RSA Academies Bulletin Board – July 2013
Welcome to the final RSA Academies bulletin board of the school year. It has been exceptionally
busy period in schools and in terms of activities across the RSA Family of schools. This newsletter
provides brief feedback on some of the key recent events, and also highlights a few of the key
things that will be happening from September. I would also like to introduce you to two new
colleagues. Lisa Hevey will be working as an intern in the education team over the next few weeks
and Georgina Chatfield will be starting as our Communications and Business Support officer for
RSA Academies on 16 September.
With best wishes for a very relaxing Summer Break.
Alison Critchley
Executive Director, RSA Academies
Alison.Critchley@rsa.org.uk
Latest News
Congratulations to Ipsley!
Congratulations to pupils and staff at Ipsley CE RSA Academy who
have secured the school’s best ever results at Key Stage 2. The
proportion of pupils achieving level 4+ in both English and Maths
has increased from 68% in 2012 to 72% in 2013. This despite
changes to the way in which English results are calculated which
mean that this year pupils achieve a level 4 only if they are at this
level in both reading and writing.
Julia Farnsworth – Teacher of the Year
Julia Farnsworth of the RSA Academy, Tipton has been announced
as the winner of the Pearson Teaching Award for Teacher of the
Year in a secondary school in the West Midlands. The Pearson
Teaching Awards are an annual celebration of exceptional teachers
and teaching, founded in 1999 by Lord Puttnam, to recognise the
life-changing impact of an inspirational teacher on the lives of the
young people they teach.
Julia will now join fellow winners at the UK final of the Teaching
Awards on 20 October, filmed in London and broadcast by the BBC.
STEM Ambassadors
We have been connected through the Fellowship network by
STEMNET, a charity that places STEM Ambassadors in schools to see
whether schools within the RSA Family would like to join the
programme. For more details see their website.
Whitley Academy students meet Sir Ken Robinson
At the beginning of July we were able to secure tickets from a group
of students from Whitley Academy to attend the RSA’s fastest ever
“sell-out” event with Sir Ken Robinson. To find out more read the
blog on the RSA website co-written by Whitley Head Boy Prince
Chivaka and RSA Fellow Fran Plowright.
Emerging projects with the Royal Designers for Industry (RDI)
Robin Levien hosted an inspiring day at Studio Levien bringing
together seven RDIs with teachers from four of the schools in the
Family to discuss ways in which RDIs and Academy students can
work together over the next school year. A wide range of potential
projects were discussed, including:
- An offer of free textile ‘study days’ for students interested
in textiles, weaving/print, interiors, and colour by Mary
Restieaux.
- Work with Ben Kelly to re-design the school entrance at
Arrow Vale to display objects made by students.
- Robin Levien could also advise with ceramic projects at
Ipsely and suggested that he could put the RSA Academy
Tipton in touch with volunteers in the ceramics industry in
Stoke-on-Trent.
Research and development strand
From September, RSA’s Director of Education Joe Hallgarten will be
leading a new Development and Research strand for RSA
Academies, co-designed with our academies. On 5 July, 15 teachers,
governors and RSA Fellows met to discuss our overall approach and
agree on a few priority areas for innovation during 2013-14. Themes
we agreed to explore included the following:
 Family engagement (especially ‘not yet reached’ parents)
 Art, craft and making (with a possible digital angle)
 Pupil engagement (with a possible focus on ‘quietly
disengaged’ 12-15 year olds)
 Values for innovation (with a possible focus on ‘what will
be different about RSA learners?’)
We also agreed on a number of issues that should cut across any
innovation we initiate: closing the attainment gap; improving
literacy; and developing purposeful local partnerships.
During 2013-14, we will be looking to work with staff across all our
schools to put these ideas into practice. If you are interested, please
talk to your RSA link teacher, or email joe.hallgarten@rsa.org.uk,
who can also give you some resources from the day.
Finally, we agreed to develop a network of staff across our schools
with a particular interest in education research – whether studying
for a Masters, doing some classroom-based action research, or
involved less formally. If you are interested in joining this network,
please contact alison.critchley@rsa.org.uk.
Student leadership initiatives
Key Stage 3 pupils from the schools in the Midlands participated in
the Whitley exchange day on 28 June, taking part in team building
exercises to develop confidence as well as visiting Coventry’s
transport museum and cathedral.
Sixth form students from the RSA Academy, Arrow Vale RSA
Academy and Whitley Academy who had led the student peer
review visits to other schools in the Family came to the RSA on 10
July to share their findings. It was clear from the discussions that all
three schools had brought back and already started to implement
new ideas from the other schools, to develop the organisation of
student leadership in the school and more broadly.
The second annual student leadership conference will take place at
the RSA on Thursday 21 November 2013. A number of possible
themes and ideas were suggested by the students, who will be
consulted on a proposed programme in the Autumn Term.
Jewellery design competition
In the autumn Weston Beamor jewellery designers will be working
with students from the four schools with students in key stages 4/5
on the design of a piece of jewellery.
The Skills Show – Birmingham NEC 14-16 November
We have been approached by the National Schools Partnership and
encouraged to invite schools from the Family of Academies to
attend the Skills Show in Birmingham in November, which describes
itself as the UK's largest skills and careers event. It is open to all UK
students aged 7-24 and is free to attend. Schools from the RSA
Family have also been offered travel bursaries to enable groups of
students to attend the event. To find out more or to book see the
website or contact Alex Jeffery
(ajeffery@nationalschoolspartnership.com).
Upcoming Events and Diary Dates
18 July: Whitley Festival
15 August: publication of A level results
22 August: publication of GCSE results
4 September: Ipsley staff visit to the RSA
17 September: Successful interview skills course – Lilian Baylis
18 September: Successful interview skills course – Arrow Vale (for Arrow Vale, Whitley and RSA
Academy students)
18 September: RSA Academies Board meeting
20 September: Harnessing student voice to drive school improvement conference, RSA Academy
October (date tbc): launch of Weston Beamor jewellery design competition.
21 November: Second RSA Family of Academies student conference in London.
4 December: RSA Academies Board Awayday
6 January 2014: Joint INSET day – Arrow Vale, Ipsley, Whitley Academy