Noticeboard
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Cherry Orchard Primary School Celebrates Remarkable Transformation and Good Ofsted Rating
Tue 19 Mar 2024Cherry Orchard Primary School and Pre-school, located in the heart of Worcester, is proud to celebrate significant improvements in education quality after being awarded a very well-deserved ‘GOOD’ judgement from Ofsted. In particular, the school are exceptionally proud of being awarded ‘OUTSTANDING’ for behaviour and attitudes.
The inspection team were delighted with the behaviour of pupils; ’Pupils behave exceptionally well. They are kind, empathetic and show a readiness to learn.’
‘It is an exciting time to be part of the Cherry Orchard community. Parents, staff and pupils agree that there have been significant improvements to the quality of education and feel proud to be part of this school.’
From inadequate to a strong position
Cherry Orchard joined The Rivers CofE Academy Trust as a sponsored academy in 2021 with an Ofsted judgement of inadequate and special measures. Karen Banford was appointed as headteacher from another school in the trust and has led the Cherry Orchard team brilliantly, seeing through a complete transformation in the quality of education and wider experiences for pupils.
The report recognised that, ‘improving academic standards has been a key priority’ and that, ‘there has been significant change at Cherry Orchard in recent years.’
Inspectors acknowledged, ‘a strong partnership between the school and trust has ensured that there has been a considered approach to school improvement.’
Preparing children for their education journey
Inspectors found that the school prepares children well for the next step of their educational journey. In pre-school it was reported that ‘children get off to a good start’ and in Reception, ‘children demonstrate that they are increasingly ready for the step into key stage 1.’ From the first day, children learn to read and ‘are doing so with increasing accuracy.’ From key stage 1 children are ‘reading fluently and ready to develop their comprehension skills.’ In preparation for high school, ‘pupils now leave the school having reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.’
Overall, the report found that ‘pupils are demonstrating a deeper understanding of what they learn.’
Furthermore, the school offers a range of extracurricular activities that enhance the learning experience. Opportunities to support charities and ‘trips to new places’ are noted as ways the school brings learning to life.
The report highlights that pupils are attending school more regularly, and effective systems are in place to improve attendance. Pupils value their education and show that they want to do well.
Team effort
The Good Ofsted judgement is a testament to the unwavering commitment of the staff and school community. Inspectors recognised that; ‘There is a strong team spirit at this school. Staff feel that they are well supported.’
The school has successfully created a culture of high expectations and shared determination to make sure that every pupil fulfils their potential. ‘Senior leaders demonstrate that there is ‘no ceiling’ on what pupils at this school can achieve.’
The positive relationships pupils have with the staff contribute to their happiness and safety in school. ‘Staff take notice when pupils need support, both academically and emotionally, and do all they can to help them.’
Karen Banford, Headteacher is delighted with the judgement, "I am absolutely delighted that the OFSTED inspection team have recognised the fantastic education being delivered at Cherry Orchard Primary School. We have a hugely talented staff team and the most amazing pupils and families, and this successful Ofsted visit is a testament to the collective effort of everyone involved. I completely agree with the report, which says it is an exciting time to be part of the Cherry Orchard community".
CEO at The Rivers CofE Academy Trust, Matt Meckin said, “School leaders and staff have worked brilliantly to raise standards and improve experiences for children. Cherry Orchard is a great community school and has an exciting future ahead.”
Cherry Orchard Primary School and Pre-School are hosting open events for prospective families after Easter break. To arrange a tour then please visit the school website and click ‘book a tour’: https://www.cherryorchard-pri.worcs.sch.uk/.
Ofsted report: Cherry Orchard Primary School - OFSTED (cherryorchard-pri.worcs.sch.uk)
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Rivers recognised in Worcestershire Education Awards 2024
Sun 10 Mar 2024The Worcesterhsire Education Awards are in their sixth year and are designed to recognise the efforts of those in the education sector who have worked tirelessly to support, teach, and care for young people.
