Tamworth Blog

QEMs High School, saved earlier in the year

Tamworth is to play host to the The Great Education Debate on Thursday 11 March 2010, giving the people of Tamworth a platform to ask questions about what is best for the children of Tamworth.

With a general election looming there is a renewed debate about what is best for our schools, with Tamworth being used as a test area for the new academy system the Government are proposing.

Are Free Schools or Academies the way to improve the childrens education in Tamworth?  With Landau Forte set to open a post 16 education centre in Tamworth at Woodhouse School, makes Tamworth a good area for debate.

There are arguments both for and against the proposals in Tamworth, arguments against have led to protests across the Tamworth area about the Landau Forte proposals. 

The debate will take place on Thursday March 11 at 7pm at the Tamworth Assembly Rooms, speakers include:

Ally Bird – Former Tamworth School Pupil
Jenny Pinkett - Lib Dem Candidate for Tamworth
Alasdair Smith – Anti Acadamies Alliance

The debate will be hosted by the Anti-academies Alliance.

Future football stars are being welcomed to join Tamworth FC’s Soccer School.

The two day course takes place at Tamworth College on Tuesday, February 16 and Wednesday, February 17.

The course, for six-14-year-olds, runs from 10am-3pm both days and costs £20.

Family discounts are available and there are 80 places up for grabs.

Youngsters who sign up also get matchday tickets, take part in a penalty shoot-out and get to meet some of the Tamworth players.

More details are available from Jay Edwards on 07545 550477 or by emailing community@thelambs.co.uk.

Woodhouse High School

Plans for the changes to Tamworth’s secondary and post 16 provision will be unveiled tonight (Thursday January 7) at a public open evening at Torc Campus in Glascote. The open evening will run from 6pm till 8pm and showcase the plans for the changes being proposed to QEMS, which will become a Post 16 campus run privately by Landau Forte.

You can view the flyers for both the Post 16 Academy and the 11-16 Academy by downloading the flyers below:

Academy flyer Post 16 – QEMS

Academy flyer 11-16 – Woodhouse High School

Woodhouse High School

Staffordshire County Council have selected the contractors who will build the new Academy on the Woodhouse site as part of the Building Schools for the Future plan for Tamworth (read the original stories here).

Wilmott Dixon Construction Limited have been selected as a panel member who will continue to design and develop plans to build the new campus in Tamworth.

The new Academy which is going to replace the sixth form provision across the town has caused controversy with parents in the town setting up the HOTS group (Hands of Tamworth Schools), believing removing the sixth provision from high schools would be detrimental to their children’s education.  Likewise teachers have held strikes about the changes proposed, worrying about job cuts and changes to their roles.

The Landau Forte run Academy though was approved earlier in the year, likewise the funding was authorised with the academy replacing the Woodhouse Business and Enterprise College in September 2010, moving into new purpose built buildings on site in 2011.

Whilst the academy will be run by Landau Forte, the Council are responsible for the procurement of the new buildings on behalf of the sponsors, with funding of some £35 million provided by central government’s Partnerships for Schools (PfS).  The detailed procurement process begun earlier in the year and the board decided to select Wilmott Dixon Construction Limited.

Ian Parry, Deputy County Council Leader, said:

“Staffordshire County Council has worked closely with colleagues from Landau Forte Charitable Trust during the selection process with both bidding contractors have put an extraordinary amount of effort in throughout the autumn.

“This decision brings us one step closer to increasing the choice and diversity in Tamworth by introducing an Academy and demonstrates a major commitment to future secondary education in the area.”

Gary Church, the bid leader for Wilmott Dixon said:

“Wilmott Dixon Construction is delighted to be working with Staffordshire County Council on this very important project. We look forward to building upon the relationship established with the county council to deliver previous successful projects.”

As part of the BSF project in Tamworth, there will be an open evening at Torc Campus on the evening of January 7 2010 between 6pm and 8pm, members of the public will be able to learn more about the proposals.

Dosthill Primary School - Pic: Rob Farrow

Friday December 11 is the deadline for parents and carers to apply for their child’s Primary School place for 2010.

Officers at Staffordshire County Council have said that some 60% of the expected applications have already been received but some 40% of parents haven’t applied for their child’s place at any of the Tamworth Primary Schools.  The deadline for applications is this Friday, December 11.

Last year, Staffordshire County Council was able to meet the  parents first choice school in 94% of cases and 97% got a preferred school.

The Council are urging parents to make use of the online admissions process, some 50% of applicants have already utilised this.

County Councillor Veronica Downes, Cabinet Member for Schools, said:

“Whilst parents can apply for their child’s primary place in the usual way by submitting a paper application, these days it is even quicker and easier to do it online or over the telephone”

Once all applications are received on December 10 2009, the applications will be processed with parents being notified of their child’s placements during the week beginning 29 March 2010.  To register online visit the registration page here.

Christopher Pincher and David Willetts MP with motor engineering students in their custom racing car

Tamworth College welcomed the Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills, David Willetts, as he visited the Tamworth campus with Tamworth’s Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, Christopher Pincher.

During the visit the pair met both college staff and students including Charlotte Burford who won a bronze medal at the World Skills final in Calgary, Canada, hair stylist students and the builders of the colleges race car in the garage.

David Willetts said:

“I was delighted to visit the college in Croft Street and talk to staff and students and see what the college has to offer.  We want to support colleges like this to be more flexible in the way they provide their services so that the staff at the sharp end and not the bureaucrats in the QUANGOs make the decisions.”

The Shadow Secretary was invited by the Tamworth Conservatives to show what Tamworth has to offer, especially as unemployment in the town has doubled in the last year.

