Partnerships and Community Links
Overview
Our partnerships and community links enrich the learning experience of Loxley pupils and the professional development of our staff in so many wonderful ways. They form part of our offer and ethos as set out in “Aiming High Together”. From learning and playing alongside pupils from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds to inter-generational projects to hands on activities to help the local environment, we hope our partnership projects will help the community as much as they help give our pupils deep and tangible learning experiences.
Links with St Patrick’s Catholic Voluntary Academy
In order to help community cohesion and to help us learn more about the lives, culture and experiences of people from different backgrounds, the Year 2 classes from Loxley and our friends at St Patrick’s meet up twice during the year. During our visit to St Patrick’s, children from both schools learn and play together during their cultural festival. When the children from St Patricks travel to Loxley, we have a day in our woodland (Robin Wood) with lots of activities including a campfire. We hope to continue to embed our friendship and collaborative work together.
Links with community groups and businesses in and around Loxley
Links with local community groups at Loxley are many and varied. Much work and learning connects to the statement of intent within “Aiming High Together” for “pupils to become a respected and respectful, valued member of the community.” The photograph above shows our annual Christmas visit to Loxley Park Retirement Village. During the visit, Loxley pupils play musical instruments, sing and tell stories also serving mince pies and drinks to the residents. We have strong links with Bradfield Parish Council. Through our work with them, children have learnt about democracy and have collaborated on projects such as our painting of a local bus shelter. We have many other links such as our project to find out more about ex-servicemen and women buried at Loxley Cemetary. We hope to continue to work with the “Friends of Loxley Cemetary” to tidy up the neglected Commonwealth War Graves Cemetary.
Links with Peak Edge and other local schools
Pupils and staff experience a wide range of transformative links with our friends and colleagues across Peak Edge Multi-Academy Trust. Pupils come together in many sports competitions and festivals which involve every age group and cater for a wide range of interests. Children also collaborate on singing and writing projects too. Headteachers and Deputy Headteachers from the six schools meet regularly to work on strategic matters. There are many other groups too including, our outstanding SENDCO (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinators) group. Several small groups of staff called triads also take part in focussed school visits to share expertise in a tangible way. These visits contribute to school improvement across the Peak Edge Trust. Work with our wider school locality group of schools “Locality G” contributes to a greater understanding of local and national issues and provides many opportunities for Loxley in terms of in-service professional development.
Our Bus Shelter Project
Stephen Bennett, Chair of Bradfield Parish Council came to admire the art work and discuss the project with Miss Torrington and some of the children who helped to paint the bus shelter. Miss Torrington (teaching assistant at Loxley Primary School) has worked with the children to come up with the design. The artwork depicts the view of the rolling countryside that can be seen from the front of the school, across the valley and celebrates the role of the community during the Covid pandemic.
