primary Knowledge - Burnley Brow Primary...

KnowledgeprimaryKristen ITC reg 140pt-30 kerning except last two chars55pt horiz compression allColour, focaltone 3495; 3pt black stroke all9 degree rt tilt all‘P’ lower case, but 21pt above baselineLHS place at margin (10mm)Top edge place at bleed line (3mm beyond A4 edge)

You arewhat you eatDiscovering healthy eating and cooking, page 26

Oldham’s primary education magazine spring-summer 2017

INSIDE:Eating up Spanish - 10

On their balance bikes - 16All talk: choral speaking - 24

Loving a challenge - 32


Primary magazine, spring-summer 2017

KNOWLEDGE PRIMARY is written by: Karen Doherty, Beatriz Ayala and Kay DingsdalePictures: Darren Robinson, Tony Miller, Tim Bradley and Paul SterrittContact [email protected] if you want to talk about content, current or future. Schools: contact Pam Ireson (0161 622 2179, [email protected]) for extra copies. To advertise in this magazine: [email protected]

Expand the cultural curriculumTEACHERS who want to bring les-

sons to life for pupils sometimes for-get they have a great resource on their doorstep.

Gallery Oldham offers a range of art and liter-acy workshops for primary schools, covering everything from comic-strip drawing to print-making, linked to the National Curricu-lum and based on its art, craft social history and natural history collections.The gallery’s new education development of-ficer Kirsty Mairs (pictured above), wants to widen the reach by developing new science sessions too, and is keen to hear from teachers.“I want to find out exactly what they would like us to create for them,” she explained.

Kirsty has joined the gallery from the high-ly-regarded People’s History Museum in Man-chester, where she was learning manager for 13 years. She is also working with Historic England, to bring its Heritage Schools pro-gramme to Oldham. Created in response to a government report on cultural education, the programme helps school children to develop an understanding of their local heritage and how it relates to the national story. Primary school teachers should be able to take part in local history study workshops from September. Kirsty explained: “We are working with His-toric England to give teachers the confidence to use our collections in the classroom.”

Originally from Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, Kirsty did a degree in history and the history of art at Edinburgh followed by a postgraduate course in museum studies at Manchester University before training as a cu-rator and working at Saddleworth Museum and the Tullie House museum and art gallery in Carlisle.She is excited about the opportunities Old-ham’s new heritage and arts centre will offer to schools. Work is underway to transform the Grade II listed library and art galley building next to Gallery Oldham into the centre.“I am delighted to be here and excited about the opportunities coming up,” she said.Contact her at [email protected]

2

Pupil power cleans up litter problem

HORTON Mill Primary School pupils concerned about litter outside their school took their complaint

to the top.And it paid off when their letter to Old-ham’s mayor, Councillor Derek Heffer-nan, resulted in the council installing a new rubbish bin.The Mayor (pictured with pupils) was so impressed by the letter from the Glod-wick school’s Eco Team that he visited to find out more about their work – which has ranged from building houses for hedgehogs to encouraging staff and pupils to save energy, water, paper and food.

The Eco team is made up of pupils led by teacher Maxine Bush and teaching assistant Colette Warrington. Parents are involved too.The pupils told the mayor what they do at a

special assembly at which Councillor Heffernan praised their work – and ex-plained his job, and that picking up lit-ter costs every council in the country lots of money. He promoted recycling as a way of cutting the volume of rub-bish dumped in landfill around the world.“We are dumping litter and it’s wrong,” he said. “We are killing our planet and if it continues your grandchildren will live in a very different world. “I’ve been mad on recycling since I was

your age – a very long time ago! I annoy my children because they don’t recycle as well as I do. I’m thrilled you are helping so much.”


3

Fun andgamesfor allPUPILS with disabilities or additional

needs can miss out on the opportuni-ty to represent their school at sporting events.

But they had the chance to do just that when they had a go at everything from fencing to Thai boxing during Oldham’s annual Ability Roadshow.Children from 35 primary schools took part in events held over four days at Hathershaw Col-lege, New Bridge Special School, Oldham Academy North and Radclyffe School.Organised by Oldham Sports Development team, a total of 250 youngsters attended, most-ly from primary schools. But some older stu-dents, mainly from the host schools and acade-mies, also took part.Other activities included football, curling and running bikes – tricycles designed to support people with cerebral palsy, muscular dystro-phy, Parkinson’s disease and other disabilities that affect mobility and balance, helping them to run and walk. As its name suggests, the focus of the event was on what the children can do – with an ad-ditional aim of pointing them towards fitness and skills-enhancing local sporting clubs.Sport development officer Steve Ferris ex-plained: “Sixty per cent of people with disabili-ties are classed as inactive, so we are trying to show them what sports are out there and what they can do outside school.“And these children won’t usually represent their schools in competition, so this gives them the chance to put on their school kit and repre-sent their school, which is great.”The Ability Roadshow has been running for 11 years and caters for children with a wide range of disabilities and additional needs, including physical and learning disabilities, behavioural problems or emotional problems that can mean they struggle to interact socially. The event was funded this year by Oldham’s Ker-rching Youth Opportunity Fund, which pro-vides leisure activities for people aged 11-25.Steve added: “But even if there was no funding,

we would still try to run it ourselves – because we see the value to the children we work with.”The roadshow also provided volunteering op-portunities for students from Oldham College, New Bridge and Radclyffe, all of whom have trained as sports leaders.Among the attendees were pupils from Green-

hill Academy, with teacher Aminur Rahman.He said: “We always make PE sessions at school as accessible as possible, no matter what the activity is. “The roadshow is opening up the door to oth-er sports and we have had pupils go on to do fencing and sitting-volleyball.”


Paige Haywood (10, in goal), Sports Development Worker Pete Jackson

and Kaleem Nazeer (10 from St Thomas CE School, Werneth,

enjoy a spot of football

GETTING children to listen to advice with-out them thinking they are being lectured or

switching off can be hard.That’s why the pupils themselves taught each other about the dan-gers of the virtual world – and how to avoid them – during Inter-net Safety Day at Alexandra Park Junior School.Two pupils in each class – 24 in all – have been trained as eCadets, part of an award-winning e-safety programme for 3 to 18-year-olds developed by former police officer Henry Platten (see above). “The idea is that children will al-ways talk to each other, so we give them the knowledge and support they need to help their friends and avoid the dangers posed by being online.,” said the school’s computing coordinator, Vanessa Bradley.Year five pupils Amaan Ali and Zanyb Mustaq gave a presenta-tion about a user’s digital foot-

print – the trail of personal data and information we leave when using the internet; a footprint cre-ated when we type emails, upload pictures or use social media that cannot be erased.Pupils are urged never to leave

their full name and address, age, mobile phone number or school detail on the internet and to en-sure that what they are sharing is safe, responsible and respectable. Since these concepts can be diffi-cult for young children to grasp,

pupils learn to always ask an adult if they are ever unsure.“eCadets is a good idea,” said Va-nessa Bradley. “The children enjoy teaching and doing the presentations and like being taught by one of their class-mates. “Most of our children use the in-ternet regularly on phones or lap-tops, so keeping safe and respon-sible on the internet is impor-tant.” During the day, pupils were also shown that on the internet, not everything is necessarily as it seems to be. They also learned how to stay safe if bullied, told not to meet people contacted on the internet without their parents’ permission, never to open or reply to email from strangers, and other safeguards.And to make sure the day was fun and memorable, they also got to dress up as robots!

4


5

Helping to keep kids safe onlineGREATER Manchester

Police is backing a new social media site to help children stay safe on-

line.The minimum age for sites like Facebook is 13 – but as we reported last issue, that doesn’t stop primary school pupils using them. So with nearly four out of five un-der-13s admitting to using social media (according to research by BBC children’s programme News-round), former police sergeant Henry Platten decided to help teachers and parents deal with the growing trend.The founder of the award-winning eCadets online safety education programme has now developed the social media site GoBubble for younger children.Henry, who worked for Cheshire Police, says it allows them to enjoy the best elements of social media with all the bad ones removed, things such as unwanted friend re-

quests, dubious content and the potential for cyber-bullying.A school signs up its pupils – with parental approval – and children can then talk safely to others in their own class, school, or with pu-pils the same age around the world. All posts are auto-matically moderat-ed, ensuring inap-propriate videos, images, text, audio or even emojis are removed before go-ing live. A moderation team also reviews flagged messages.“One of the major dangers of social media is the uncer-tainty over the identity of the per-son you’re chatting with,” said Henry.

“In GoBubble, every child’s age is verified by the school. “This helps to ensure kids can only connect with children of the same age.“We need to accept that our chil-dren love social media and will use it, no matter what the age limit is. My view is don’t ban them – just provide them with a safe alternative that has all the upsides but none of the downsides.”A recent report by Children’s Com-missioner for England Anne Long-field, found children are being left to “fend for themselves” against on-line bullying and grooming, with-out adult advice.She warned they are “roaming free” and learning about the internet on their own – with parents “vainly hoping bad things won’t happen”.The commissioner’s year-long Growing Up Digital study estimat-ed that three to four-year-olds spend an average eight hours and 18 minutes a week online — from

watching films to playing games — while 12 to 15-year-olds use the in-ternet for at least 20 hours a week.But it warned they struggle to un-derstand the “impenetrable” terms and conditions of social media sites and often don’t know how to report bullying, harassment or “sexting”.Greater Manchester Police is sup-porting GoBubble, which has been awarded a PEGI 3 rating – the saf-est age rating awarded by the gov-erning Pan European Gaming In-formation body.Chief constable Ian Hopkins, who is also the national police leader for social media and digital engage-ment, said: “Young people use so-cial media to talk to each other and it’s really important they are able to do so in a safe environment.“Go Bubble is just that: a bubble in which children are given all the fun of social media in complete safety. We look forward to using it to sup-port our education work with un-der 13s.”

A new social media site specially for children is keeping youngsters safe online – while giving them the digital experience they desire

Engagement the right way


You can’t look at that! Noorfatima Hussain

(9) covers the eyes of Asad Abbas (9

Internet robot day: Mohammed Isa (8) had fun dressing up.

Zaara Kouser (9) tells her class-mates what she has discovered about internet safety

Former police officer Henry Platten, founder of

GoBubble

The web and app versions of Go Bubble are free to schools. Outside school, parents and children can use it free on the web or download and useww the app for £3 per year.

GETTING children to listen to advice with-out them thinking they are being lectured or

switching off can be hard.That’s why the pupils themselves taught each other about the dan-gers of the virtual world – and how to avoid them – during Inter-net Safety Day at Alexandra Park Junior School.Two pupils in each class – 24 in all – have been trained as eCadets, part of an award-winning e-safety programme for 3 to 18-year-olds developed by former police officer Henry Platten (see above). “The idea is that children will al-ways talk to each other, so we give them the knowledge and support they need to help their friends and avoid the dangers posed by being online.,” said the school’s computing coordinator, Vanessa Bradley.Year five pupils Amaan Ali and Zanyb Mustaq gave a presenta-tion about a user’s digital foot-

print – the trail of personal data and information we leave when using the internet; a footprint cre-ated when we type emails, upload pictures or use social media that cannot be erased.Pupils are urged never to leave

their full name and address, age, mobile phone number or school detail on the internet and to en-sure that what they are sharing is safe, responsible and respectable. Since these concepts can be diffi-cult for young children to grasp,

pupils learn to always ask an adult if they are ever unsure.“eCadets is a good idea,” said Va-nessa Bradley. “The children enjoy teaching and doing the presentations and like being taught by one of their class-mates. “Most of our children use the in-ternet regularly on phones or lap-tops, so keeping safe and respon-sible on the internet is impor-tant.” During the day, pupils were also shown that on the internet, not everything is necessarily as it seems to be. They also learned how to stay safe if bullied, told not to meet people contacted on the internet without their parents’ permission, never to open or reply to email from strangers, and other safeguards.And to make sure the day was fun and memorable, they also got to dress up as robots!

4


5

Helping to keep kids safe onlineGREATER Manchester

Police is backing a new social media site to help children stay safe on-

line.The minimum age for sites like Facebook is 13 – but as we reported last issue, that doesn’t stop primary school pupils using them. So with nearly four out of five un-der-13s admitting to using social media (according to research by BBC children’s programme News-round), former police sergeant Henry Platten decided to help teachers and parents deal with the growing trend.The founder of the award-winning eCadets online safety education programme has now developed the social media site GoBubble for younger children.Henry, who worked for Cheshire Police, says it allows them to enjoy the best elements of social media with all the bad ones removed, things such as unwanted friend re-

quests, dubious content and the potential for cyber-bullying.A school signs up its pupils – with parental approval – and children can then talk safely to others in their own class, school, or with pu-pils the same age around the world. All posts are auto-matically moderat-ed, ensuring inap-propriate videos, images, text, audio or even emojis are removed before go-ing live. A moderation team also reviews flagged messages.“One of the major dangers of social media is the uncer-tainty over the identity of the per-son you’re chatting with,” said Henry.