Christopher Pincher said:

“David Willetts visited Tamworth at our invitation so he could see the talent our town has to offer.  Tamworth’s unemployment doubled between 2008 and 2009 so we desperately need to use education as a means of helping people find good jobs.  There was a real enthusiasm amongst the students, particularly amongst the motor engineering students, which was tremendous to see.  I really enjoyed meeting them and getting to sit in their customised racing car.”

Christopher Pincher and Deputy Head Teacher Malcolm Arrowsmith with the INGOTS award

Two Rivers School in Amington was last week awarded the INGOTS Certificate of Excellence to staff and pupils by Tamworths Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Christopher Pincher.

INGOTS is a recent but highly regarded technology qualification awarded which has been gained by Two Rivers which teaches special needs pupils throughout Tamworth at it’s sites in Amington (the old Quince Tree and Park Schools merger) and in the old Torc School complex,  for it’s excellent work with pupils.

Mr Pincher said:

“We spent nearly two hours touring the school and meeting staff and students. There is a tremendous amount going on which is a real credit to the staff. I was very impressed by Two Rivers School (TRS) Racing Team which has built its own green racing car and beat off about four hundred other teams to end up in ninth place at Greenpower National Final at Goodwood. Well done Two Rivers.”

Queen Elizabeth Mercian School

Today marks the final day of Anti Bullying Week 09, the theme of which has this year been ‘Stay Safe in Cyberspace’.
Anti Bullying Week is held every year in November and sends a clear and positive message that bullying in our schools and communities in not acceptable.

Cyberbullying focuses on the use of ICT, particularly mobile phones and the internet to deliberately upset someone. As these threats are sometimes made anonymously and can be indirect, this form of bullying is often not taken as seriously. This does not mean that it doesn’t cause harm, it can be extremely painful and be inescapable for the recipient.

Bullying UK is the award winning charity, founded in 1999 by journalist, Liz Carnell and her son John as a direct result of their experience of dealing with school bullying.

Liz has been researching and writing on school bullying issues for 14 years and identified the internet as the cheapest way to provide information and advice. With the focus on Cyberbullying this year it gives a good opportunity to give the message that modern technologies remain a positive and productive part of the lives of children and young people and they can be used safely and constructively.

Since the charity was founded it has replied to more than 52,000 emails, 8,500+ of them last year. More than 500,000 people a year visit the website.

Many Tamworth schools use this day to raise awareness of Anti Bullying Week. QEMS pupils have today (Friday November 20) been encouraged to wear blue to school to highlight Anti Bullying Week, a voluntary donation of £1 can be made which is being sent to Children in Need.

For further information about Bullying UK you can visit www.bullying.co.uk You will find advice on coping with bullying as well as ways to support the anti bullying campaign. There are links to social networking sites and opportunities to post your views together with a wealth of information and useful links.

Tamworth Pupils on the Dancemats

Tamworth pupils are being encouraged to dance their way to a healthier life by the Tamworth School Sports Partnership, by doing something they enjoy, using the dancemats.

As part of the new government initiative, the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP) which aims to create a new ‘five hour offer’ for 5-16 year olds, two hours of PE at school and a further 3 hours after school each week. Tamworth Sports Partnership are leading the way after joining forces with FitnessGaming, offering students an activity that will excite all of them.

The dance mats which allow the pupils to wireless record their performance and compete against friends and other schools, have been supplied to the five high schools throughout Tamworth, with the feeder primary schools able to use them when they want too.  They will be used in PE lessons, after school clubs and interschool competitions.

Ben Bulleyment, Partnership Development Manager of Tamworth School Sport Partnership, said:

“We are introducing the Cobalt Flux Just for Schools dance mats in our schools to engage those pupils who do not currently enjoy PE. Feedback from pupils has often been that they don’t like the activities in PE, or that they don’t like being directed by a teacher, so we needed an activity where they could feel more in control and something which is more in line with their out-of-school interests. They will also help to achieve the PE and Sport Strategy target of more pupils doing more sport by providing an alternative activity for disengaged students, particularly adolescent girls.

“The dance systems are ideal because they enabled me to provide a system for each secondary school within my budget and they keep the pupils active while they have fun – for them it’s just a game and they are getting fit by default. We’ll be using the wireless system to host inter-school competitions across Tamworth which the pupils are all really excited about.”

Duncan Black, Director at fitnessgaming, said:

“A key part of involving all young people in sport and PE is engaging with those who do not currently want to take part in traditional physical activities, such as cross-country, hockey or netball. Sport needs to move with the times and embrace activities that are more suited to today’s youth, making sport and fitness something they enjoy and not something to be avoided.

“Although advances in technology and computer games are often blamed for children staying indoors and avoiding exercise, there are new and innovative ways of using this technology to engage children in sporting activities. This type of activity is perfect for School Sports Partnerships because it crosses all ages and genders, there is no discrimination so all pupils can play against each other regardless of their abilities.”

The dancemats which can be used with either the Playstation 2 or Wii make them easy to setup.  For those with special needs, there is also a three-sided frame mat and a hand-controlled mat, allowing the whole class to get involved.

Lakeside Primary School – Marrick Axford and Olivia Barker

Two Tamworth Primary Schools have been awarded for their commitment to be healthy.  Lakeside Community Primary School and Fulford Primary School have been awarded by Staffordshire County Council, recognising their efforts to be healthy.

The special award ceremony held to honour the schools commitment to be healthy was held at Staffords Historic County Buildings where pupils from both schools were presented the prestigious Healthy Schools status by County Councillor Janet Eagland, Chairman of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

County Councillor Veronica Downes, Cabinet Member for schools said:

“Congratulations to everyone involved. This is a wonderful achievement. These schools have shown that they have invested in being healthy and are dedicated to ongoing improvement and development in this area, equipping pupils with the skills and attitudes to help them make informed decisions about their health. “