Pupils with specialist educational needs will benefit from expert support after their schools were among those selected for a new national programme.

Greengate Junior and Ramsden Infant schools, in Barrow, will strengthen their provision for children as part of the Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) project.

The new national programme aims to support the education and health needs of neurodiverse children who have variations in neurological function, including Autism and ADHD.

The £13million government project, worth around £8,000 to each school, will upskill staff and a create a partnership approach working with local authorities and parent carer forums.

Executive Headteacher Sue Jackson said the project will bring health and education specialists and expert parent carers together into school.

“The aim of this project is to work together to provide the very best education for all our SEND pupils. Nationally, there has been an emphasis on individuals but this will support our vision to enrich the teaching and learning of all our pupils.

“We want our neurodiverse children to enjoy all the benefits of a mainstream school and be included in everything we do as a whole school community.”

The project will include additional support from occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, mental health practitioners and educational psychologists.

Director of Education for South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust Caroline Vernon said the schools selected were already breaking ground in this area with strong alternative provision.

“This is an exciting project which we hope will provide additional skills and knowledge to help us further strengthen our SEND provision across all our Trust member schools,” she said.

“We know that our schools work tirelessly to support our neurodiverse pupils and this will now give staff a chance to further upskill and gain more expertise to fully meet their needs.”

Children from Greengate Junior School in Barrow have been learning about classical music in workshops with the world-famous Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Year 4 pupils were invited to collaborate with professional musicians learning a song to perform live next month.

The workshop, hosted at Greengate Junior School, featured compositions by award-winning musician Jasdeep Singh Degun who has created a new version of his song Aapki Khushi for the children to learn.

Pupils were joined by children from Sacred Heart and Our Lady of the Rosary schools in an introduction to Indian classical music with the chance to hear traditional instruments.

Executive Headteacher of Greengate Junior School Sue Jackson said it was a wonderful opportunity to expand the children’s musical and cultural education.

“We are delighted to welcome the professional musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra into our school.

“They brought not only instruments, song and enthusiasm for their art but a cultural experience of Indian tradition and language, which the children loved.

“You could see and hear the pupils’ confidence to perform growing as the workshop progressed.”

They will rehearse again, working on pronunciation and singing in this style, before the live shows.

The project is part of the next programme of collaboration with the Liverpool Philharmonic in Barrow.

The season opens on Friday 11^th October when pupils from Greengate Junior School will take part in the Sing ’24 event at The Forum in the afternoon singing a piece they have created in school music lessons.

That evening they will return to perform Aapki Khushi as a pre-concert show with the Liverpool Philharmonic professionals before the orchestra takes to the stage in the Town Hall.

Greengate Junior School is joining South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust alongside Ramsden Infant School this academic year. It is currently offering tours to prospective new pupils and their families at both Ramsden and Greengate Juniors. For any child wanting a year 3 place, visits to the school are most welcome.

Chetwynde School teachers Katie Stepanian and Katherine Parkinson have achieved leadership qualifications after going back to the classroom.

Katie is Phase 1 Lead in the primary and Katherine is Head of Creative Faculty in the senior school, which is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust.

They both successfully completed their National Professional Qualification of Senior Leadership (NPQSL).

It is an 18-month programme for senior leaders with cross school responsibilities and further strengthens leadership in the school, which is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust.

Trust Chief Executive Professor Andrew Wren congratulated them both.

“We want to provide an excellent education for our pupils and professional development programmes such as the NPQSL ensures our staff are equipped with leadership skills and latest sector knowledge to support us to continue to drive up standards across all our schools.”

Chetwynde is holding its Open Evening for nursery, primary and secondary on Thursday 26^th September from 5pm to 7pm.

Staff and pupils at Newbarns Primary and Nursery School in Barrow are marking 30 years of excellence in education with staff members who were there from the first day.

The school opened in its current form in September 1994 following a restructure that brought together the infant and junior schools on one site.

Announcing the milestone to current pupils current headteacher Gary Birkett said it was a day to celebrate.

“Today is a special day for Newbarns – it marks our 30th year of opening. We have two teachers here today – Mrs Steele and Mrs Postlethwaite – who were there on the very first day. They will have seen many changes over the years but the love at Newbarns stays the same.