- Lee Davies, 1:1 support and interventions at Wychbold First and Nursery School, has been announced as a finalist in the 'Unsung Hero' category of this year's Worcestershire Education Awards. The category recognises people for their outstanding personality and enthusiastic approach who can demonstrate that they go the extra mile.
- St Clement's CofE Primary School has been shortlisted for the ‘Primary School of the Year Award’. Northwick Manor won the Primary School of the Year Award last year. Let's hope another Rivers school wins it this year!
- The Rivers Box Car Rally has been recognised as a finalist in the STEM project of the year. An award which aims to promote STEM and engage pupils in science-related activities.
- Little Cherries Pre-school at Cherry Orchard Primary School, has been named as a finalist in the 'Early Years Education Award'. This award is given to a child-minding provider, nursery, pre-school, or an organisation that can demonstrate the positive impact of their work on the children in their care.
The winners of the awards will be announced on Thursday, April 18th. We wish all the finalists good luck.
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Our journey to net zero starts now
Wed 06 Mar 2024Taking authentic steps towards net zero
Our vision states, we aim to 'teach our pupils to love, learn and live as global citizens in an ever-changing world'. We have a responsibility to educate children about the world, and its challenges and guide them towards sustainable approaches so they can have a positive impact on the world.
We began by enhancing our curriculum to embed Sustainable Development Goals throughout, to educate and raise awareness about sustainable practices, consumption patterns, and responsible choices for long-term impact.
We have also taken active steps to reduce our carbon footprint such as installing LED lighting and planting trees.
However, whilst planting trees is a valuable endeavour, we need to go beyond offsetting and actively become carbon-negative by reducing emissions.
A pivotal step forward
To make a real difference in the world and work towards net zero we needed to do more and embed it into our operations.
We recognise the need to be transparent and accountable for our carbon footprint and avoid ‘Greenwashing’ by actively reducing our carbon footprint through measurable actions.
Without knowing our carbon KPIs and understanding the impact that different actions have we cannot take informed action and pave the way for ‘real’ climate action.
We understand the urgency of climate change and are committed to taking concrete actions to protect our planet.
Measuring for impact
We have now taken an authentic step towards net zero by firstly measuring our carbon footprint. We follow the World Resources Institute (WRI) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol Standard for accurate carbon emissions tracking.
This allows us to standardise our data and compare it against other organisations, ensuring we’re on the right path to net zero.
Next step towards net zero
Measurement is only the first step in carbon management. The next step is to create a net zero action plan that will outline specific actions and carbon-saving projections, guiding us towards 50% net zero by 2030 and full net zero by 2050.
We’re not just offsetting our carbon emissions; we’re striving to genuinely reduce them.
To find out more about net zero and what we are doing to work toward our goal of net zero by 2050, visit: Working towards net zero
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North Worcester Primary Academy receives a ‘Good’ Ofsted Rating
Mon 04 Mar 2024North Worcester Primary Academy, the newest addition to the educational landscape in Worcester, is thrilled to announce it has achieved a ‘Good’ rating in its first Ofsted inspection. This is a great achievement for a school that opened in 2019 and is still in a period of growth.
The school was inspected by Ofsted on 6th and 7th February 2024 and was judged to be ‘Good’ across all key areas; the quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; leadership and management, and early years provision.
A journey of growth and excellence
Since opening, North Worcester Primary Academy has been on an inspiring journey of growth and excellence. Leaders and staff have nurtured a vibrant and ambitious learning environment for its pupils in pre-school through to Year 4. The school will continue to grow in the next few years as children gradually move through into year 5 and 6.
Ofsted praised the happy ethos of the school stating that, “Pupils are friendly and happy in school. They enjoy learning...Relationships between staff and pupils are positive.”
The curriculum was recognised for enabling pupils to progress from pre-school upwards. “The early years curriculum provides a firm foundation for children to build their early essential knowledge and skills. Learning is active and fun and children achieve well.”