“In GoBubble, every child’s age is verified by the school. “This helps to ensure kids can only connect with children of the same age.“We need to accept that our chil-dren love social media and will use it, no matter what the age limit is. My view is don’t ban them – just provide them with a safe alternative that has all the upsides but none of the downsides.”A recent report by Children’s Com-missioner for England Anne Long-field, found children are being left to “fend for themselves” against on-line bullying and grooming, with-out adult advice.She warned they are “roaming free” and learning about the internet on their own – with parents “vainly hoping bad things won’t happen”.The commissioner’s year-long Growing Up Digital study estimat-ed that three to four-year-olds spend an average eight hours and 18 minutes a week online — from

watching films to playing games — while 12 to 15-year-olds use the in-ternet for at least 20 hours a week.But it warned they struggle to un-derstand the “impenetrable” terms and conditions of social media sites and often don’t know how to report bullying, harassment or “sexting”.Greater Manchester Police is sup-porting GoBubble, which has been awarded a PEGI 3 rating – the saf-est age rating awarded by the gov-erning Pan European Gaming In-formation body.Chief constable Ian Hopkins, who is also the national police leader for social media and digital engage-ment, said: “Young people use so-cial media to talk to each other and it’s really important they are able to do so in a safe environment.“Go Bubble is just that: a bubble in which children are given all the fun of social media in complete safety. We look forward to using it to sup-port our education work with un-der 13s.”

A new social media site specially for children is keeping youngsters safe online – while giving them the digital experience they desire

Engagement the right way


You can’t look at that! Noorfatima Hussain

(9) covers the eyes of Asad Abbas (9

Internet robot day: Mohammed Isa (8) had fun dressing up.

Zaara Kouser (9) tells her class-mates what she has discovered about internet safety

Former police officer Henry Platten, founder of

GoBubble

The web and app versions of Go Bubble are free to schools. Outside school, parents and children can use it free on the web or download and useww the app for £3 per year.

KnowledgeprimaryKristen ITC reg 140pt-30 kerning except last two chars55pt horiz compression allColour, focaltone 3495; 3pt black stroke all9 degree rt tilt all‘P’ lower case, but 21pt above baselineLHS place at margin (10mm)Top edge place at bleed line (3mm beyond A4 edge) 6


Premium benefitsLOVE it or loathe it, the humble school

dinner can boost brainpower and fuel flagging attention.But they have a second purpose in

some schools: parents who sign up for free school meals could bring their children’s schools thousands of pounds in extra funding.Alexandra Park Junior School, for example, re-ceived a £162,000 budget boost on behalf of eli-gible pupils this year.Business manager Fiona Liddy explains: “Many of our pupils eligible for free school meals are also eligible for Pupil Premium, extra govern-ment funding equating to £1,320 per child per academic year.”Though the parents and schools apply jointly for the premium, the school gets the money - which must then be used to benefit the chil-dren.“But parents who have applied for free school dinners may not think about applying for Pupil Premium too,” added Fiona. “They might think they don’t qualify, or it’s too difficult to fill out the forms, or maybe they just haven’t thought about it. We want them just to apply. We can help them to fill out the forms.” At her school almost a third of the 358 pupils were eligible for Pupil Premium this year, the resulting money bringing with it extra activities and additional resources – class tech such as iPads and electronic white boards, subsidised school trips and free extra-curricular clubs, personal tutoring, teaching assistants and bilin-gual staff, counsellors and special needs workers.Fiona is convinced many more children could

be eligible, because the school is in one of the country’s most deprived wards.“One of the problems is that eligibility shifts all the time with changes to legislation and bene-fits – such as working tax credit – we might not know about.“At our school, we go through the application process with parents. Even if they aren’t suc-cessful, our computer system will notify us when they do become eligible, so they don’t need to keep filling out forms.”Pupil Premium funding is often spent across the school as a whole, so its impact on learning can’t be underestimated.“I often see an immediate effect on pupils,” Fiona said. “We brought in Commando Joes (a DfE-approved school ‘boot camp’), to work on behaviour and get the children excited about learning. The impact was immediate: the Com-mando Joe people were great role models.“If you can engage with pupils from the outset and they enjoy learning and understand behav-

iour, consequences and expectations, they’ve got that for life.“Another thing we spent money on was coun-selling. “A lot of our students have quite complex home lives and school is their sanctuary; a place they can be themselves and also offload everything going on at home.“The counselling helps them understand them-selves and what is expected of them in school. They quickly become totally different.”Fiona added: “Pupil premium helps to give pu-pils what they can’t get or don’t necessarily have at home, such as residential stays, one-to-one tuition and so on.“Parents need to understand that Pupil Premi-um is about giving students a wider life experi-ence as well as learning. Without it we would be asking parents to pay for resources and activi-ties all the time.“That’s why its important for all parents to ap-ply, there’s nothing to lose, everything to gain.”

So what is the Pupil Premium?Pupil Premium is additional funding for English state-funded schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities.Schools are free to spend the money as they wish, but must aim to narrow the gap between these pupils and their peers. Some schools employ more teaching assis-tants, provide activities and clubs, subsidise educational trips, buy new equipment and fund counsellors and support workers. Local authority-maintained schools must publish their pupil-premium money strat-egy on their website.

Faizan Bashir, Keyaan Suleman and Sahnia Ejaz make their lunchtime choices



7

What’re you looking at?PUPILS across the country have

been proving that traditional hobbies, the great outdoors and modern kids do mix – and can

be a lot of fun too.Around 100,000 of them took part in this years’ Big School’s Birdwatch, which helps them to discover more about the wildlife around them while providing an insight into the species thriving and declining.Organised by the RSPB, 11 pupils at St Thomas’ Leesfield CE Primary School were among those who spent an hour counting the numbers and types of birds visiting the school grounds, local parks and – in their case – an allotment.Children from reception class through to year six are members of the school’s Gar-den Gang after-school club, which has met at the school’s allotment in Philli-more Street since 2008.Parent helper and former teacher at the school, Karen Jakeman, runs the club: “Parents and staff lent us binoculars and the pupils were good at spotting the birds,” she said, “though at first they didn’t al-ways know

what species they were looking at. But they all knew the robin – he’s a regular at the allotment – and the blackbirds.”But the children proved quick learners, identifying blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits and even a song thrush during the hour.“I’ve been a bird watcher since I was their age, so it was really nice to see them learning to identify the birds and getting excited,” added Karen whose own interest was sparked by a teacher.“The children enjoyed themselves so much, they want to make a feeding station.”The project was the schools version of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ Big Garden Birdwatch – the world’s big-gest garden wildlife survey, which charts

the changing numbers and types of birds in our gardens.The RSPB is also concerned that chil-dren’s contact with wildlife and the natu-ral world is decreasing. Rebecca Kerfoot, the charity’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch coordinator, suggest-ed: “This is linked to poorer physical and mental health, so we want to provide young people with as many opportunities as possible to enjoy and understand wild-life – and have fun.“We hope the excitement and anticipa-tion of their bird life encounter will in-spire them to get out and experience more of the natural world around them.”For Karen the exercise also had a wider purpose – to persuade more children to put down their tablets and smartphones.

“With all the technology today, it’s re-ally important we get kids outdoors. Our school generally is very well rounded. I’m always getting asked by teachers if they can come down to the allotment with the pupils, because they are doing topics such

as bugs. “It’s great, but not all chil-

dren in all schools do that.”

Ten-year-old Ella Flynn gets down to the business of bird-spotting

WHETHER they are climbing, building rafts or taking on a zip wire challenge, primary school children across Oldham contin-

ue to benefit from the many opportunities pro-vided by outdoor education centres. Castleshaw Centre in Delph, which opened over a century ago, worked with 74 Oldham prima-ries last year, as well as others from Rochdale and Tameside, providing day visits and residen-tial stays as well as varied outdoor activities, And at the nearby Robinwood Activity Centre in Todmorden three centres provide three-day, res-idential courses for seven to 11-year-olds groups and 15 activities that challenge, develop team work and stimulate imagination. Castleshaw manager Dave Faulconbridge said: “Most of our standard days are focused on geog-raphy, history, science, maths, PSHE and PE. Once a school has booked in we contact the class teacher to discuss options and design a pro-gramme for the class. “We work with all year groups from reception upwards, but the majority of pri-mary school bookings are for ages seven to 11 – key stage 2.“We provide activities with an em-phasis on fun, adventure, personal development or curriculum learn-ing, depending on what the school wants. “Our aim is to involve young peo-ple in enjoyable, positive activities designed to inspire confidence and creativity, build resilience and de-termination and emotional wellbe-ing – and to encourage them to lead healthier lifestyles. “We offer high quality learning outside the classroom that gives young people the chance to experi-ence the countryside. Our pro-grammes improve confidence, self-esteem and motivation through team work and shared experience. “We also support public health aims, by introducing young people to a wide range of active pursuits such as walking, orienteering, hill walking, canoeing, rock climbing and so on.”

Both Castleshaw – which is run by Oldham Council – and Robinwood are holders of a Learning Outside the Classroom quality badge – a nationally recognised indicator of quality.Last year 44,000 children visited Robinwood, which offers climbing, archery, zip wire, canoe-ing, trapeze, giant swing, crate challenge and a “piranha” pool. “We pay particular attention to using activities for positive development,” said schools liaison manager, Ross East.“The school tells us its requirements before com-ing and we can focus its course on things such as teamwork, confidence and so on. We’re frequent-ly told by teachers about the huge positive differ-ence Robinwood makes in the development of the children and the group as a whole. “Children also learn new skills, gain self-confi-dence and independence, develop their social skills and learn to appreciate the countryside.” Peter Moore, who is head teacher at Oldham’s St Edward’s RC Primary School in Lees, said: “We visit both centres each year and the children love

them. Both provide a vi-tal role in helping the children to develop con-fidence, team skills and ad-venture.“The children experience activities we aren’t able to provide at school, such as climbing, abseiling, caving, canoeing, raft building and the zip wire. We of-ten see a different side to the children away from school. “They go outside their comfort zone, and for some it’s their first time away from home – the

first time they make their own bed or pack their own kit. It helps them to develop their own inde-pendence, and through the experience and activ-ities they rely more on their classmates and look after each other. “Education is about providing memorable expe-

riences and the days at Robinwood and Cas-tleshaw always feature when children think back about what they most enjoyed about their pri-mary years.”Castleshaw has lots of letters of appreciation from teachers who have taken children there.

Some write of the children’s enjoyment at just being out of doors, while one said it was “lovely to see the children shining at different things and overcoming their fears.” Many promise they will return – and fulfil the promise many times.

8

Wet, wetter and wettest...Sometimes it’s a way to build confidence and teamwork, sometimes it’s just a way to get wet and muddy outdoors without anyone complaining. Local schools love the outdoor centres at Castleshaw and Robinwood, Todmorden

9


Top: A pupil from St Ed-ward’s RC pri-mary emerges from a tunnel at Robinwood.Left: Children from Broadfield Primary have Viking fun at Castleshaw.Top right: trying their hand – though not lit-erally – in the Robinwood “piranha” pool. Bottom right: canoeing at Castleshaw for girls from Burnley Brow school.


WHETHER they are climbing, building rafts or taking on a zip wire challenge, primary school children across Oldham contin-

ue to benefit from the many opportunities pro-vided by outdoor education centres. Castleshaw Centre in Delph, which opened over a century ago, worked with 74 Oldham prima-ries last year, as well as others from Rochdale and Tameside, providing day visits and residen-tial stays as well as varied outdoor activities, And at the nearby Robinwood Activity Centre in Todmorden three centres provide three-day, res-idential courses for seven to 11-year-olds groups and 15 activities that challenge, develop team work and stimulate imagination. Castleshaw manager Dave Faulconbridge said: “Most of our standard days are focused on geog-raphy, history, science, maths, PSHE and PE. Once a school has booked in we contact the class teacher to discuss options and design a pro-gramme for the class. “We work with all year groups from reception upwards, but the majority of pri-mary school bookings are for ages seven to 11 – key stage 2.“We provide activities with an em-phasis on fun, adventure, personal development or curriculum learn-ing, depending on what the school wants. “Our aim is to involve young peo-ple in enjoyable, positive activities designed to inspire confidence and creativity, build resilience and de-termination and emotional wellbe-ing – and to encourage them to lead healthier lifestyles. “We offer high quality learning outside the classroom that gives young people the chance to experi-ence the countryside. Our pro-grammes improve confidence, self-esteem and motivation through team work and shared experience. “We also support public health aims, by introducing young people to a wide range of active pursuits such as walking, orienteering, hill walking, canoeing, rock climbing and so on.”