“It is a privilege to be here to teach you all.  I joined this school two years after it opened, in 1996, and I been lucky enough to teach many of your parents over the years.”

Kath Steele and Cheryl Postlethwaite were presented with Long Service Awards by Professor Andrew Wren of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust.

The school joined the Trust in 2023 and is one of five member schools working together to drive up standards in education across the area.

Awards were also presented to staff for their contribution to education and the wider SCMAT community.

Teacher Sophie Broadbent was voted as the Inspirational Innovator, Deputy Headteacher Victoria Fitzgibbons awarded the Unsung Hero and SCMAT Community Champions are Senior Teaching Assistants Laura Craig and Sue Poole. 

Newbarns will hold its Open Evenings with tours of the school and a chance to meet staff on Tuesday 1st October and Thursday 3rd October from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.

The newly-appointed student heads at Chetwynde School have pledged to encourage other pupils to adopt a healthier lifestyle during their time in the role.

Sophie Ackred and Alex Edgar are Head Girl and Head Boy while Charlotte Renney and Jacob Moyse take on roles as deputies at the school on Rating Lane in Barrow.

They outlined how they wanted to increase the number of people cycling to school as well as further expanding the after-school sports club offer.

Alex, who has been cycling to school since he started in Year 7, said he would be encouraging others to cycle.

“Cycling to school gives me a boost, it wakes me up and gets me ready for the day,” he said. “I want to work to expand the bike sheds so there is lots more space.”

Talented sports star Sophie, who plays cricket, table tennis, football and golf, hopes to go on to study to be a maths and PE teacher after sixth form.

“I love sport and I think it gives you so many skills including being a good leader. I hope we can get more variety of sports played while I am here.”

Both students said they liked the way Chetwynde, which is a finalist in Cumbria’s Golden Apple Education Awards, had a family feel and they were proud to take on the heads roles.

“I am enjoying the responsibility of having children in the school that you are there to look after, support and make sure they are happy. It is often easier to speak to another pupil rather than a teacher,” said Sophie.

“I want to be a good role model for them showing them how you can get good grades by working hard, listening and not getting behaviour points.”

Drama enthusiast Alex said he was looking forward to playing the role of Professor Callahan in the school’s upcoming production of Legally Blonde.

“This character teaches law at Harvard and it has got me thinking about studying law at college,” he said.

The team are now preparing their presentation for the school’s upcoming Open Evening on Thursday 26^th September from 5pm, which is their first major responsibility as head pupils.

Chetwynde School is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust.

Poems penned by pupils from South Walney Junior School to celebrate the natural beauty of their island are now on display for the whole school to enjoy.

The work is part of the school’s Lost Words of Walney project to celebrate the unique wildlife and plants of Walney Island. Artwork from the book compiled by the children is shown next to the poems, which are based on an array of local wildlife including mussels, shelduck, ringed plover egret, royal blue butterfly Walney geranium, grey seals and protected natterjack toads.

Deputy headteacher Michelle Banks said the work is a wonderful legacy from the previous Year 6 that will help to inspire pupils with this year’s project. She thanked the Youth Offending Team and Ellen Bromley for working with them on the installation.

A renowned educator and author shared his experiences and expertise with staff from South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust to help inspire them at the start of term.

Marc Rowland was guest speaker at South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust’s learning conference held at Chetwynde School. 

Addressing more than 200 teachers from across the Trust’s schools he shared the findings from his latest research and gave practical strategies to enhance learning for students.  

Mr Rowland is the author of several books on Pupil Premium, which is a government grant to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England. 

He advises the Department for Education on addressing educational disadvantage in schools and has worked with over 600 individual schools to support them with their strategies to improve outcomes for pupils. 

At the SCMAT Learning Conference he urged staff to think about the role they played in a child’s life and the impact it could have. 

“Schools should be joyful places and fun places for a child to be.  Teaching is a privilege and teachers can influence children’s lives in a way no other job does. 

“If teachers thrive, children thrive.”

Caroline Vernon, Director of Education for SCMAT who organised the event, said she was delighted to welcome Marc to South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust in response to requests from staff. 