“From the outset, staff ensure the curriculum focuses on promoting children’s language and communication skills, alongside their physical and social development. This helps prepare children well for Year 1 and beyond.”
Teachers were acknowledged for their adaptability to meet each pupil's needs. “Teachers regularly check what pupils know and remember in all subjects. They adapt their teaching where consolidation or further input is required.”
Staff were also praised in the report for their enthusiasm and dedication to making the school a success. “Staff are overwhelmingly positive about working at North Worcester Primary. They feel supported and valued. They feel well looked after and want to stay at the school.”
Supported by Rivers CofE Academy Trust
North Worcester Primary Academy is proud to be part of the Rivers CofE Academy Trust, a network of 16 schools and a thriving teaching alliance. The trust has a responsibility and oversight for the school and was found to provide “effective support and training for staff.”
The report celebrated the trust-wide curriculum, stating “The school, in collaboration with the trust, has developed a coherent and well-sequenced curriculum”.
Starting from scratch: a triumph of culture and expectations
The Ofsted report commended partnership at the school, “As the school grows, leaders are continuing to build an effective partnership with parents. They have positive views of the school.”
“The school seeks the views of the local community through its advocate group and responds well to feedback provided.”
The report found that, “The school has high expectations of pupils and wants the best for them. This includes for pupils with complex additional needs. Staff work diligently to tailor support to ensure that all pupils achieve well.”
In its early days, North Worcester Primary Academy faced the exciting challenge of building everything from the ground up. The school community—families, teachers, and pupils alike—embarked on a collective mission to create a positive culture, set high expectations, and establish effective routines. The first-year families, many new parents and therefore new to primary education, embraced this journey with enthusiasm, laying the foundation for a now thriving school.
Headteacher’s remarks
Stuart Grimes, Head Teacher of North Worcester Primary Academy since September 2023, expressed his delight at the Ofsted rating saying, “This is a fantastic achievement for our school community. It is a testament to the hard work and passion everyone has in ensuring the children we serve flourish and have the very best experiences.”
A bright future ahead
As North Worcester Primary Academy continues to grow, it remains committed to fostering curiosity, creativity, and a love for learning. The school’s vision—“Love, Learn, Live”—captures its aim for every pupil. With a strong foundation and a passionate community, North Worcester is poised to make a lasting impact on the educational landscape of Worcester.
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Remarkable staff honoured at the annual STARS Awards
Fri 02 Feb 2024The Rivers CofE Academy Trust proudly hosted its second annual Staff STARS Awards on Friday, February 2nd, at Bromsgrove Hotel. This prestigious event celebrated the remarkable contributions and achievements of our dedicated staff.
The 16 schools within the trust all share the same vision; to love, learn, live and share the same STARS values of Sharing, Trust, Achievement, Respect and Safety. The awards ceremony is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate how staff model the STARS values for the benefit of everyone within their school community and the wider Rivers family.
Rivers CEO, Matt Meckin began the awards by acknowledging all 860+ staff members, saying “We are all here to help our children to love, learn and live to the fullest extent. However, that doesn’t happen without the passion, work and commitment of all our staff across a wide range of roles”.
Recognising Excellence
From an impressive 220 nominations, a panel of judges meticulously selected 27 finalists who exemplified excellence in their roles and demonstrated the STARS values.
The event was attended by the finalists, along with senior leaders, trustees, advocates, and our generous event sponsors Dolphin Tec, Education Mutual, Every, Joskos, and Sheppard BPC. As a publicly funded organisation, we would not be able to put on an event of this scale without the help of our sponsors.
And the Winners Are…
The Staff STARS Awards winners were revealed during a delightful ceremony. Matt Meckin hosted the ceremony with event sponsors and chair of Rivers’ trust board, Andy Jobbins announcing the deserving winners. Each winner received a certificate and an engraved wooden star award as tokens of appreciation.
