School partnerships
Our students and staff visit twice a week to provide classes in drama, mandarin, football, music and paired reading. In addition Park Mead students have weekly science classes in our science labs with one of our science teachers. Park Mead also have access to our swimming pool at no cost for their weekly swimming lessons for all their students and have use of our minibuses at no cost. Once a year our BTEC students provide the Park Mead students with a sports day in aid of charity and our students visit them for Make A Difference Day where they hold language and cultural lessons for the students. As well as two of our staff being governors at Park Mead we are also able to provide them with help in emergency situations such as water pipe bursts and first aid.
Aims
The aim is to allow our students to have opportunities to provide service to our local community, increase in confidence and learn to be challenged. In addition the project provides educational opportunities for Park Mead students which cannot always be available in a village school such as Drama and Mandarin lessons.
The weekly science lesson using our labs is also used for Park Mead staff training as well as extension work for the Park Mead students.
Background
The Deputy Head at Bede's is a Governor at Park Mead. The project was instigated by her and has been subsequently developed by key staff and the Headmistress at Park Mead. The project was established three years ago.
Resources
Time is a key resource - the project takes place currently in activity time but this will extend next year.
Lessons are carried out both at Park Mead and Bede's and we use a mixture of teachers, Bede's students and support staff.
Across all the different projects there are approximately 60 - 80 students involved (20 on a weekly basis). There is no financial contribution from Park Mead - all costs are met by Bede's.
Impact
The relationship with Bede's was mentioned as a key strength in the recent OFSTED report for Park Mead. It is clear that the students and staff of Park Mead are benefitting from the classes and Bede's students are gaining in confidence. The immeasurable impact is the goodwill it has created. The benefits of the programme are felt by our students. In addition the programme offers our local villagers unique opportunities in their village school and has allowed many of our students - in particular international boarders - to know villagers in the village.
Pupil Involvement
Bede's students are aged between 15 - 18 years old.
Park Mead students are aged between 5 - 11 years old.
Frequency
The project happens weekly but some events happen once a year. Please see above for more details.
There is no projected end date - our vision is for the project to grow over the next couple of years.