NEWS

Huncoat deputy head gets headship!

We say a sad but fond farewell to our Deputy Head, Catherine MacMahon who is leaving Huncoat this July to take up a new post as Headteacher at Woodnook Primary School in Accrington.

Mrs MacMahon has been at Huncoat for over 18 years and taught many, many children, and worked in a highly effective way with their families.
She has a wonderful relationship with all staff, governors, children and families and will be truly missed by all. Her hard work and devotion to the school has been greatly valued and her promotion is very well-deserved.

She will make a wonderful headteacher and our loss is Woodnook’s gain.
Good bye and good luck Mrs MacMahon.

PLSCITT trainees teach in Prague.

As part of their ITT year a group of our trainee teachers have been fortunate to go and teach in British Schools in Prague, Rome and Brussels. Below is an item written by Charlotte and Mark, two trainees from The Hollins, about their experiences at the British School in Prague.

“Ahoj Z Praha”

That is about as far as our understanding of the Czech language goes…

In such a short space of time we feel that we have gained not only the experience a new school in a different country brings, but also memories that we will remember for life. We will definitely find it hard to leave in a couple of weeks’ time!

The experience of working in a selective, international school has allowed us to experience an almost different way of teaching compared to what we have been accustomed to in the UK. What has been familiar though is the warm welcome we received and how quickly we have integrated into school-life and the classroom. Students still require the same from us in terms of guidance, support and to be the one that challenges them academically. In return, they have been open to our instruction and have made it an easy transition into a slightly different classroom environment.

The main difference between teaching in the UK and at the English College in Prague (ECP) is the idea of autonomy and independence in students. We spend our lessons openly discussing the big ideas within our subjects and what impacts they have, alongside the core curriculum that they follow here in the International Baccalaureate (IB) & International GCSE (IGCSE). Students within classes help each other and provide guidance from their own independent study. The experience of this has opened our eyes to the endless possibilities of how we can continue to improve our teaching upon our return in the UK.

Alongside teaching, we have been experiencing the Czech culture and exploring the beautiful city of Prague. Along with the Nottingham trainees we went cannoning down the River Sazava, which was an experience; by the end of it nobody was dry! Last week Mark climbed Snezka, the tallest mountain in the Czech Republic, to catch the sunrise. He was ill-equipped for the hike wearing only shorts and trainers which upon reflection would have probably failed a risk assessment, however, the views were certainly worth it!

This weekend we are visiting Bohemian Switzerland National Park, not to be confused with ‘actual’ Switzerland because apparently the term ‘Switzerland’ is used to describe its beauty. Narnia was also filmed there but hopefully we don’t run into any lions!

Charlotte and Mark have also produced a short video talking about their time in Prague and Jennifer has created one about her time in Brussels.

Pennine Lancashire SCITT and LET Trainee Wins National Award

The PTI awarded Bethany Seymour a trainee teacher with the Pennine Lancashire SCITT based at The Hollins in Accrington, the Martin Roberts Prize for outstanding new resource in Spanish, celebrating the outstanding new teaching resources.

The late Martin Roberts was a founding member of the Academic Steering Group of the Prince of Wales Education Summer Schools in 2002, continuing with the group in the establishment of the PTI until 2016. He was Headteacher at the Cherwell School in Oxford for 22 years, managing its evolution from a secondary modern school with 300 pupils to a comprehensive school with 1,800 pupils judged “Outstanding” by Ofsted by the time he retired.

Martin Roberts was instrumental in the establishment of the PTI’s New Teacher Subject Days courses; in his memory in 2022, the PTI established Martin Roberts Prizes celebrating the best new teaching resources created by course participants.

The Pennine Lancashire SCITT trains teachers in a school-centred teacher training programme and is part of the LET Education Trust, a newly formed Mult-Academy Trust based in Accrington. The PLSCITT has a very innovative and exciting curriculum and provides placements for trainees following both primary and secondary training programmes across East Lancashire and Europe.

Steve Campbell, CEO for LET Education Trust and Accounting Officer for PLSCITT said:

“We are delighted Beth has been awarded this coveted prize. It is validation of the hard work Beth has applied throughout her training year and is also testament to her mentors who have all provided such valuable support. Beth begins her teaching career at Blessed Trinity in September where we know she will continue to make a difference to our young people”

Louise Stubbs, Director of PLSCITT said:

“We are delighted to see Beth win the Martin Roberts prize this year. Our programme has an ambitious curriculum designed to create outstanding teachers and to receive this external validation is a thrill! Beth has been an outstanding trainee and we are excited about what the future holds for her and her classes.”

Carolyn Roberts, Co-Director, The PTI, said:

“The candidates selected for the inaugural Martin Roberts Prize have inspired us with the quality and creativity of the resources they have produced. We couldn’t be more delighted that Bethany was awarded the Martin Roberts Prize for Spanish for their outstanding new resource.”

