Parklands Primary School!

I started the day at Parklands Primary School in Seacroft in East Leeds. This extraordinary little school is achieving some fantastic results for it's diverse, complex and very special population.

I had been invited there by Cath Hindmarch, the head teacher at this great little school, for a special assembly as Chancellor of the Leeds Children's University. The assembly was an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the achievements of children who had attended Children's University after school activities. Children attend activities and their attendance is recorded in their Children's University Passport. Children completing 30 hours of activities receive a bronze certificate. For 60 hours they receive a silver certificate and for 100 hours they receive a gold certificate. I hope to have some pictures of this wonderful assembly to show you later.

The Children's University is a  real success here in Leeds. My colleague Viv Gibbons has brilliantly led this work in the Seacroft and Manston Extended Services cluster in East Leeds where some great schools have been doing outstanding work developing approaches that integrate the Children's University into their curriculum and entended provision. This is a fantastic initiative which builds on the work that has been done with Study Support, Playing for Success and the Breeze initiative in Leeds.  There are now hundreds of young people in Leeds with Children's University Learning Passports which they use to capture their out of school hours learning journeys and learning activities at schools and validated centres like the museums, libraries, study support centres, playing for success centres and other attractions. If you want to find out more about the Children's University you can visit their website at www.childrensuniversity.co.uk/. If you want to know more about Leeds Children's University you can contact Viv Gibbons at gibbonv03@leedslearning.net
Chris