Hill Mead primary school has made it to the last four in the Literacy School of the Year Award. Assessors from the UK Literary Association visited the school to meet pupils and teachers and to present a “Roll of Honour’ certificate to the school for making it this far.
It will be competing against three other schools to win the UK Literary Association’s award – one is in London and the others are in Aberdeen and Bristol. After the assessors’ visits, the winning school will be announced in July.
The award celebrates schools providing rich, exciting, innovative curriculums in English at the same time as achieving good outcomes for their pupils.
Hill Mead head teacher Richard West said: “This nomination is testimony to what makes Hill Mead a truly outstanding school. I’m so proud that we give our pupils such a love for words and language.”
The school’s Hill Mead Herald reporters explained how they worked with the Bugle’s editor to write and edit their stories.
Also on hand to talk to the assessors were two of the schools’ digital learning star bloggers. They explained how they used blogging to engage with other subjects and to start conversations about what they were learning.
The school’s website showcases its pupils’ experience and learning. The children have access to iPads and use them in creative ways, recording their ideas and learning.
They assessors saw first-hand how the school engages parents in their children’s reading at the Love My Books Café, launched last year, and how they used the interactive website created especially for parents.
The school’s submission for the Literacy School of the Year Award emphasised the importance of literature in learning.
The school’s submission states: “Children’s literature is at the heart of Hill Mead’s English curriculum, where there are no reading schemes or commercial lesson plans”
Deputy head Mrs Lawrence says. “Each year group also participates in projects with the Unicorn Theatre and the National Theatre, inspiring learning in all areas of the curriculum and opportunities for the children to share their ideas through performance and writing”.
You can see the school’s curriculum in action by visiting the school’s website.
