Local Academy Council Experience The School In Action

It was great to have the Local Academy Council (LAC) in school on Friday 14th February to see a normal school day and we are pleased to say that in keeping with Valentines Day - they loved it!

Mr Pilkington (Chair), Mrs Taylor (Vice-Chair), Mrs Houlihan and new members of the council; Mrs Jeffers, Mrs Ashcroft, Mrs Ashcroft-Hore and Mr Pateman were in school for the first two lessons of the day and break time to get a feel for the climate for learning in lessons. Mr Pilkington was also in early for breakfast to see the 'Breakfast Club' in full flow and to sample a bacon butty!

With the council being made up from a number of new members the group also got the opportunity to meet the Senior Leadership Team of Mr Cunniffe (Head of School), Mrs Barlow (Assistant Headteacher - Achievement and Progress), Mrs Berry (Assistant Headteacher - Teaching and Learning) and Mr McLardy (Assistant Headteacher - Assessment and Curriculum) who guided the group around the majority of subject areas. They experienced the delivery of English to Year 11, GCSE option subjects to Year 10, the carousel subjects to Year 8 and Year 9 students and science for Year 7.

All of the councilors, whom have children at the school, were impressed with the students' engagement in their learning, the students' strong relationships with staff and how open they were to discussing their learning with them. Mr Pilkington stated that the 'family feel of the school was clear for all to see', whilst Mrs Taylor said that she 'loved the confidence and friendliness of the students' and that their 'behaviour was excellent too!'. It was a really positive morning and a great way to finish on the last day before the break for the half-term.