Sharing Award Winners:
- Rose Thorpe, Higher Level Teaching Assistant at Summerhill Primary Academy, Tipton
- Gurpreet Ghai, Teacher at Jubilee Park Academy, Tipton
The Trust Award Winner
- Sophie Bushell, Teaching Assistant at Burlish Park Primary School, Stourport-on-Severn
Achievement Award Winner
- Rebecca Wilks, Headteacher at Wychbold First and Nursery School
Respect Award Winner
- Helen Seldon, Office Administrator at St Peter’s Droitwich CofE Academy
Safety Award Winner
- John Rodgers, Caretaker at Great Witley CE Primary School
Special recognition award
The CEO Award was new this year, created to acknowledge and express appreciation to an individual staff member who in addition to performing their usual duties, has also provided outstanding contributions that have made a significant and positive impact on the trust and who embodies all our STARS values.
Mr Jon Beacham, Headteacher at Dudley Wood Primary School was the deserving winner of this prestigious award.
Afternoon of celebration
The ceremony was a joyous occasion to recognise the unwavering commitment of our staff members. Their dedication ensures that our pupils value education and become lifelong learners as encapsulated in our vision ‘love, learn, live’.
Congratulations to all the award winners! We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who contributes to making Rivers CofE Academy Trust a thriving educational community.
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Operations Manager recognised at National Awards
Thu 14 Dec 2023The National School Awards recognises, celebrates and rewards senior leaders, schools and multi-academy trusts for their dedication and hard work. There were 8 different award categories, each one specifically designed to reward hard workers, innovators and exceptional school leaders across the education sector.
Fyonna Lammas, Operations Manager was a finalist in the School Business Leader of the Year category which celebrates an exceptional school business leader who has radically reinvented the perception of the traditional school business manager within not just their setting but across their local region and is a trailblazer for projecting professionalism. They also show an exceptional ability to deliver excellent resource management, ensuring financial viability whilst still improving pupil outcomes.
It was a huge achievement for Fyonna to be recognised as one of 4 finalists.
Fyonna attended the awards, held at the House of Lords, along with Susanna Taylor, Russell Dalton and over 250 education pioneers. Damian Hinds, Minister of State for Schools from the Department for Education, provided a keynote speech.
Fyonna commented ”It was a wonderful surprise to be nominated and even better to be recognised as a finalist. Going to the House of Lords was an absolute privilege and an evening I'll never forget.”
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Rivers National Thought Leaders
Mon 04 Dec 2023Members of the Rivers Central team joined a wealth of renowned specialist speakers at this year’s Institute of School Business Leaders (ISBL) National Conference.
The conference for the professional body of School Business Leaders looks at the future of education delivery, responding to the current priority topics for leaders, with climate change, sustainability, inclusivity, personnel management, and effective resource management running across all sessions.
Russell Dalton, Fyonna Lammas and Susanna Taylor were guest speakers at this year’s ISBL National Conference.
Susanna presented a finance workshop on financial pooling. Whilst Russell and Fyonna delivered an operational leadership workshop that addressed ‘the elephant in the room’ school mergers/acquisitions.
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UNISON Stars in Our Schools award winner
Fri 01 Dec 2023Tracey Smith, Pre-school practitioner at Cherry Orchard Primary School was selected as one of four winners in the UNISON Worcestershire Branch ‘Stars in Our Schools’ Competition.
The “Stars in Ours Schools” Competition, runs every year and recognises school support staff who are so often the unsung heroes in our schools and play an integral part in the education of children.
Tracey was nominated because “in everything she does she has the children at the heart of it and it is all done to aid their holistic development”.
Tracey has helped build Little Cherries Pre-School into the success that it is today. “She uses her spare time to look for resources for the children and often spends her own money on those resources too. Her commitment to the children is to be commended and even in the most stressful times, Tracey always has a smile on her face. She brightens up everyone’s day.”