Both Castleshaw – which is run by Oldham Council – and Robinwood are holders of a Learning Outside the Classroom quality badge – a nationally recognised indicator of quality.Last year 44,000 children visited Robinwood, which offers climbing, archery, zip wire, canoe-ing, trapeze, giant swing, crate challenge and a “piranha” pool. “We pay particular attention to using activities for positive development,” said schools liaison manager, Ross East.“The school tells us its requirements before com-ing and we can focus its course on things such as teamwork, confidence and so on. We’re frequent-ly told by teachers about the huge positive differ-ence Robinwood makes in the development of the children and the group as a whole. “Children also learn new skills, gain self-confi-dence and independence, develop their social skills and learn to appreciate the countryside.” Peter Moore, who is head teacher at Oldham’s St Edward’s RC Primary School in Lees, said: “We visit both centres each year and the children love

them. Both provide a vi-tal role in helping the children to develop con-fidence, team skills and ad-venture.“The children experience activities we aren’t able to provide at school, such as climbing, abseiling, caving, canoeing, raft building and the zip wire. We of-ten see a different side to the children away from school. “They go outside their comfort zone, and for some it’s their first time away from home – the

first time they make their own bed or pack their own kit. It helps them to develop their own inde-pendence, and through the experience and activ-ities they rely more on their classmates and look after each other. “Education is about providing memorable expe-

riences and the days at Robinwood and Cas-tleshaw always feature when children think back about what they most enjoyed about their pri-mary years.”Castleshaw has lots of letters of appreciation from teachers who have taken children there.

Some write of the children’s enjoyment at just being out of doors, while one said it was “lovely to see the children shining at different things and overcoming their fears.” Many promise they will return – and fulfil the promise many times.

8

Wet, wetter and wettest...Sometimes it’s a way to build confidence and teamwork, sometimes it’s just a way to get wet and muddy outdoors without anyone complaining. Local schools love the outdoor centres at Castleshaw and Robinwood, Todmorden

9


Top: A pupil from St Ed-ward’s RC pri-mary emerges from a tunnel at Robinwood.Left: Children from Broadfield Primary have Viking fun at Castleshaw.Top right: trying their hand – though not lit-erally – in the Robinwood “piranha” pool. Bottom right: canoeing at Castleshaw for girls from Burnley Brow school.


10

Primary magazine, spring-summer 2017 Primary magazine, spring-summer 2017

11

CHILDREN from St Hilda’s CE School in Coldhurst have been learning about languages from around the world. The school’s week long focus on language included a Spanish day, as you can see from these pictures. Spanish is a language taught in the school.

Pupils wore the country’s national colours, red and yellow. The girls put on Flamenco-style dresses while the boys were smartly dressed in suits. During the day pupils from the nursery upwards were taught basic Flamenco steps by dancer Allie Herrmann of Preston-based Flamenco UK. In prepara-tion the children made Flamenco fans and flowers for their hair, while others explored Spanish cooking and tried making salsa and Spanish omelettes.Food from around the world was served each lunchtime during the special week by school catering staff – everything from Kenyan bean and chicken stew, to pizza Margherita, hoi sin beef and chicken fajitas. Year six pupils got to grips with basic Japanese while the school’s nursery chil-dren made international flags and learned Spanish numbers and colours. Another day concentrated on stories from around the world, and parents were invited in to read to their children’s classes. A total of 17 different languages are spoken among staff, pupils and parents and books brought in for reading included Romanian and Swazi texts.Teacher Elizabeth Fletcher, who takes charge of languages at the school and organised the week, said: “Our parents are great. They read the books and were keen to share their stories from their own cultures with the children.”Youngsters in years three to six learned a song to sing in a concert on the final day of the week. Also featured were workshops in Japanese, German, French and Spanish to help staff to boost their own skills. Head teacher Gill Pursey said the week had gone very well: “We do themed weeks each term to promote curriculum breadth and balance and the founda-tion subjects are rotated so each has a turn. We’ve had modern foreign lan-guage weeks in the past and in November we had an RE focus week. We’re having a big push on food technology in school now because of the focus on healthy eating – and our salsa and Spanish omelette-making class helped to get that going.”

Languages have been on the menu at St Hilda’s CE School – and Spanish omelette has been pretty popular too!

Eating up SpanishSpanish omelette anyone? (l-r) Sadia Ahmed, Zainab Hussain and Tahia Akther.

Flamenco dance instructor Allie Herrmann

Spanish beauties: pupils Rabia Rahman (left) and Snehah Rahman (no relation).

Ready to dance: the school’s year five pupils try their feet at flamenco

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CHILDREN from St Hilda’s CE School in Coldhurst have been learning about languages from around the world. The school’s week long focus on language included a Spanish day, as you can see from these pictures. Spanish is a language taught in the school.

Pupils wore the country’s national colours, red and yellow. The girls put on Flamenco-style dresses while the boys were smartly dressed in suits. During the day pupils from the nursery upwards were taught basic Flamenco steps by dancer Allie Herrmann of Preston-based Flamenco UK. In prepara-tion the children made Flamenco fans and flowers for their hair, while others explored Spanish cooking and tried making salsa and Spanish omelettes.Food from around the world was served each lunchtime during the special week by school catering staff – everything from Kenyan bean and chicken stew, to pizza Margherita, hoi sin beef and chicken fajitas. Year six pupils got to grips with basic Japanese while the school’s nursery chil-dren made international flags and learned Spanish numbers and colours. Another day concentrated on stories from around the world, and parents were invited in to read to their children’s classes. A total of 17 different languages are spoken among staff, pupils and parents and books brought in for reading included Romanian and Swazi texts.Teacher Elizabeth Fletcher, who takes charge of languages at the school and organised the week, said: “Our parents are great. They read the books and were keen to share their stories from their own cultures with the children.”Youngsters in years three to six learned a song to sing in a concert on the final day of the week. Also featured were workshops in Japanese, German, French and Spanish to help staff to boost their own skills. Head teacher Gill Pursey said the week had gone very well: “We do themed weeks each term to promote curriculum breadth and balance and the founda-tion subjects are rotated so each has a turn. We’ve had modern foreign lan-guage weeks in the past and in November we had an RE focus week. We’re having a big push on food technology in school now because of the focus on healthy eating – and our salsa and Spanish omelette-making class helped to get that going.”

Languages have been on the menu at St Hilda’s CE School – and Spanish omelette has been pretty popular too!

Eating up SpanishSpanish omelette anyone? (l-r) Sadia Ahmed, Zainab Hussain and Tahia Akther.

Flamenco dance instructor Allie Herrmann

Spanish beauties: pupils Rabia Rahman (left) and Snehah Rahman (no relation).

Ready to dance: the school’s year five pupils try their feet at flamenco

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13

An Odyssey of their ownTWO pupils from Delph

Primary School stole the show when they spoke at a House of Commons event

about work to fight hate crime and promote integration.Ten year olds Harry Bates and Alice Brooks (pictured right), were invited to take part because the school is in-volved with the Heartstone Project, which sets out to make storytelling and dance accessible across cultural divides. The project uses the fantasy book The Heartstone Odyssey (see below), which deals with racism, xenophobia and intolerance, to prompt discussion among children.Teacher Paul Britner was originally asked to speak at the event, but want-ed his pupils to take part too.Harry told the audience about the work they had done in school: “We were shocked to discover some peo-ple believe the colour of your skin can make one person worth less than another.

“We all agreed to challenge this view and began by sharing positive state-ments about diversity, respect, equali-ty and inclusion. “We spoke about our values and then thought about what makes our school such a special place.”Paul said: “They were absolutely amazing and stole the show. They read so clearly and confidently. “There were tears in the audience when Alice read the class’s version of the poem If, by Rudyard Kipling (see left). “Everyone wanted to talk to them af-terwards; MPs and people from dif-ferent panels came up to them.“Listening to class discussions has been brilliant, and my pupils made it clear they all believe diversity should be celebrated and all people should be treated equally.”When Paul addressed the audience he told of being asked at the age of 15 to speak about something that mat-tered to him and he chose racism. He said he believed racist attitudes and

beliefs were born of ignorance. He said: “I honestly had no idea what to expect from the Heartstone Project when my class initially had the op-portunity to get involved. “I attended the initial session and collected a set of wonderful books and resources to share with my pu-pils, along with contact details in case we hit any problems or needed more information to get our own project going. “In fact our project has grown organ-ically as we have progressed through the story.”Of his day at the House of Commons he added: “It was exciting and an emotional thing as well for me. But the pupils were incredible. Me and head teacher Alison Leigh, who also attended, couldn’t have been more proud of them. “It was a truly great day and we were proud to represent our school and our borough at such an important event about tolerance, respect and tackling hate crime.”

THE Heartstone Odyssey by “Ar-van Kumar” – the pen name of Scot-

tish photographer Nick Si-dle – deals with the issue of racism in a serious but magical way, so young read-ers aren’t alienated by it. The book came about while

Nick was travelling from Mumbai to Chennai in southern India. To entertain fellow passen-gers during the three day trip, the author – whose pen name means “Mr Horse Messenger of the Moon” told a story that spanned 250 years and touched on

deep and sensitive elements of the relationship between India and Britain.The story was intended for children but has moved many adults, opening up experiences that some had never found a way to talk about before. The book has sold more

than 90,000 copies since it was first published here in the UK, though it is also very popular in the USA, Germany, France and Australia. Plans were also announced, a couple of years ago, to turn the story into a major movie.

If you can be honest even when it would be easier to lieAnd brave while you are guided along the way

If you work as a team when on the road to great-nessThen respect all other people you will be respect-ed in return;If loyalty is a value that you offer to othersIf you are honest to your friends they will believe in honesty tooYou will be a role model to all those around youAnd you will make the world a better place.If cheating others is something you do, you only really cheat yourselfIf you lack respect for others then the outcome is the sameIf you find truth deep down in your heart

And believe because we are all different, not one person the same; Then that makes no one ordinary, all difference celebratedIf everybody was the same the World would be grey, confusingIf kindness is given then it will always be returnedWe can make the world a better place.If you can turn your back on racism and instead speak words of hopeIf you believe that we are all equal, that no one matters moreIf we make this promise together, and follow the promise throughIf we all hold hands around the World, all colour and faith as oneIf prejudice could be left behind and kindness be the way

THE CHILDREN’S VERSION OF ‘IF’


Harry and Alice outside the House of Commons

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13

An Odyssey of their ownTWO pupils from Delph

Primary School stole the show when they spoke at a House of Commons event

about work to fight hate crime and promote integration.Ten year olds Harry Bates and Alice Brooks (pictured right), were invited to take part because the school is in-volved with the Heartstone Project, which sets out to make storytelling and dance accessible across cultural divides. The project uses the fantasy book The Heartstone Odyssey (see below), which deals with racism, xenophobia and intolerance, to prompt discussion among children.Teacher Paul Britner was originally asked to speak at the event, but want-ed his pupils to take part too.Harry told the audience about the work they had done in school: “We were shocked to discover some peo-ple believe the colour of your skin can make one person worth less than another.

“We all agreed to challenge this view and began by sharing positive state-ments about diversity, respect, equali-ty and inclusion. “We spoke about our values and then thought about what makes our school such a special place.”Paul said: “They were absolutely amazing and stole the show. They read so clearly and confidently. “There were tears in the audience when Alice read the class’s version of the poem If, by Rudyard Kipling (see left). “Everyone wanted to talk to them af-terwards; MPs and people from dif-ferent panels came up to them.“Listening to class discussions has been brilliant, and my pupils made it clear they all believe diversity should be celebrated and all people should be treated equally.”When Paul addressed the audience he told of being asked at the age of 15 to speak about something that mat-tered to him and he chose racism. He said he believed racist attitudes and

beliefs were born of ignorance. He said: “I honestly had no idea what to expect from the Heartstone Project when my class initially had the op-portunity to get involved. “I attended the initial session and collected a set of wonderful books and resources to share with my pu-pils, along with contact details in case we hit any problems or needed more information to get our own project going. “In fact our project has grown organ-ically as we have progressed through the story.”Of his day at the House of Commons he added: “It was exciting and an emotional thing as well for me. But the pupils were incredible. Me and head teacher Alison Leigh, who also attended, couldn’t have been more proud of them. “It was a truly great day and we were proud to represent our school and our borough at such an important event about tolerance, respect and tackling hate crime.”

THE Heartstone Odyssey by “Ar-van Kumar” – the pen name of Scot-

tish photographer Nick Si-dle – deals with the issue of racism in a serious but magical way, so young read-ers aren’t alienated by it. The book came about while

Nick was travelling from Mumbai to Chennai in southern India. To entertain fellow passen-gers during the three day trip, the author – whose pen name means “Mr Horse Messenger of the Moon” told a story that spanned 250 years and touched on

deep and sensitive elements of the relationship between India and Britain.The story was intended for children but has moved many adults, opening up experiences that some had never found a way to talk about before. The book has sold more

than 90,000 copies since it was first published here in the UK, though it is also very popular in the USA, Germany, France and Australia. Plans were also announced, a couple of years ago, to turn the story into a major movie.