“We run professional development networks across our Trust and, following research carried out by the Senior Leadership Teams, a recommendation was put forward for all staff to hear directly from Marc. Schools up and down the country face funding challenges and it is critical we target our pupil premium funding most effectively to meet the needs of our students so we brought in the expert.”

She said it had been a brilliant way to begin the term and feedback from staff following the event had been extremely positive.

“To provide the very best in education for all of our pupils, we need to continually check our practice as educators, making sure that we are up to date with current national and international recommendations. We need to use the very best teaching methods so that our students make excellent progress.”

Professor Andrew Wren also addressed the event to outline the Trust’s vision and support for staff as new schools are expected to join this academic year. 

“Our Learning Conference is a great way to start the term by bringing all of our member and associate member schools together to share our strengths, ideas and work collaboratively . 

“Engaged, motivated and enthusiastic staff provide a better education for our children and we wanted to start the term on a really positive note.”

The leader of a South Cumbria education trust has welcomed the change to scrap the overall grade in Ofsted inspections.

Professor Andrew Wren said the removal of the headline one and two-word judgements would alleviate some of the pressure on schools by enabling headteachers and staff to give a more balanced picture of what their schools offered.

Professor Wren is chief executive of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust, which has five Barrow primary schools and Chetwynde, which offers education from kindergarten right through to Year 11, among its members.

“This is a welcome improvement and, from what I have heard about the plans from the Department for Education, there are more positives to come.

“The big issue is that traditionally staff have feared what they were going to get in terms of grading, in part because there was often a lack of consistency among inspection teams and the review has been quite critical of the culture so we are expecting significant changes.”

Professor Wren took part in the Department for Education’s Big Listen project on behalf of the Trust and said the feedback he gave seemed to be among that coming through.

The consultation found:

• Ofsted’s culture creates feelings of stress, anxiety and apprehension among leaders and staff;
• Inspectors should give more advice on how they can improve, instead of just descriptive reports;
• Schools want better collaboration from Ofsted, and consistency between inspections.

Professor Wren said he had already seen first-hand Ofsted moving away from being data-focused to listening and seeing the progress of our young people and what their work looked like.

“My recent experience was the inspection at Chetwynde last year and it did feel like that was reflective of what Ofsted is aiming for with an experience for headteachers that is altogether more human and holistic whilst maintain the rigorous quality assurance that we all want,” he said.

“Inspectors were not just giving their judgement as good across the board at Chetwynde but also offering ideas around improvement and signposting to support as to how to make further improvements.

“We have schools that will be inspected soon and I really hope that the removal of the headline judgement puts our amazing headteachers more at ease and confident to show the excellent work they do without the resulting reports headed by one or two-word judgements.”

“I am really optimistic that the changes will be for the better and we look forward to seeing the new framework next September.”

Pupils at Chetwynde School are celebrating after achieving a set of outstanding grades in their GCSE exams.

The Class of ‘24 returned to school to open their envelopes which revealed an array of 9s and 8s.

The Year 11s were congratulated by staff at the Rating Lane school, which is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust.

Many will now go on to study A-levels at sixth form while others have secured sought-after apprenticeships and employment.

Headteacher Steve Jefferson said he was delighted at the results which were a testament to the hard work and dedication of pupils.

“It has been a wonderful morning with several of our students returning for their results having been with us since kindergarten.

“We are so proud they have all achieved their potential and leave us with the confidence to succeed. We now hope that their education with us is a springboard to lifelong learning.

“They will go on to great things carrying the values of our school – respect, responsibility, resilience – into their futures and all the additional benefits a Chetwynde education brings including sporting and drama excellence.”

He thanked all the staff at the school saying said the results also reflected the excellent support they had received from teachers, school staff and the wider SCMAT community.

Among the top students were:

Head Boy, Nathan Lee Cheong – Best results in school

Marrisa Roberts – 2 Grade 9 and 4 Grade 8

Twin Sisters – Gretta Morton 3 Grade 9 and 1 Grade 8 and Honor Morton 1 grade 9 and 3 Grade 8.

Congratulations to all the students.