Latest News
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Worcestershire Works Well accreditation
Wed 30 Nov 2022We have signed up for a workplace wellbeing accreditation scheme – Worcestershire Works Well.
There are over 100 businesses engaged in the programme which encourages and supports businesses in Worcestershire to improve the health and wellbeing of their employees.
We take employee health and well-being seriously and are committed to gaining the accreditation and ensuring staff look after and develop health and wellbeing.
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Level 1 Awareness of First Aid for Mental Health training Dec 22
Wed 30 Nov 2022Anyone can be affected by a mental health condition, you, a family member, a friend or a colleague!
This training will provide you with the knowledge to identify suspected mental health conditions, as well as the skills to start a conversation and be able to signpost a person towards professional help.
Half-day mental health awareness training for everyone within a workplace.
This training is open to all, whether in a school setting or business. We recommend that all staff in an organisation attend at least this course.
All members of the public can benefit from this course, and it is a great stepping stone into First Aid for Mental Health.Training takes place at The Rivers Teaching Alliance at St Clement's CofE Primary School, Henwick Road, Worcester, WR2 5NS.
Cost £50
To book or find out more contact the Rivers Teaching Alliance
Call: 01905950700
Email: teachingschool@riverscofe.co.uk
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Sustainable Christmas Tree 2022
Tue 29 Nov 2022We invited pupils from across the trust to create star decorations made from twigs to adorn our wooden Christmas tree.
The star twig decorations represent our STARS values. Similarly, to last year, we have created a sustainable Christmas tree made from natural materials to reflect our commitment to sustainability.
How can you have a sustainable tree?
Up to 8 million Christmas trees are bought every December in the UK. That is potentially a lot of waste. Although fake trees can last for years, it takes enormous amounts of energy to manufacture and it's more synthetic waste to be disposed of.
If you do want to get an artificial tree, look for a pre-loved tree on eBay, Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace.
There are sustainable options:
- Tree rental - Hire a Christmas Tree
- Use or grow your own tree - buying a tree with roots lets you grow it outside and use it again next
- Real trees - grown sustainably (look for FSC-certification)
Where can you see the Rivers Christmas tree?
Our Rivers Christmas Tree will be on display at the Christmas Tree Festival at Worcester Cathedral from Wednesday 7 December 2022 until Sunday 8 January 2023 (excluding Christmas Day), during normal visiting hours (10am - 5pm Monday to Saturday and 1-3pm on Sundays).
Our tree joins Christmas trees innovatively and individually designed and decorated by other local schools, charities and organisations and is a wonderful sight to be enjoyed by all the family.
Booking is not required, so just turn up and enjoy the avenue of glittering Christmas Trees displayed in the atmospheric medieval Cloister!
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Schools tree planting
Sat 26 Nov 2022National Tree Week (26th November - 4th December) is a great opportunity to celebrate and take the time to admire the trees around us, their place in the landscape and their value to people and wildlife.
Over the past couple of weeks, children at North Worcester Primary Academy and Cutnall Green Primary School have been planting trees, kindly donated by The Woodland Trust.
Cutnall Green CofE Primary School applied for some saplings and were gifted 400 saplings to plant! Children in all year groups have been invited to plant a sapling, to help acknowledge and take responsibility for their own ecological footprint.
Children from North Worcester Primary Academy planted 80 trees at the local allotment.
The tree-planting event, organised by the school’s piano teacher, saw 170 children from each year group, visit the wildlife garden at the allotment to plant 80 trees and over 100 bulbs.
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Bingo Box challenge 2022
Fri 25 Nov 2022The trust central team took part in the ISO Quality Services Ltd (ISO QSL) Bingo Box challenge to raise awareness and collect food donations for the local food bank.
We collected 2 shopping lists worth of food and toiletries.
The Worcester Foodbank has seen a 23% increase in demand this year. More than 1 in 3 fed by the foodbank are children.
To find out how you can support your local foodbank and what donations they need, visit: Find a Food Bank - The Trussell Trust
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Living Well for Longer
Wed 23 Nov 2022Megan Jones and Natasha Ratcliffe from the central team took part in the Active Herefordshire & Worcestershire living well for longer resistance band workshop.
With their newfound skills, they will now be encouraging staff, in particular the over 50s, to keep active by using resistance band exercises and will be running sessions on resistant band exercises as part of the March Wellbeing programme.
The 'Living Well for Longer in Worcestershire' project is a fantastic project by Public Health Worcestershire that aims to improve mental and physical well-being and slow down age-related decline.
Resistance band exercises have several health benefits and are an effective and simple way to keep you active:
✓ Builds muscle strength
✓ Improved muscle function, bone health and balance
✓ Reduced risk of falls
✓ Suitable for all abilities (seated or standing)
✓ Just 10-minute sessions can make a difference
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Finalists is the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards 2022
Tue 22 Nov 2022The Rivers CofE Academy Trust were finalists in the Large Apprenticeship Employer of the Year Category at the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards.
Other finalists in the category were Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and Polaris.
5% of our trust workforce are apprentices, so it was great to be recognised for our contribution to apprenticeships and to celebrate all those involved in making apprenticeships successful in Worcestershire.
On the night, the award winner was H&W Health and Care NHS Trust.
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Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards Finalists
Thu 17 Nov 2022he Rivers CofE Academy Trust were finalists in the Large Apprenticeship Employer of the Year Category at the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards.
Other finalists in the category were Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and Polaris.
5% of our trust workforce are apprentices, so it was an honour to be recognised for our contribution to apprenticeships.
On the night, the award winner was Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, so although we didn't win it was great to celebrate all those involved in making apprenticeships successful in Worcestershire.
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Wychbold pupils question local MP
Fri 04 Nov 2022MP, Nigel Huddleston visited Wychbold First and Nursery School on Friday 4th November to meet and be interviewed by the school council.
The school got in touch with their local MP, as they have recently set up the new school council and wanted their first job to be speaking to someone who understands the importance of democracy and representing others.
The children asked questions such as 'What did you want to be when you grew up?' Nigel said “Lots of things! I wanted to be a teacher, a fireman, a policeman. It wasn’t until my late teens at university that I decided that being a politician would be an option”.
The children also asked, 'what was his favourite thing about the job?' Nigel replied “Things like this. I do lots of travelling for my job but seeing my constituents is the best thing. I get to see behind the scenes at lots of different schools, and businesses".
Finally, the children asked, “Why is caring for the environment so important?”
Nigel’s response was “In our government, we can help people to do the right thing for the environment. We can make laws to prevent damage to the environment. We live in an area with lots of green spaces. We can do damage to the world and we need to be careful that we are not polluting or using too much energy, for example.”
Rebecca Wilks, Head of School at Wychbold First and Nursery School said, “The children loved the visit, they were really engaged in what Nigel had to say and asked him some fantastic questions.”
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Mindfulness Nature, Climate, and Education Summit
Tue 01 Nov 2022Director of Education, Kerry Rochester and Headteacher at North Worcester Primary Academy, Emily Calvert will be sharing their ideas and strategies about mindfulness and the environment at the 2nd 'Mindfulness, Nature and Climate Education Summit.
They will join 25 other experts for the online summit, which will take place from 14th to 18th November 2022.
By registering for the event, you gain free access to the following interview sessions each day.
- DAY 1 Mindfulness, Nature, Climate Education
- DAY 2 Outdoor Education
- DAY 3 Resources, Digital, Books, Curriculums
- DAY 4 Climate Actions, Eco-Anxiety, Reconnection, Active Hope
- DAY 5 Projects, Eco schools, Sustainability, 17 SDGs