If you can be honest even when it would be easier to lieAnd brave while you are guided along the way

If you work as a team when on the road to great-nessThen respect all other people you will be respect-ed in return;If loyalty is a value that you offer to othersIf you are honest to your friends they will believe in honesty tooYou will be a role model to all those around youAnd you will make the world a better place.If cheating others is something you do, you only really cheat yourselfIf you lack respect for others then the outcome is the sameIf you find truth deep down in your heart

And believe because we are all different, not one person the same; Then that makes no one ordinary, all difference celebratedIf everybody was the same the World would be grey, confusingIf kindness is given then it will always be returnedWe can make the world a better place.If you can turn your back on racism and instead speak words of hopeIf you believe that we are all equal, that no one matters moreIf we make this promise together, and follow the promise throughIf we all hold hands around the World, all colour and faith as oneIf prejudice could be left behind and kindness be the way

THE CHILDREN’S VERSION OF ‘IF’


Harry and Alice outside the House of Commons

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Sing up,sing outThe Halle Choir comes to Diggle Primary and the result is much-improved singing and performance

DIGGLE Primary School choir members are singing at the tops of their voices thanks to a new training

programme with one of the oldest and most prestigious orchestras in the UK, Manchester’s Hallé.Kate Wilson, the choir leader and mu-sic coordinator at the school, is one of only 10 choir leaders across the North West – and the only one from Oldham – selected to take part in a special pro-ject, Leading School Choirs.The scheme runs until June and will teach choir leaders new skills and ideas to improve their choirs, as well as giv-ing children access to high-quality music making.Run by leading children’s choir special-ist Shirley Court, the programme aims to improve choral singing in schools and give staff the skills to teach sing-ing to a high level.Year five teacher Kate graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with a music degree won prin-cipally for her trombone-playing skills.Only recently has she taken over the full running of the school choir.She said: “I used to sing in choirs for Oldham Music Centre, but running a choir is all new to me.“The sessions at the Hallé have been helping me greatly; they have really opened my eyes about the improve-ments we can make.”Sessions have focused on warm-up techniques, improving posture to pro-duce a better sound, learning to shape the mouth correctly, and how to use eyes and even eyebrows to tell a story.Video footage of each choir is used to examine ways of improving technique and to create a more professional look-ing (and sounding) choir.Childen have also worked directly with

Shirley at a special masterclass.As well as learning new skills, the choir is learning to perform newly-commis-sioned works, and will take part in a celebration performance at Hallé St Pe-ter’s (the deconsecrated church in An-coats used for special events and con-certs) in June.Kate said: “There are things I am learn-ing that I’ve never even thought about.“Not only will the children improve their singing but also their perfor-mance skills and ability to work with other schools – plus they get to work with Shirley, which is an incredible ex-perience. It’s hard work, especially after a full day in school, but its worth every second.”

Diggle Primary School choir members rehearse (all pictures) with choir leader Kate Wilson.

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15

Sing up,sing outThe Halle Choir comes to Diggle Primary and the result is much-improved singing and performance

DIGGLE Primary School choir members are singing at the tops of their voices thanks to a new training

programme with one of the oldest and most prestigious orchestras in the UK, Manchester’s Hallé.Kate Wilson, the choir leader and mu-sic coordinator at the school, is one of only 10 choir leaders across the North West – and the only one from Oldham – selected to take part in a special pro-ject, Leading School Choirs.The scheme runs until June and will teach choir leaders new skills and ideas to improve their choirs, as well as giv-ing children access to high-quality music making.Run by leading children’s choir special-ist Shirley Court, the programme aims to improve choral singing in schools and give staff the skills to teach sing-ing to a high level.Year five teacher Kate graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with a music degree won prin-cipally for her trombone-playing skills.Only recently has she taken over the full running of the school choir.She said: “I used to sing in choirs for Oldham Music Centre, but running a choir is all new to me.“The sessions at the Hallé have been helping me greatly; they have really opened my eyes about the improve-ments we can make.”Sessions have focused on warm-up techniques, improving posture to pro-duce a better sound, learning to shape the mouth correctly, and how to use eyes and even eyebrows to tell a story.Video footage of each choir is used to examine ways of improving technique and to create a more professional look-ing (and sounding) choir.Childen have also worked directly with

Shirley at a special masterclass.As well as learning new skills, the choir is learning to perform newly-commis-sioned works, and will take part in a celebration performance at Hallé St Pe-ter’s (the deconsecrated church in An-coats used for special events and con-certs) in June.Kate said: “There are things I am learn-ing that I’ve never even thought about.“Not only will the children improve their singing but also their perfor-mance skills and ability to work with other schools – plus they get to work with Shirley, which is an incredible ex-perience. It’s hard work, especially after a full day in school, but its worth every second.”

Diggle Primary School choir members rehearse (all pictures) with choir leader Kate Wilson.

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On their balance bikes!HELMETS at the ready and feet off

the pedals!Actually there aren’t any pedals to put your feet on anyway. Four and

five year olds at Clarksfield Primary School are some of the first in the borough to take part in a new Bikeability Balance scheme, which uses balance bikes instead of traditional pedal pow-er.Pedal-less balance bikes were created to provide an easy step-up for children learning to ride a bike. They allow the child to walk or run, and more importantly learn to balance, without the need for stabilisers (since the feet are potential-ly on the ground the whole time). There isn’t the sense of being moments from falling that comes from an ordinary bike.Reception class pupils learned about safety, control, balance and coordination during their four half-hour lessons, in which they used the balance bikes to push and weave around the playground, obstacles and each other!

The national scheme is being offered to all of the borough’s primaries through the Oldham Schools Sports Partnership and has been hugely successful: sessions are fully booked for the ac-ademic year. Abid Hussain, the school’s sports and commu-nity leader, said: “We run the Bikeability scheme for older pupils anyway, so jumped at the chance to have this for our reception chil-dren.“Not only do they learn about wearing a helmet when riding, and the rules of the road, but it improves their confidence and ability on a bike.“They also have to listen and follow instruc-tions, and it’s great physical activity for them. “Some children are used to being on a bike but for others it’s their first time.

“Getting them on a balance bike when they are young means they learn to ride while still at school.“They might even make a career out of cycling in the future; you never know!” Tim Liptrot, Schools Games Organiser, suggests the scheme for younger pupils is about more than just learning to cycle.He said: “A lot learn to ride a bike at home with stabi-lisers, but that doesn’t help

them to learn to balance. Evidence suggests the cut-off point for a child to develop skills such as throwing, catching, running, balancing, is age seven – after which it becomes more diffi-cult for them to do, because the child develops a fear.“You hope that at the end of the fourth session, once a child can push along easily on a balance bike, they’ve got that skill for life. Even if they don’t get on a bike again until their teens or lat-er, riding will still be second nature.”n Oldham Council’s road safety team has long run the De-partment for Transport- funded Bikeabil-ity cycling train-ing programme for older primary school pupils. These take place in the playground or, under supervision, on the road. It also offers training for secondary students who want to cycle to school; bicycle mainte-nance sessions, and custom sessions as part of PE lessons. The introduction of Bikeabaility Balance means around 1,600 local children will be in-volved each year.

You don’t need pedals to learn to ride a bike, as these Clarksfield Primary School children have found

Oldham school games organiser Tim Liptrot (right) with the youngsters.Below: four-year-old Mo-hammed Hus-sain Iqbal with sports leader Abid Hussain.Over the page: even on a pale, cold af-ternoon, balance-biking is fun...

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17

On their balance bikes!HELMETS at the ready and feet off

the pedals!Actually there aren’t any pedals to put your feet on anyway. Four and

five year olds at Clarksfield Primary School are some of the first in the borough to take part in a new Bikeability Balance scheme, which uses balance bikes instead of traditional pedal pow-er.Pedal-less balance bikes were created to provide an easy step-up for children learning to ride a bike. They allow the child to walk or run, and more importantly learn to balance, without the need for stabilisers (since the feet are potential-ly on the ground the whole time). There isn’t the sense of being moments from falling that comes from an ordinary bike.Reception class pupils learned about safety, control, balance and coordination during their four half-hour lessons, in which they used the balance bikes to push and weave around the playground, obstacles and each other!

The national scheme is being offered to all of the borough’s primaries through the Oldham Schools Sports Partnership and has been hugely successful: sessions are fully booked for the ac-ademic year. Abid Hussain, the school’s sports and commu-nity leader, said: “We run the Bikeability scheme for older pupils anyway, so jumped at the chance to have this for our reception chil-dren.“Not only do they learn about wearing a helmet when riding, and the rules of the road, but it improves their confidence and ability on a bike.“They also have to listen and follow instruc-tions, and it’s great physical activity for them. “Some children are used to being on a bike but for others it’s their first time.

“Getting them on a balance bike when they are young means they learn to ride while still at school.“They might even make a career out of cycling in the future; you never know!” Tim Liptrot, Schools Games Organiser, suggests the scheme for younger pupils is about more than just learning to cycle.He said: “A lot learn to ride a bike at home with stabi-lisers, but that doesn’t help

them to learn to balance. Evidence suggests the cut-off point for a child to develop skills such as throwing, catching, running, balancing, is age seven – after which it becomes more diffi-cult for them to do, because the child develops a fear.“You hope that at the end of the fourth session, once a child can push along easily on a balance bike, they’ve got that skill for life. Even if they don’t get on a bike again until their teens or lat-er, riding will still be second nature.”n Oldham Council’s road safety team has long run the De-partment for Transport- funded Bikeabil-ity cycling train-ing programme for older primary school pupils. These take place in the playground or, under supervision, on the road. It also offers training for secondary students who want to cycle to school; bicycle mainte-nance sessions, and custom sessions as part of PE lessons. The introduction of Bikeabaility Balance means around 1,600 local children will be in-volved each year.

You don’t need pedals to learn to ride a bike, as these Clarksfield Primary School children have found

Oldham school games organiser Tim Liptrot (right) with the youngsters.Below: four-year-old Mo-hammed Hus-sain Iqbal with sports leader Abid Hussain.Over the page: even on a pale, cold af-ternoon, balance-biking is fun...





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21

The link between Kagoshima – then Satsuma – and Oldham began with a secret mission, which followed a Royal Navy bombardment of Satsuma in the early 1860s.In 1865, 19 students set sail for England from the small port of Hashima: a secret mission because at the time overseas travel from Japan was forbidden. The group was sent by provincial leader Prince Satsuma to study in England, but members also wanted to find out more about advanced British weaponry and industry, so Japan could play a full part on the world stage.

Three of the students came to Oldham – at the time the corner-stone of the world cotton industry – and visited the world- famous Platt Brothers factory, which supplied much of the world’s advanced cotton weaving machinery. As Japan was gradually moving from an agrarian to an industrial economy and companies were growing all over Japan, the advice of the visitors resulted in an order of machinery from Platts to establish Japan’s first modern industrial factory, the Kagoshima Mill.Four engineers from Platts travelled with the machinery to install

it and train its users. Gallery Oldham – which has a collection of Satsuma ceramics – has notes from a journal kept by one of them.As well as describing the journey to Japan, it covers more obvious necessities of the trip. A list of words the quartet might need translated into Japanese, for example – such as the word for a “long piece of wood”.“Bread and potatoes are also on the list,” said Gallery Oldham’s curator of art, Rebecca Hill. “He was obviously worried he was only going to get rice to eat!”

More engineers followed and Foreigners’ House was built in 1866 to house them – today a museum about the “Satsuma students”.The relationship between Oldham and Japan continued for years, with trade links throughout the twentieth century. In 1929, Platt Brothers also helped to give birth to one of the world’s largest car makers, Toyota, by paying £100,000 to the Toyoda company, as it then was, for rights to patents for an auto-matic loom. The money allowed Toyoda to diversify into automo-bile manufacturing...

Transglobal artSCHOOL pupils in Oldham and Japan are

celebrating a fascinating, 150-year-old link between the two countries – by creating a joint art work.