The PTI (formerly The Prince’s Teaching Institute) inspires teachers and school leaders to become more effective, enthusiastic and influential by putting subject-centred teaching at the heart of schools. Providing high-quality professional development, the PTI’s sustainable approach to school improvement supports teachers to become experts in their subjects and pass on a love of learning to their students. The PLSCITT still has some training places available for September please visit www.plscitt.org.uk

LET Education Trust Schools Celebrate the Platinum Jubilee

Tuesday 31 May 2022

Pupils attending The Hollins, West End Primary School and Huncoat Primary School have celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Pupils were treated to a day of fun to celebrate The Queen’s 70^th year of service. Both pupils and staff dressed in red white and blue to represent the Union Jack, and were encouraged to take photographs with their friends using royal inflatable props!

At Huncoat, pupils enjoyed a royally-good picnic, after decorating their school hall with bunting, balloons and streamers. Everybody in school read a new book too! Either ‘The Queen’s New Hat’, ‘Once Upon a Queen’, or ‘Where’s Mrs Queen?’. Classes competed against each other in a castle building competition, and pupils took part in a competition to design a new first class stamp.

Pupils at Huncoat also learnt facts about The Queen (for example, did you know The Queen can speak fluent French?!), and created a timeline of her life and time on the throne. Pupils also learnt the National Anthem, ‘God Save the Queen’ to perform in assembly, and Huncoat will hold a ‘Sing for the Queen’ national sing along!

Meanwhile, at West End Primary School…

In true British fashion, West End’s plans for an outdoor picnic were scuppered by the rain, but students enjoyed a fantastic Jubilee Lunch indoors instead. Pupils produced a special assembly for their parents all about the most significant moments of The Queen’s life, from her birth in April 1926, her marriage to Prince Phillip in November 1947, and her Coronation in June 1953.

Students ended their assembly by performing ‘God Save the Queen’ in sign language variation, Makaton.

At The Hollins…

Ms Hargreaves was very busy in the kitchen, baking over 800 traditional British scones for pupils and staff to enjoy. Miss Robinson invited Darwen Brass Band to take part in the celebrations by performing some traditional pieces for our pupils.

Pupils were also invited to wear uniforms that represent British organisations, such as Scouting and Army Cadets. Big shout out to Liam, Will, Louis, Conrad, Melissa, Seweryn and Daniel for donning their uniforms for the day!

LET Education Trust Hold First Collaborative Staff Event

Thursday 5 May 2022

LET Education Trust held their first staff event last Friday, 29th April with staff from The Hollins, Rhyddings, Huncoat and West End coming together at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel in Clayton-le-Moors.

Colleagues were welcomed by CEO, Steve Campbell who gave a brief introduction to the Trust, its members and trustees, its governance structure, as well as introducing the four headteachers, James McBride, Rachel Dickinson, Sam Haydock and Andrew Williams and Carmel Trickett, the Trust CFO/COO.

Staff spent the afternoon working collaboratively to identify current good practice and opportunities for the Trust to improve ‘Cultural Capital’ in our pupils, with many excellent ideas and suggestions put forward. They then moved on to looking at how the schools could collaborate to improve areas including transition, curriculum, sharing best practice, sharing facilities, leadership development and others. All of the information put forward will now be considered by the Executive Board of the Trust and an action plan drawn up to implement the priorities.

The final part of the afternoon allowed staff to network and form links with primary and secondary colleagues which can be further established outside of the event. One colleagues said

‘I just wanted to say thank you very much to you and the other heads for today’s meeting. I was really looking forward to it and it didn’t disappoint. It was great to connect with the other schools, as well as seeing the bigger picture of us all together for this community.’

Another colleague added ‘I just wanted to thank you for today, I think it was really informative and I found it good to talking to people face to face rather than just a phone call or email. I think it also made me realise that we are all important no matter how small a part we play in the whole process and that can only be a good thing.’

The Trust is already making plans for further opportunities to collaborate including a Trust Training Day in January 2023.

LET Education Trust Schools Raise Over £600

Friday 1 April 2022

LET Education Trust schools took part in ‘A Day for Ukraine’ on Friday 25 April.

Students were asked to donate £1 and wear yellow and blue clothing as a symbol of solidarity towards those in Ukraine affected by the devastating war.

Each school also asked students to donate items and produced parcels of food, toiletries, and sanitary products. The money raised and parcels have been donated to charity ‘International Aid’ – who are hand delivering the items to the Ukraine border.

Some pupils went one step further – pupils at The Hollins school designed and manufactured pin badges with messages of support – profits were also donated.

We would like to thank Intack Van Hire for supplying a van which allowed us to collect and deliver the parcels to the International Aid base in Leyland.

LET Education Trust Launches

Tuesday 1 March 2022

The LET Education Trust was launched on Tuesday 1 March, as a not-for-profit educational trust and approved academy sponsor.