maths offer several workshops and we are very pleased to fund their "Mathematical Magic" event in Townsend School. As Anna explained in her application, Townsend is in a relatively deprived area of a wealthy city and many of their pupils would have difficulty funding a trip to a maths event. By bringing Think Maths to the school, groups from each year can have their eyes opened to the "beauty, complexity and applications of maths" at no cost to them.
Townsend nets our first post of the year!
We are delighted to buy Townsend Church of England School six movable netball posts and padding. These will allow two classes of students to play at a time and also enable the thirty-strong netball club to play full matches together.
Townsend can now set up break/lunchtime practice areas for each year group and the posts will further help them to encourage more boys into the sport.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice two little white envelopes being handed out. Find out why in the next news item... (probably above this one as they're in reverse chronological order!)
Bushey Academy: PE Major Award - Highly Commended
We were very impressed by Bushey's PE Major Award bid and so, when they were pipped to the post by Presdales, we decided to grant them one of our optional Highly Commended Awards of £1,000.
Their bid was for a large number of top-quality, indoor and outdoor table tennis tables and equipment. The sport is very popular at the school and they have been in the national top 10 in a number of age-groups until recently.
As well as expanding the PE options and exam course specialities, Natalie Williams (Subject Leader in PE), also made a great case for the activity helping SEN pupils, including their students on Educational Health Care plans. As Natalie wrote:
...the opportunity to play table tennis for these students where there is less noise and not as much team play would be amazing.
Table tennis offers all pupils the opportunity to become active and engaged and would be especially helpful for SEN pupils at break and lunch time when other areas of school are very crowded.
We have previously used the Green House table tennis project to motivate and engage disaffected pupils and those who have struggled to follow school rules.
Although obviously disappointed not to have won the Major Award, Natalie was very pleased to inform us that the Highly Commended prize will enable them to buy 5 new indoor tables facilitate a lot more singles play in lessons and clubs.
In November 2019, as part of our follow up procedure, Natalie told us....
We have held a very successful table tennis tournament in school to raise money for our chosen charity. The GCSE students have now got access to a greater number of tables in lesson time so get more time practising and this is having a positive impact on GCSE grades. Some students who found team sports challenging or uninteresting are now taking part in more practical lessons and enjoying PE more.
Longdean School (Hemel Hempstead): EFFECTIVE LEARNING MAJOR AWARD 2018
Edufunduk are very pleased to announce we have awarded Longdean School in Hemel Hempstead the £10,000 Major Award in Effective Learning. The prize money will be used to set up a wildlife pond, observation tank and dipping platform on their site.
The huge benefits of outdoor learning were key to this winning application for Effective Learning. Tracy Doyle (Finance Director) coordinated an excellent bid which drew on research that showed learning outside can reduce stress, boost creativity and problem solving skills and greatly increase engagement and motivation. For SEN children, other research has shown contact with nature can reduce symptoms of ADHD.
The pond facility will be used for practical science lessons and environmental studies of natural British plants and wildlife as well as a general open-air study area.
We were very impressed with the range of pupils who will be learning more effectively in this outdoor area. Longdean School has above average FSM pupils and houses one of Herts LA's specialist teaching bases for Speech and Language Difficulties. They have close links with 5 primary schools (inc. two adjoining their site) who will be able to put such initiatives as "Thinking, Doing, Talking Science" into effect and and ties with groups such as Scouts and Cubs will ensure community use as well. To quote some of the research Tracy used:
‘Pupils in schools that were offered TDTS [Thinking, Doing, Talking Science] made three months’ additional progress in science compared with children receiving standard provision. Exploratory analysis suggested that the intervention had a greater impact on pupils eligible for free school meals, pupils with low prior attainment, and girls. Pupils who received TDTS also reported an increase in positive attitudes to science and science lessons.’ (Source, EEF)
Advice from other bodies such as the Boxmoor Trust and a secured donation of trees from The Woodland Trust also added weight to their application and shows outdoor learning around the pond area is only the beginning of a proposed Eco Hub for outdoor learning on the school's extensive grounds.
We wish them every success with effective learning around the pond and hope for a little rain to help fill it up!