Year two pupils at Crompton Primary School are taking part in the Gallery Oldham project, inspired by the incredible story of students from the Satsuma province of Japan who came to Oldham in 1865 to find out more about the tex-tile industry.It has involved workshops in both the gallery and school with artist Isobel Pickup.Pupils at the current-day Hashima Primary School in Kagoshima, which is in Kagoshima prefecture – formerly the province of Satsuma – are also taking part. The school is in the town from which the Satsuma students sailed.The work of pupils in both schools will be merged digitally to create a large-scale piece of art that will then go on display in June at Gal-lery Oldham and in Japan.It will also be inspired by the iconic Oldham Panorama – the 4ft high, 55ft wide photograph of Oldham taken in 1876 by Squire Knott, now regarded as one of the best visual records of the transformation of North West England into an industrial powerhouse. Rebecca Hill, curator of art at Gallery Oldham, said the initiative also tells the pupils about the history of the cotton mills; and by developing an understanding of different faiths and beliefs, it also links to the “British Values” area of the na-tional curriculum. “The children have also been looking at the vol-cano that is active in Kagoshima city, and learn-ing more about Japanese traditions and life. We are also exploring the links between the two places”, explained Isobel. “The children under-stand how important the cotton industry was to Oldham, but it didn’t happen in isolation, with people coming here to work and others from here going elsewhere.”Crompton Primary has strong links with the gallery, working with artists on projects and tak-ing part in the annual Primary Art Festival.Teaching assistant Wendy Bal said: “It will be re-ally exciting for the children to have their work displayed in both countries.”

Seven-year-olds Skye Finney and (left) Ibrahim Rahman try their skills at delicate Japanese-style brushwork, while above, art’s a collaborative thing for this project, and opposite page, Jack Hindley (left) and Jacob Thorpe, both six, show off their work in progress with the Oldham panorama in the background


20




21

The link between Kagoshima – then Satsuma – and Oldham began with a secret mission, which followed a Royal Navy bombardment of Satsuma in the early 1860s.In 1865, 19 students set sail for England from the small port of Hashima: a secret mission because at the time overseas travel from Japan was forbidden. The group was sent by provincial leader Prince Satsuma to study in England, but members also wanted to find out more about advanced British weaponry and industry, so Japan could play a full part on the world stage.

Three of the students came to Oldham – at the time the corner-stone of the world cotton industry – and visited the world- famous Platt Brothers factory, which supplied much of the world’s advanced cotton weaving machinery. As Japan was gradually moving from an agrarian to an industrial economy and companies were growing all over Japan, the advice of the visitors resulted in an order of machinery from Platts to establish Japan’s first modern industrial factory, the Kagoshima Mill.Four engineers from Platts travelled with the machinery to install

it and train its users. Gallery Oldham – which has a collection of Satsuma ceramics – has notes from a journal kept by one of them.As well as describing the journey to Japan, it covers more obvious necessities of the trip. A list of words the quartet might need translated into Japanese, for example – such as the word for a “long piece of wood”.“Bread and potatoes are also on the list,” said Gallery Oldham’s curator of art, Rebecca Hill. “He was obviously worried he was only going to get rice to eat!”

More engineers followed and Foreigners’ House was built in 1866 to house them – today a museum about the “Satsuma students”.The relationship between Oldham and Japan continued for years, with trade links throughout the twentieth century. In 1929, Platt Brothers also helped to give birth to one of the world’s largest car makers, Toyota, by paying £100,000 to the Toyoda company, as it then was, for rights to patents for an auto-matic loom. The money allowed Toyoda to diversify into automo-bile manufacturing...

Transglobal artSCHOOL pupils in Oldham and Japan are

celebrating a fascinating, 150-year-old link between the two countries – by creating a joint art work.

Year two pupils at Crompton Primary School are taking part in the Gallery Oldham project, inspired by the incredible story of students from the Satsuma province of Japan who came to Oldham in 1865 to find out more about the tex-tile industry.It has involved workshops in both the gallery and school with artist Isobel Pickup.Pupils at the current-day Hashima Primary School in Kagoshima, which is in Kagoshima prefecture – formerly the province of Satsuma – are also taking part. The school is in the town from which the Satsuma students sailed.The work of pupils in both schools will be merged digitally to create a large-scale piece of art that will then go on display in June at Gal-lery Oldham and in Japan.It will also be inspired by the iconic Oldham Panorama – the 4ft high, 55ft wide photograph of Oldham taken in 1876 by Squire Knott, now regarded as one of the best visual records of the transformation of North West England into an industrial powerhouse. Rebecca Hill, curator of art at Gallery Oldham, said the initiative also tells the pupils about the history of the cotton mills; and by developing an understanding of different faiths and beliefs, it also links to the “British Values” area of the na-tional curriculum. “The children have also been looking at the vol-cano that is active in Kagoshima city, and learn-ing more about Japanese traditions and life. We are also exploring the links between the two places”, explained Isobel. “The children under-stand how important the cotton industry was to Oldham, but it didn’t happen in isolation, with people coming here to work and others from here going elsewhere.”Crompton Primary has strong links with the gallery, working with artists on projects and tak-ing part in the annual Primary Art Festival.Teaching assistant Wendy Bal said: “It will be re-ally exciting for the children to have their work displayed in both countries.”

Seven-year-olds Skye Finney and (left) Ibrahim Rahman try their skills at delicate Japanese-style brushwork, while above, art’s a collaborative thing for this project, and opposite page, Jack Hindley (left) and Jacob Thorpe, both six, show off their work in progress with the Oldham panorama in the background



Aila Chauhan (4) and teacher Mark Bumford light a fire.

CHILDREN shouldn’t play with fire... unless they are at Forest School!Pupils as young as four and five are experiencing new ways of learning

thanks to schools across Oldham increasingly swapping warm classrooms for fresh air, ferns and foraging.Founded in America in1927, forest schools be-came established throughout Scandinavia in the 1950s before coming to England in the 1990s. The idea is that pupils visit forests or woodlands and develop personal, social and technical skills, using nature as a way of build-ing independence and self-esteem.Mark Bumford, a reception class teacher at Hulme Grammar School, Werneth, qualified as a level three forest school leader 15 months ago and has regularly taken small groups of children to the woodland area on the school grounds.The 26 year old, originally from Aberystwyth, believes being outdoors is a child’s natural en-vironment – and where they learn best.“In forest school, children can learn how to create fire, use tools and climb trees in a safe and controlled environment,” he explained.“They learn lots of ground rules first – particu-larly about fire, then understand the risks.“They learn how to start a fire and how to keep it going before building their own fire and ulti-mately cooking food on it.“There’s no real age limit, because they’re ready when they’re ready. You trust them: they un-derstand the risks.”

Mark said forest school helps children to boost personal skills, improve communication, man-age their emotions and develop problem-solv-ing abilities.He said: “Pupils might be a bit shy at the start and hold your hand as they walk into the for-est. But by the end of the five weeks they are tearing off to explore different boxes of equip-ment we put out.“It’s a child-centred, holistic approach to learn-ing and a wonderful environment to explore and grow.

“At Hulme, we see it as a strength that children get to decide what they want to do, and how.“We’re out in all weathers: as the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.” Whitegate End Primary in Chadderton also runs a forest school with teaching assistant Matt Butterworth, a qualified forest school leader. Small groups of youngsters aged five to 11 are out every afternoon and after school on Mondays.Matt said: “The forest school has been running for six years; we use it as a way to take the classroom outdoors.“It’s amazing to see children in a different envi-ronment – one in which they often don’t real-ise they are learning. It’s only when you get them to reflect on what they have done they realise they have new skills they can take back into the classroom.”Curriculum themes are also taken outside – for example, children learn to read with the help of map-reading and phonics.Matt said: “Its easy to give children a laptop and ask them to find out something, but to get information in a different and practical way is very rewarding for them and for me.“We want the children to try and try again – and forest school really helps with that. Not everyone is academic, so it’s a great way to cov-er topics rather than through books.“It shows you don’t have to learn just by hold-ing a pencil and listening to others.”



23

Down in the forest...Parents have always told their children to go out and play in the fresh air. Now schools are joining in too

(l-r) Ahmed Muhymin, Aila Chauhan, Ahyan Younis, Willow Fox and Oliver Langner with teacher Mark Bumford.

Oliver Langner (left) and Ahmed Muhymin, both five, build a den.

OLDHAM has a rich history of choral recital: the Oldham

Choral Speaking Festival, organised by the Rotary Club of Oldham Metro, cel-ebrated its 33rd anniversary this year and is as popular as ever.The festival is the largest in the world outside Hong Kong, bringing together al-most 3,000 primary pupils to recite in an unforgettable performance that combines not only unison speaking but often elements of theatre and mime too.Freehold Community Pri-mary Academy regularly takes to the stage and this year 360 pupils from recep-tion age (main picture) to year six – more than half the school’s population – took part at the Oldham Colise-um, and that’s a lot of coaches...Why is the festival so im-portant to the school?Angela Leach, who has been principal for the past three years, explained: “Having each age group attend means the children boost their oration skills, confi-dence and self esteem, and

CEthey seem to improve on it every year. It makes them good listeners – especially when they have poems with several different parts. So they also get to improve their team-working abili-ties.”With 96 per cent of Free-hold Primary pupils speak-ing English as a second lan-guage, choral speaking is also a major way for the school to teach three lin-guistic disciplines: reading, writing and speaking.Angela said: “Some children start reception year with a delay in speaking English because they’ve never really had to at home.“But they love taking part in the choral speak-ing; they love the rhythm of the poetry – and the fact the poems are cho-sen to appeal to them.”By attending the festival every year, and starting at such an early age, Angela said pupils become accus-tomed to speaking and per-forming in public in grand buildings such as the Old-ham Coliseum.

“Choral speaking is still rel-evant these days,” she said.“Oration skills are so im-portant, particularly in the job market. People who ex-press themselves easily tend to do best.” Knowsley Junior School, Springhead, is another insti-tution keen to keep the cor-

al speaking tradition alive. A total of 91 year five stu-dents took to the stage to recite Ken Nesbitt’s humor-ous The Armpit of Doom at this year’s event.Year five teacher Jade Phil-lips said: “Learning and re-citing poetry is part of the national curriculum, but

apart from just ticking a box, the children love the whole experience of per-forming on a stage like the Coliseum.“The children learn the poem, but we also focus on intonation and accent, and we look at tone of voice and pitch – almost like a music lesson.“You can read very tradi-tional poetry, or make it more engaging with modern themes and topics that are relevant to them. This year’s poem is quite a silly one, while last year a lot of schools read a piece about the video game Minecraft.“There is definitely some-thing timeless about hearing poetry performed: its like storytelling.“Parents love to see their children perform and our students improve their speaking and listening skills

as well as getting a huge sense of achievement.” Last year over 2,800 chil-dren appeared at the festi-val, which in total has seen well over 50,000 youngsters participate over the years.Organiser and Rotary mem-ber Mel Farrar said: “As the brainchild of another Old-

ham Metro Rotarian – John Cleary – the Festival was set up in 1984 when learning poems by heart was going out of fashion. “We kept that tradition alive and I think generations of children and parents are grateful for that. It has cer-tainly achieved our aims of

developing pupils self-confi-dence and their capacity to perform in public, as well as that of team work and a life-long love of poetry. “Many schools and pupils come back year after year: it’s great to see groups pro-gress over the years as they move through a school.”


24 KnowledgeprimaryKristen ITC reg 140pt-30 kerning except last two chars55pt horiz compression allColour, focaltone 3495; 3pt black stroke all9 degree rt tilt all‘P’ lower case, but 21pt above baselineLHS place at margin (10mm)Top edge place at bleed line (3mm beyond A4 edge)

25

All talk... and a little action!

CHORAL speaking: ‘orchestrating an unforget-table performance with the human voice, using solo and massed voices of different quality, and creating dynamic vocal sound-effects’, accord-ing to Trinity College in London. Oldham primary schools are really rather good at it...


The youngest children – from Freehold Com-munity Primary academy, takes to the stage.

BELOW: that choking feeling for girls from Higher Failsworth Primary...

BOTTOM: They went that way,,, pupils from St Hugh’s CE Primary get in on the act

Adjudicator Ann Warr sees dozens of performances during the event

Children from Holy Family RC PrimarySt Hugh’s CE Primary year three faces the audience.


OLDHAM has a rich history of choral recital: the Oldham

Choral Speaking Festival, organised by the Rotary Club of Oldham Metro, cel-ebrated its 33rd anniversary this year and is as popular as ever.The festival is the largest in the world outside Hong Kong, bringing together al-most 3,000 primary pupils to recite in an unforgettable performance that combines not only unison speaking but often elements of theatre and mime too.Freehold Community Pri-mary Academy regularly takes to the stage and this year 360 pupils from recep-tion age (main picture) to year six – more than half the school’s population – took part at the Oldham Colise-um, and that’s a lot of coaches...Why is the festival so im-portant to the school?Angela Leach, who has been principal for the past three years, explained: “Having each age group attend means the children boost their oration skills, confi-dence and self esteem, and

CEthey seem to improve on it every year. It makes them good listeners – especially when they have poems with several different parts. So they also get to improve their team-working abili-ties.”With 96 per cent of Free-hold Primary pupils speak-ing English as a second lan-guage, choral speaking is also a major way for the school to teach three lin-guistic disciplines: reading, writing and speaking.Angela said: “Some children start reception year with a delay in speaking English because they’ve never really had to at home.“But they love taking part in the choral speak-ing; they love the rhythm of the poetry – and the fact the poems are cho-sen to appeal to them.”By attending the festival every year, and starting at such an early age, Angela said pupils become accus-tomed to speaking and per-forming in public in grand buildings such as the Old-ham Coliseum.