UNISON Branch Secretary, Jamie Edwards-Taylor commented “This year’s competition saw some amazing nominations, and it was a very difficult decision our branch team had to make when selecting the winners. However, we were really impressed and moved by the description of your [Tracey’s] nomination.”
Tracey was presented with her award by The Mayor of Worcester, Cllr Louis Stephen at an Awards Ceremony held at The Hive in Worcester.
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Minister for Schools visit to recognise former CEO
Thu 30 Nov 2023Minister of State for Schools, Damian Hinds and Robin Walker MP attended Cherry Orchard Primary School and Northwick Manor Primary School during a visit to recognise our former CEO Kate Brunt’s service to education.
The East Hampshire MP, who was appointed Minister for Schools on 13 November 2023, having previously served in the Ministry of Justice, was keen to visit Kate to acknowledge her commitment to educational excellence and to discuss her many years in teaching and leadership.
Kate’s passion for creating inspiring learning opportunities and improving life chances for all led to the establishment of The Rivers CofE Academy Trust in 2014, which now has 16 good and outstanding primary, first, pre-school and nursery settings together with the Rivers Teaching Alliance.
Kate retired as CEO of the trust in September 2023 and is still actively involved in education, working as a consultant.
During the visit the minister met with year 6 learning ambassadors and visited a y1 phonics lesson at Cherry Orchard. Headteacher Karen Banford said, “It was helpful for a minister to see our school in action and to talk about the current challenges and successes we experience on a day-to-day basis.”
At Northwick Manor, the Minister, Robin Walker and Kate Brunt met with Year 6 pupils and talked about their current topic WW2 before talking about the job of a minister and the Houses of Parliament.
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Pupil collaboration
Fri 24 Nov 2023During the Autumn term, children from our family of schools have had the opportunity to visit one another for a range of activities and to experience other school facilities.
Being part of a trust has several benefits, one of which is the opportunity for schools to collaborate.
Peer networking and enrichment
During a recent visit by Cutnall Green CofE Primary School pupils to Dudley Wood Primary School demonstrated how our pupils have access to greater opportunities, meet peers, and gain a sense of community.
Instead of looking at Worcester as part of the Year 3 Geography curriculum, Year 3 children at Cutnall Green studied Dudley and the Borough of Dudley Wood Primary School.
Cutnall Green children learnt about the physical and human characteristics of Dudley and Dudley Wood. They have contrasted the rural village setting of Cutnall Green with the urban area of Dudley Wood. During lessons Google Earth provided the children with a context of Dudley and the local area – however, technology cannot replace face-to-face, real-life experiences and building relationships, so on Friday 24th November, 26 enthusiastic children from Cutnall Green boarded a coach, incredibly excited to be going to visit Dudley Wood Primary School.
It was a mammoth task, co-ordinating over 80 children, from two different schools on a walk. Cutnall Green children were enthralled to see the physical features in the urban area they’d seen in photos and on Google Earth.
It was delightful to see pupils share knowledge, and they were surprised to learn that they both have the same key question in Geography, as they follow the same curriculum.
Sharing facilities
Year 5 and Year 6 pupils from Cutnall Green had the opportunity to visit North Worcester Primary Academy to spend time with the Year 4 pupils and use the modern Design and Technology room and immersive classroom.
North Worcester is currently in a 'growth stage', having opened in 2019 with two Reception classes. Due to COVID-19, this was the first opportunity for Year 4 pupils from the school to engage with older pupils from other schools.
Extra-curricular activities
North Worcester Primary Academy has hosted the first Rivers Sports Festival.
Year 3 and Year 4 children from Cutnall Green C of E Primary School and Wychbold First & Nursery School joined children from North Worcester to compete in a dodgeball event.
Adam Morgan, PE Lead at North Worcester, is looking forward to organising further sports events for Rivers schools.
Learn with us | The Rivers CofE Multi Academy Trust