“Choral speaking is still rel-evant these days,” she said.“Oration skills are so im-portant, particularly in the job market. People who ex-press themselves easily tend to do best.” Knowsley Junior School, Springhead, is another insti-tution keen to keep the cor-

al speaking tradition alive. A total of 91 year five stu-dents took to the stage to recite Ken Nesbitt’s humor-ous The Armpit of Doom at this year’s event.Year five teacher Jade Phil-lips said: “Learning and re-citing poetry is part of the national curriculum, but

apart from just ticking a box, the children love the whole experience of per-forming on a stage like the Coliseum.“The children learn the poem, but we also focus on intonation and accent, and we look at tone of voice and pitch – almost like a music lesson.“You can read very tradi-tional poetry, or make it more engaging with modern themes and topics that are relevant to them. This year’s poem is quite a silly one, while last year a lot of schools read a piece about the video game Minecraft.“There is definitely some-thing timeless about hearing poetry performed: its like storytelling.“Parents love to see their children perform and our students improve their speaking and listening skills

as well as getting a huge sense of achievement.” Last year over 2,800 chil-dren appeared at the festi-val, which in total has seen well over 50,000 youngsters participate over the years.Organiser and Rotary mem-ber Mel Farrar said: “As the brainchild of another Old-

ham Metro Rotarian – John Cleary – the Festival was set up in 1984 when learning poems by heart was going out of fashion. “We kept that tradition alive and I think generations of children and parents are grateful for that. It has cer-tainly achieved our aims of

developing pupils self-confi-dence and their capacity to perform in public, as well as that of team work and a life-long love of poetry. “Many schools and pupils come back year after year: it’s great to see groups pro-gress over the years as they move through a school.”



25

All talk... and a little action!

CHORAL speaking: ‘orchestrating an unforget-table performance with the human voice, using solo and massed voices of different quality, and creating dynamic vocal sound-effects’, accord-ing to Trinity College in London. Oldham primary schools are really rather good at it...


The youngest children – from Freehold Com-munity Primary academy, takes to the stage.

BELOW: that choking feeling for girls from Higher Failsworth Primary...

BOTTOM: They went that way,,, pupils from St Hugh’s CE Primary get in on the act

Adjudicator Ann Warr sees dozens of performances during the event

Children from Holy Family RC PrimarySt Hugh’s CE Primary year three faces the audience.


HEALTHY eating doesn’t have to be bor-ing! Pupils at St Agnes CE Primary in Lees

had a great time learning about wholesome pancake toppings with the help of chef George Jackson from Discovery Kitchen.The school invited George to teach children about nutrition as part of a special event at the school – which banned chocolate spread and sugary syrups.Instead, all 107 of the school’s pu-pils learned how to make their own crepes and explored the healthy toppings available, from savoury smoked salmon and red pepper to sweet mango and coconut.Class two teacher and healthy schools coordinator Julie Crickett explained: “Discovery Kitchen vis-its us every year for different occa-sions, such as Chinese New Year.

“Its a great way of giving the children a bit more responsi-bility and encourag-ing them to take a more active role in learning about nu-trition, which links in to the curricu-lum.“Younger pupils make their own bat-ter while the older ones have a go at cooking the pan-cakes on camping stoves.“Then they get to try lots of different flavours they might not have experi-enced before.“Cooking sessions let them investigate and explore for

themselves, without adults getting involved, but they also learn to work together in groups and mix with chil-dren from other years.“Bringing in experts makes it easier for smaller schools to ensure children partici-pate fully, especially where resources might be more limited.”Chef George said: “Most schools don’t have the fa-cilities or space to run a session like this.“It’s a great way for pupils to taste a few different in-gredients and have a go at cooking, while learning about good nutrition.“I get a lot of parents say-ing their child is a fussy

eater – but they have tried some-thing new here.”Year two pupil Jack Robinson said the session was great fun.“I liked it when we had to put every thing in a bowl and mix it all

up,” he said. “My favourite pancake topping is Nutella – but I would also choose blueberries.“I bake flapjacks and cupcakes with my grandma when I go to her house. We have fun.”


Fight more flabFAMILY fitness is looking a little flabby, says a new survey.

Children in Oldham are missing out on the best start in life be-cause parents don’t have the time, money – or often knowledge – to help them lead a healthier lifestyle.

A new survey by coaching company Premier Sport has found 60 per cent of the region’s parents lead a healthier lifestyle than their children – and 44 per cent do nothing to encourage their kids to be active. Only half of parents will encourage their children to get fitter over the next year.Olympic gold medallist and mother of three Sally Gunnell OBE says lo-cal families need more support to get active.“Parents lead very busy lives, but we are facing a child obesity epidemic, so it’s vital we do all we can to give our kids the best start in life.”

TEACHING families to start the day the right way is on the menu for pupils and parents at East Crompton St George’s CE Primary School.The school celebrated National Breakfast Week by inviting

families to tuck into breakfast before lessons began, courtesy of the school catering staff.The school holds the annual event to promote the importance of a healthy breakfast – and so families can be together before the day gets underway. Acting head Linda Baldwin said: “Holding the breakfast club means pupils get to school on time, come out of the cold and have a calm start. They have a healthy breakfast and are ready to learn.“Parents love it too because they get to sit and eat with their children. In fact they’re keen for us to hold one every month!”The school has a regular before-school club at which children whose parents need to get to work early can have tea, toast and cereal before lessons begin.

How to be as fit and healthy as a five year old

Jamie-Leigh Pullen and Rosie Cocker get

mixing – as do Aaliyah Hussain

(below left) and (front cover), Rihanna Clarke.

THERE was a buzz round the infant classes of St John’s CE Primary in Failsworth when fitness guru Phil Breidenbach – fondly known as Freddy – came to call.It’s a buzz that Phil, who works for York-based company Freddy

Fit, is used to. As the company’s North West coordinator he visits mostly primary schools in the region, many of them in Oldham.Phil teaches youngsters about healthy living, from eating the right things to taking regular exercise. The Knowledge visited during a session with the Ruby reception class, where the four and five year olds listened intently and sang on cue, did their exercises and danced on the spot.“It is all about how to live healthy lives – which improves confidence too,” he said. “The children love it. There’s a buzz round school whenever I ar-rive. “Our sessions are all about motivation and encouraging children to adopt a healthy lifestyle. They all take part in Freddy Fit sessions and work to their own ability. “Children regardless of their particular needs enjoy and find confidence to fully participate in all activities. I remember going to one school where a lit-tle boy who suffered from Aspergers was very shy in class. He volunteered to lead the children in an exercise routine though, and that was amazing. What we teach is a complete leveller, and a lot of fun.”The children were shown warm-up stretching exercises, and practised exer-cises to build strength such as leg lunges, press-ups and squat jumps. They were also told about the importance of eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, drinking eight glasses of water, getting more than 10 hours sleep and taking a daily hour of exercise. They also learned about food groups, such as proteins and carbohydrates. Phil visits St John’s school each year and other schools from once a term up to 10 times a year, providing any healthy living services they want, from sports science workshops and theme days to staff training.He said: “I find running the workshops extremely rewarding: I can see chil-dren enjoying exercise, pushing themselves to be the best they can be, while encouraging them to make sensible food choices. “You have to lift yourself in this job as the children need inspiring and want to enjoy themselves. The response from the children is incredible: they are all so keen to impress and take part.”Phil, from Stockport, was a keen sportsman when younger, particularly football. He played for the Manchester League at under-21 level, but admits he wasn’t quite good enough to turn pro. He took up personal training and joined Freddy Fit a decade ago.Freddy Fit was set up by six-times na-tional karate champion Rob Loft in 2002, following club sessions in primary schools at which children continually asked questions about nutrition and fit-ness. Teachers across the UK are now running PE sessions incorporating his teaching techniques and methods. Rob said: “I’m very proud of what Fred-dy Fit has achieved, especially if chil-dren improve their lifestyle. “We are now setting up a Freddy Com-munity to take the Freddy Fit concept further, offering direct development support to schools and communities. “Our not-for-profit ethos is a sign of how committed we are to helping the nation get fit, stay healthy and have fun.”

Children love to prove themselves: using bands below

are Willow Rocks (5) and Elliott Lang-

ford Cooper with Phil Breidenbach,

while here four-year-old Jonny Coyne tries his

strength



27


Year two pupils (l-r) Daniel Diggle, Ria-Lucia Fletcher, Livi Brown and Evie Hilditch.

HEALTHY eating doesn’t have to be bor-ing! Pupils at St Agnes CE Primary in Lees

had a great time learning about wholesome pancake toppings with the help of chef George Jackson from Discovery Kitchen.The school invited George to teach children about nutrition as part of a special event at the school – which banned chocolate spread and sugary syrups.Instead, all 107 of the school’s pu-pils learned how to make their own crepes and explored the healthy toppings available, from savoury smoked salmon and red pepper to sweet mango and coconut.Class two teacher and healthy schools coordinator Julie Crickett explained: “Discovery Kitchen vis-its us every year for different occa-sions, such as Chinese New Year.

“Its a great way of giving the children a bit more responsi-bility and encourag-ing them to take a more active role in learning about nu-trition, which links in to the curricu-lum.“Younger pupils make their own bat-ter while the older ones have a go at cooking the pan-cakes on camping stoves.“Then they get to try lots of different flavours they might not have experi-enced before.“Cooking sessions let them investigate and explore for

themselves, without adults getting involved, but they also learn to work together in groups and mix with chil-dren from other years.“Bringing in experts makes it easier for smaller schools to ensure children partici-pate fully, especially where resources might be more limited.”Chef George said: “Most schools don’t have the fa-cilities or space to run a session like this.“It’s a great way for pupils to taste a few different in-gredients and have a go at cooking, while learning about good nutrition.“I get a lot of parents say-ing their child is a fussy

eater – but they have tried some-thing new here.”Year two pupil Jack Robinson said the session was great fun.“I liked it when we had to put every thing in a bowl and mix it all

up,” he said. “My favourite pancake topping is Nutella – but I would also choose blueberries.“I bake flapjacks and cupcakes with my grandma when I go to her house. We have fun.”


Fight more flabFAMILY fitness is looking a little flabby, says a new survey.

Children in Oldham are missing out on the best start in life be-cause parents don’t have the time, money – or often knowledge – to help them lead a healthier lifestyle.

A new survey by coaching company Premier Sport has found 60 per cent of the region’s parents lead a healthier lifestyle than their children – and 44 per cent do nothing to encourage their kids to be active. Only half of parents will encourage their children to get fitter over the next year.Olympic gold medallist and mother of three Sally Gunnell OBE says lo-cal families need more support to get active.“Parents lead very busy lives, but we are facing a child obesity epidemic, so it’s vital we do all we can to give our kids the best start in life.”

TEACHING families to start the day the right way is on the menu for pupils and parents at East Crompton St George’s CE Primary School.The school celebrated National Breakfast Week by inviting

families to tuck into breakfast before lessons began, courtesy of the school catering staff.The school holds the annual event to promote the importance of a healthy breakfast – and so families can be together before the day gets underway. Acting head Linda Baldwin said: “Holding the breakfast club means pupils get to school on time, come out of the cold and have a calm start. They have a healthy breakfast and are ready to learn.“Parents love it too because they get to sit and eat with their children. In fact they’re keen for us to hold one every month!”The school has a regular before-school club at which children whose parents need to get to work early can have tea, toast and cereal before lessons begin.

How to be as fit and healthy as a five year old

Jamie-Leigh Pullen and Rosie Cocker get

mixing – as do Aaliyah Hussain

(below left) and (front cover), Rihanna Clarke.

THERE was a buzz round the infant classes of St John’s CE Primary in Failsworth when fitness guru Phil Breidenbach – fondly known as Freddy – came to call.It’s a buzz that Phil, who works for York-based company Freddy

Fit, is used to. As the company’s North West coordinator he visits mostly primary schools in the region, many of them in Oldham.Phil teaches youngsters about healthy living, from eating the right things to taking regular exercise. The Knowledge visited during a session with the Ruby reception class, where the four and five year olds listened intently and sang on cue, did their exercises and danced on the spot.“It is all about how to live healthy lives – which improves confidence too,” he said. “The children love it. There’s a buzz round school whenever I ar-rive. “Our sessions are all about motivation and encouraging children to adopt a healthy lifestyle. They all take part in Freddy Fit sessions and work to their own ability. “Children regardless of their particular needs enjoy and find confidence to fully participate in all activities. I remember going to one school where a lit-tle boy who suffered from Aspergers was very shy in class. He volunteered to lead the children in an exercise routine though, and that was amazing. What we teach is a complete leveller, and a lot of fun.”The children were shown warm-up stretching exercises, and practised exer-cises to build strength such as leg lunges, press-ups and squat jumps. They were also told about the importance of eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, drinking eight glasses of water, getting more than 10 hours sleep and taking a daily hour of exercise. They also learned about food groups, such as proteins and carbohydrates. Phil visits St John’s school each year and other schools from once a term up to 10 times a year, providing any healthy living services they want, from sports science workshops and theme days to staff training.He said: “I find running the workshops extremely rewarding: I can see chil-dren enjoying exercise, pushing themselves to be the best they can be, while encouraging them to make sensible food choices. “You have to lift yourself in this job as the children need inspiring and want to enjoy themselves. The response from the children is incredible: they are all so keen to impress and take part.”Phil, from Stockport, was a keen sportsman when younger, particularly football. He played for the Manchester League at under-21 level, but admits he wasn’t quite good enough to turn pro. He took up personal training and joined Freddy Fit a decade ago.Freddy Fit was set up by six-times na-tional karate champion Rob Loft in 2002, following club sessions in primary schools at which children continually asked questions about nutrition and fit-ness. Teachers across the UK are now running PE sessions incorporating his teaching techniques and methods. Rob said: “I’m very proud of what Fred-dy Fit has achieved, especially if chil-dren improve their lifestyle. “We are now setting up a Freddy Com-munity to take the Freddy Fit concept further, offering direct development support to schools and communities. “Our not-for-profit ethos is a sign of how committed we are to helping the nation get fit, stay healthy and have fun.”

Children love to prove themselves: using bands below

are Willow Rocks (5) and Elliott Lang-

ford Cooper with Phil Breidenbach,

while here four-year-old Jonny Coyne tries his

strength



27


Year two pupils (l-r) Daniel Diggle, Ria-Lucia Fletcher, Livi Brown and Evie Hilditch.


28




29

Facing the consequences of some actions

DRUGS, sniffer dogs and prison life: the long arm of the law paid a visit to children at St Thomas Moorside CE Primary School as

part of an Actions have Consequences work-shop.Devised by HM Prison Manchester and pre-sented in conjunction with police forces across the country, the workshop explores age-appropriate topics intended to keep chil-dren safe and help them make the right choices in life.Younger pupils get to meet sniffer dogs and learn about stranger-danger and staying safe, while older pupils explore the issues of of-fences such as drug taking and anti-social behaviour, learn the realities of life behind bars and discuss the potential consequences of modern day actions such as sexting and social media.The project has recently been seen in schools across the borough – Littlemoor Primary, Diggle Primary, and St Edwards RC School in Lees among them. At St Thomas’s, the informative workshop saw year five and six pupils spend a morning with course organiser Paul McGovern of the prison service, and members of the St James and Waterhead area policing team.“The programme is carried out in a way that gets a serious message across,” said Paul. “The workshop shows children what can go wrong if you take the wrong path in life – and that the police are always there to help.”Headteacher Adam Laskey said: “As a school, we promote certain values we want our pu-pils to uphold. Workshops like this help the children to understand that their behaviour outside school can have consequences too. “They also help to make the neighbourhood policing team familiar to our children.”Though some of the topics are quite grown up – such as drug use and prison life – he believes older pupils need to hear them. For some, sadly, it can already be a common-place factor in the home.“It’s about keeping our pupils safe,” Adam continued. “By providing these workshops at a younger age, we help the children to make the right choices in their lives. The events might be fun, but our students take home a strong message.”Oldham Police Chief Inspector Sarah Mor-ton said: “It’s an amazing workshop, given in such an engaging way that the children really listen and understand what is going on.“Children are often told ‘the police will take you away’, but through workshops like this we become a more familiar face to them.“And the information they receive gets passed on to other family members too.”

Down boy!Chief Inspector

Sarah Morton fails to get away from

an otherwise friendly police dog,

while (other pictures), children

were eager to take part PUPILS in Limeside are

proving that children are never too young to learn how to handle

money.Three of the area’s primary schools have been taking part in Play in a Day, which uses drama to highlight the rewards of saving and the dangers of overdrafts, pay-day lenders and illegal loan sharks.The aim is to encourage chil-dren to develop good financial habits, as well as to raise aware-ness of credit unions – an awareness they will hopefully pass on to their families.Pupils from Holy Family RC Primary, Limehurst Primary and Oasis Academy Limeside each worked with learning of-ficer Sarah Eastaff from Old-ham Coliseum, starting with a budgeting exercise.For this they were given differ-ent theoretical jobs and had to decide how to allocate their wages to pay bills, rent and buy food. Then they created short plays looking at the history of money and bartering through to the pitfalls of today’s world of loans

and the ability to spend “invisi-ble” money online.“It’s a really good project be-cause it enables them to learn more about money manage-ment in quite an active way, through drama,” Sarah ex-plained.Play in a Day is part of the Creative Credit project run by the Oasis community hub with Contour and Regenda housing associations. A similar drama project was run at Oasis Acade-my Oldham secondary school.The approach is to believe that better budgeting can help to change lives, especially in a tough economic climate, and

drama is a way of getting peo-ple to think and talk about the sometimes difficult issue.The hope is that the project will also encourage schools to set up credit unions – far less fraught savings and loan insti-tutions. Sarah says pupils are keen to take the message home, given their new-found interest.“It’s really interesting to hear what they already know about managing their money,” she said. “They were a really conscien-tious bunch: they all said they would be very careful with their money!”

Playingwithmoney

Limehurst Primary Elizabeth Odupitan,

Zekai Durge and Mya Bleese get a

feel for their props!

Zekai and Elizabeth run through their sketch


28




29

Facing the consequences of some actions

DRUGS, sniffer dogs and prison life: the long arm of the law paid a visit to children at St Thomas Moorside CE Primary School as

part of an Actions have Consequences work-shop.Devised by HM Prison Manchester and pre-sented in conjunction with police forces across the country, the workshop explores age-appropriate topics intended to keep chil-dren safe and help them make the right choices in life.Younger pupils get to meet sniffer dogs and learn about stranger-danger and staying safe, while older pupils explore the issues of of-fences such as drug taking and anti-social behaviour, learn the realities of life behind bars and discuss the potential consequences of modern day actions such as sexting and social media.The project has recently been seen in schools across the borough – Littlemoor Primary, Diggle Primary, and St Edwards RC School in Lees among them. At St Thomas’s, the informative workshop saw year five and six pupils spend a morning with course organiser Paul McGovern of the prison service, and members of the St James and Waterhead area policing team.“The programme is carried out in a way that gets a serious message across,” said Paul. “The workshop shows children what can go wrong if you take the wrong path in life – and that the police are always there to help.”Headteacher Adam Laskey said: “As a school, we promote certain values we want our pu-pils to uphold. Workshops like this help the children to understand that their behaviour outside school can have consequences too. “They also help to make the neighbourhood policing team familiar to our children.”Though some of the topics are quite grown up – such as drug use and prison life – he believes older pupils need to hear them. For some, sadly, it can already be a common-place factor in the home.“It’s about keeping our pupils safe,” Adam continued. “By providing these workshops at a younger age, we help the children to make the right choices in their lives. The events might be fun, but our students take home a strong message.”Oldham Police Chief Inspector Sarah Mor-ton said: “It’s an amazing workshop, given in such an engaging way that the children really listen and understand what is going on.“Children are often told ‘the police will take you away’, but through workshops like this we become a more familiar face to them.“And the information they receive gets passed on to other family members too.”

Down boy!Chief Inspector

Sarah Morton fails to get away from

an otherwise friendly police dog,

while (other pictures), children

were eager to take part PUPILS in Limeside are

proving that children are never too young to learn how to handle

money.Three of the area’s primary schools have been taking part in Play in a Day, which uses drama to highlight the rewards of saving and the dangers of overdrafts, pay-day lenders and illegal loan sharks.The aim is to encourage chil-dren to develop good financial habits, as well as to raise aware-ness of credit unions – an awareness they will hopefully pass on to their families.Pupils from Holy Family RC Primary, Limehurst Primary and Oasis Academy Limeside each worked with learning of-ficer Sarah Eastaff from Old-ham Coliseum, starting with a budgeting exercise.For this they were given differ-ent theoretical jobs and had to decide how to allocate their wages to pay bills, rent and buy food. Then they created short plays looking at the history of money and bartering through to the pitfalls of today’s world of loans

and the ability to spend “invisi-ble” money online.“It’s a really good project be-cause it enables them to learn more about money manage-ment in quite an active way, through drama,” Sarah ex-plained.Play in a Day is part of the Creative Credit project run by the Oasis community hub with Contour and Regenda housing associations. A similar drama project was run at Oasis Acade-my Oldham secondary school.The approach is to believe that better budgeting can help to change lives, especially in a tough economic climate, and

drama is a way of getting peo-ple to think and talk about the sometimes difficult issue.The hope is that the project will also encourage schools to set up credit unions – far less fraught savings and loan insti-tutions. Sarah says pupils are keen to take the message home, given their new-found interest.“It’s really interesting to hear what they already know about managing their money,” she said. “They were a really conscien-tious bunch: they all said they would be very careful with their money!”

Playingwithmoney

Limehurst Primary Elizabeth Odupitan,

Zekai Durge and Mya Bleese get a

feel for their props!

Zekai and Elizabeth run through their sketch

30


Heroesout to help the bulliedand the bullies

CAPTAIN America is the tale of a wannabe soldier turned superhe-ro who declares: “I

don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they come from”.And he visited Blackshaw Lane Primary to help capture pupils’ imaginations and spread the an-ti-bullying message.Pupils throughout the Royton school took part in assemblies with Captain America and Black Widow – the Marvel superheroes who appear in the hugely-popular Avengers films.In real life the pair are couple Hayley Wilson and Andy Pearson from Newhey. Andy owns chil-dren’s entertainment business The Avengers Universe, while Hayley is a mental health nurse.“We wanted to deliver a message we felt wasn’t being addressed, namely the emotional aspect of bullying,” Hayley explained.“There’s a lot of emphasis on per-petrator punishment and victim support but we wanted to get the message across of compassion for the bully, because there are emo-tional things going on there too – and that more support is needed rather than punishment.“We thought being dressed as the superheroes was a good visual that would really draw the pupils in and capture their attention.”As well as discussing what bully-ing means to pupils, the pair en-courage children to think about what might cause someone to bully others, whether anger or sadness at something happening in their own lives, jealousy or low self-esteem.Hayley and Andy piloted their specially-developed session at the Royton school, which three of their children attend, asking pu-

pils if they had ever gone home felling sad and hurt because of something someone had said or done to them – or vice versa.“Sometimes it can be really hard to admit it to ourselves when we have done something that has hurt someone else,” Hayley told the children, explaining how Black Widow was herself a bully turned superhero. In contrast, Steve Rogers was small and bullied before he be-came Captain America.

Pupils were also encouraged to think about who to talk to if they experience problems – and were told that they too can be a hero, at least as far as the acronym HERO goes: the letters stand for Help Everyone, Respect Others.Head teacher Bev O’Neill said the message reflected the school’s ethos: “We do a lot of work on bullying, encouraging the chil-dren to understand what bullying is and how to protect themselves from bullying.

“One of the problems is that the term bullying is used a lot, but in-appropriately. “If someone hurts them or is call-ing someone names, the children call it bullying. But bullying is more serious than that.“Part of growing up is learning how to deal with things like that, so bullying doesn’t develop. It is also about trying to get the chil-dren to understand they can be cruel to others, and to take re-sponsibility for their actions.”

Pictured with the anti-bully heroes are year four pupils

(l-r) Eliza Millington, Tyler Ward, Milly Harrison

and Grayson Cooper.



The world of workASK a nine or ten year old what

job they would like to do when they are older and they might say a doctor, teacher, nurse,

lawyer or footballer.But Oldham’s primary schools careers fair aimed to get them thinking about the endless variety of work options – and the skills and qualification needed for them – in a fun, hands-on way.Around 900 year-five pupils from 24 Old-ham primary schools attended the event at Mahdlo youth centre, where they met representatives from more than 40 busi-nesses, colleges and apprenticeship com-panies.A bit like “speed dating”, they had seven minutes at each stall to find out as much as possible about a career or college course, before a bell signalled it was time to move on.

To make each stop as memorable as possi-ble, they took part in simple science ex-periments, golf putting, hairdressing, changing nappies, cleaning microchips, photography and even... curry tasting!“It’s incredibly important that pupils have the opportunity to think about about their future and career aspirations – particular-ly before they move to high school and face important decisions about what what subjects to pursue,” explained Delph Pri-mary head teacher, Alison Leigh.She is joint leader of the business and community group in the Oldham Schools Alliance, which organised the event with enterprise company Mploy Solutions. Old-ham Enterprise Trust, which supports businesses, helped with funding.Alison added: “It’s helping pupils to find out about all different opportunities open to them: the different jobs, the companies they can work for and whether they might want to go to university or college. It also helps them to think about what they don’t want to do!“But it’s not just about the jobs but also about the skills they will need. “They come back and say they didn’t know they needed English and maths to be a hairdresser – or even that they didn’t know they have to be punctual!”

31

Andrew Murray from Blackshaw Lane on the Oldham College stand.

Ava Hewitt from St. Anne’s CE, Lydgate

tries hairdressing, while (left),

Faakir Amin, Adam Hussain and

Muhamad Rehman from Alexandra

Park school check out the photography

display


32




33

THE word can’t is banned in Steve Hill’s classroom at St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Shaw.And that’s the attitude the year six

teacher and deputy head will take with him when he tackles his latest gruelling charity challenge, the Jungle Ultra Marathon in June.Covering 230km in Peru, participants run six marathons in as many days; the event is rated by those in the know as even tougher than the leg-endary Marathon de Sables across the Sahara.Runners face temperatures of 40C and near 100 per cent humidity as they descend 10,500ft from the “cloud forest” to the Amazon Jungle, carrying

all their supplies, which include a hammock, a flare to summon help and an anti-venom pump. The local wildlife includes jaguars, black caimen (crocodiles) and many creepy crawlies.“I know I’m going to lose all my toe nails and the soles of my feet will be hanging off by the end,” said Steve, who incredibly plans to be back in school the day after he returns from Peru so he can take his class on its eagerly-awaited trip to, perhaps ironically, an outdoor adventure centre“The organiser said ‘no way’ and that I’d need at least a week to recover,” said year six teacher Steve. But ‘no way’ isn’t a phrase in Steve’s – nor his pupils’ – vocabulary, it seems.

“It will be a big challenge, physically, and mental-ly demanding, but I’ll take it a step at a time. I’ll take messages from the class and open them every day. They’ll be throwing at me every thing I try to inspire in them throughout the year.”Inspirational is often a world used to describe Steve, who gives up many hours before and after school to pass on his love of sport and adventure to pupils.The Jungle Ultra will be his ninth challenge – his first since receiving the MBE from the Queen – to add to his other honours which include a North West Primary School Teacher of the Year award and two Pride in Oldham awards.

But he is adamant any awards he receives, like his adventures, are shared by pupils, other staff and parents. Though he will be the one in the jungle, his participation is very much a team effort, something that has been the case since his first charity challenge, climbing mount Mount Kili-manjaro in 2009.“I was looking for something to do after giving up rugby, he explains. “I was just going to do it to push myself, but the children in year six – all now 19 and 20 – said I should raise money for charity.”The climb made £5,000 for the Christie Appeal. “It was great but that was going to be the end of it,

or so I thought – until the next year my new class wanted to know what we were going to do next.”Now Mr Hill’s Challenge is eagerly awaited by each new year six class, whose members help him to choose, from climbing mountains and a desert trek to Everest and North Pole marathons. Pupils pick the charities to support and also or-ganise their own fundraising activities, with Steve covering all the costs of his participation himself. Parents also get involved and the result, in the past eight events, has been to raise over £70,000.But the challenges have another purpose, of course, which is to try to inspire his pupils to suc-ceed at whatever they choose to do.

“It’s about more than just educating them; it’s about motivating them to go out and explore the world,” said Steve, who has been asked to give talks to pupils in other schools.“They have a teacher who is a normal person and is going out there to push himself. “They don’t have to run a marathon, but I want them to push. There is only one person who can make that happen – themselves.”As for the future, climbing Everest is top of Steve’s wish list and if there was ever a marathon on the moon he would “be there like a flash!”Apt for a teacher who says he asks his pupils to “shoot for the moon” – and believe they can.

They love a challenge...

...And so does Sir! These have been Steve’s school challenges so far...2009 Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895m)2010 Mont Blanc (4,809m)2011150-mile trek across the Sahara Desert2012 Mt Elbrus (Europe’s highest peak, 5,642m))2013 Driving a husky team on a 300-mile Arctic expedition

2013 12-day Jungle trek in Borneo before climbing Mt Kinabalu (4,095m)2014 Mt Everest Marathon (from 5,364m)2015 North Pole Marathon (in temps down to -60!)


32




33

THE word can’t is banned in Steve Hill’s classroom at St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Shaw.And that’s the attitude the year six

teacher and deputy head will take with him when he tackles his latest gruelling charity challenge, the Jungle Ultra Marathon in June.Covering 230km in Peru, participants run six marathons in as many days; the event is rated by those in the know as even tougher than the leg-endary Marathon de Sables across the Sahara.Runners face temperatures of 40C and near 100 per cent humidity as they descend 10,500ft from the “cloud forest” to the Amazon Jungle, carrying

all their supplies, which include a hammock, a flare to summon help and an anti-venom pump. The local wildlife includes jaguars, black caimen (crocodiles) and many creepy crawlies.“I know I’m going to lose all my toe nails and the soles of my feet will be hanging off by the end,” said Steve, who incredibly plans to be back in school the day after he returns from Peru so he can take his class on its eagerly-awaited trip to, perhaps ironically, an outdoor adventure centre“The organiser said ‘no way’ and that I’d need at least a week to recover,” said year six teacher Steve. But ‘no way’ isn’t a phrase in Steve’s – nor his pupils’ – vocabulary, it seems.

“It will be a big challenge, physically, and mental-ly demanding, but I’ll take it a step at a time. I’ll take messages from the class and open them every day. They’ll be throwing at me every thing I try to inspire in them throughout the year.”Inspirational is often a world used to describe Steve, who gives up many hours before and after school to pass on his love of sport and adventure to pupils.The Jungle Ultra will be his ninth challenge – his first since receiving the MBE from the Queen – to add to his other honours which include a North West Primary School Teacher of the Year award and two Pride in Oldham awards.

But he is adamant any awards he receives, like his adventures, are shared by pupils, other staff and parents. Though he will be the one in the jungle, his participation is very much a team effort, something that has been the case since his first charity challenge, climbing mount Mount Kili-manjaro in 2009.“I was looking for something to do after giving up rugby, he explains. “I was just going to do it to push myself, but the children in year six – all now 19 and 20 – said I should raise money for charity.”The climb made £5,000 for the Christie Appeal. “It was great but that was going to be the end of it,

or so I thought – until the next year my new class wanted to know what we were going to do next.”Now Mr Hill’s Challenge is eagerly awaited by each new year six class, whose members help him to choose, from climbing mountains and a desert trek to Everest and North Pole marathons. Pupils pick the charities to support and also or-ganise their own fundraising activities, with Steve covering all the costs of his participation himself. Parents also get involved and the result, in the past eight events, has been to raise over £70,000.But the challenges have another purpose, of course, which is to try to inspire his pupils to suc-ceed at whatever they choose to do.

“It’s about more than just educating them; it’s about motivating them to go out and explore the world,” said Steve, who has been asked to give talks to pupils in other schools.“They have a teacher who is a normal person and is going out there to push himself. “They don’t have to run a marathon, but I want them to push. There is only one person who can make that happen – themselves.”As for the future, climbing Everest is top of Steve’s wish list and if there was ever a marathon on the moon he would “be there like a flash!”Apt for a teacher who says he asks his pupils to “shoot for the moon” – and believe they can.

They love a challenge...

...And so does Sir! These have been Steve’s school challenges so far...2009 Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895m)2010 Mont Blanc (4,809m)2011150-mile trek across the Sahara Desert2012 Mt Elbrus (Europe’s highest peak, 5,642m))2013 Driving a husky team on a 300-mile Arctic expedition

2013 12-day Jungle trek in Borneo before climbing Mt Kinabalu (4,095m)2014 Mt Everest Marathon (from 5,364m)2015 North Pole Marathon (in temps down to -60!)



Primary magazine, spring 2017

35

Tag,you’reit!RUGBY League is in his

DNA, says Ian Smith – so being offered a job with Oldham RLFC was an op-

portunity he couldn’t turn down.His work as a development officer sees him training nine to 11-year-old boys and girls in six Oldham primaries and introducing them to the sport of tag rugby. Tag rugby is a non-contact team game in which each player wears a belt with two attached Velcro tags, or shorts with Velcro patches. Play is based on rugby and has many similarities to touch rugby, though tag rugby is sometimes con-sidered closer to the full-contact games. Attacking players attempt to dodge, evade and pass a rugby ball while defenders attempt to stop them scoring by “tagging” – pulling a vel-

cro attached tag from the boy or girl running with the ball. Two 50-minute training sessions are held each week for eight weeks, to prepare the youngsters for a special tag festival, which is held before a full Oldham RLFC home game once a term. Once training is complete a team of up to 12 is selected for the special event. Ian (51), who lives in Chadderton, teaches the year four, five and six pupils the rudiments of the game and how to pass, defend, catch and score tries. He is currently coaching at St Matthew’s CE, Holy Rosary, Broadfield, St Hilda’s CE, Alt Acad-emy and Lyndhurst primaries – all part of the Hathershaw College Sports Cluster – and hopes to visit almost all the borough’s primaries during the year.“They enjoy it,” he says. “The main

thing is for them to have fun by passing a rugby ball. “We teach them com-munication skills, hand-to-eye contact skills, and introduce them to the game. “It’s important to in-troduce this fantastic game to as many peo-ple as possible. At the moment I’m working with seven primaries but hope to get that number up to 15.”Rugby league has played a big part in Ian’s life, nurtured in him as a boy by his fa-ther, Roy, who played for Huddersfield in

the 1950s and would take him to Oldham’s Watersheddings to watch Oldham, then a major team attract-ing thousands of fans a week. Ian played as an amateur for several years, and for two decades worked for the Rugby Football League – the governing body for the pro game – and at Counthill at Hollingworth schools, where he was a learning mentor and a pastoral head. He did get into the pro game even-tually – as a Super League referee, taking charge of over 300 games in 12 years. Refereeing took him around the world, from Beirut to Cape Town and he also refereed 60 games in Perpignan, France, the home of Catalan Dragons. Ian was the championship’s referee of the year in 1999 and 2000 and he also helped to coach referees. “Rugby league is in my blood,” he says. “It’s a fantastic game and is a

big part of my life. If we can en-courage these youngsters to go along to watch Oldham RLFC with their families and friends, that would be great.”Lorna Philip, assistant principal and director of sport at Hathershaw College, said: “Ian has a lot of expe-rience in education as well as being a professional Super League referee. It’s fabulous for our feeder schools to get this level of coaching and for us to forge strong links for the youngsters with the club. “This year is the modern club’s 20th anniversary and I hope the children will be able to get involved with the celebrations. Ian, and club chair-man Chris Hamilton, have been very supportive about helping our young people to have access to live sport.”


Rugby fanatic Ian Smith is out in all weathers... teaching primary school pupils how to play the game

Ava Fernandez (left) and Luca Renfrew try their new-found passing skills.

Ian Smith from Oldham Rugby League Club, at St. Matthew’s Primary School.




35

Tag,you’reit!RUGBY League is in his

DNA, says Ian Smith – so being offered a job with Oldham RLFC was an op-

portunity he couldn’t turn down.His work as a development officer sees him training nine to 11-year-old boys and girls in six Oldham primaries and introducing them to the sport of tag rugby. Tag rugby is a non-contact team game in which each player wears a belt with two attached Velcro tags, or shorts with Velcro patches. Play is based on rugby and has many similarities to touch rugby, though tag rugby is sometimes con-sidered closer to the full-contact games. Attacking players attempt to dodge, evade and pass a rugby ball while defenders attempt to stop them scoring by “tagging” – pulling a vel-

cro attached tag from the boy or girl running with the ball. Two 50-minute training sessions are held each week for eight weeks, to prepare the youngsters for a special tag festival, which is held before a full Oldham RLFC home game once a term. Once training is complete a team of up to 12 is selected for the special event. Ian (51), who lives in Chadderton, teaches the year four, five and six pupils the rudiments of the game and how to pass, defend, catch and score tries. He is currently coaching at St Matthew’s CE, Holy Rosary, Broadfield, St Hilda’s CE, Alt Acad-emy and Lyndhurst primaries – all part of the Hathershaw College Sports Cluster – and hopes to visit almost all the borough’s primaries during the year.“They enjoy it,” he says. “The main

thing is for them to have fun by passing a rugby ball. “We teach them com-munication skills, hand-to-eye contact skills, and introduce them to the game. “It’s important to in-troduce this fantastic game to as many peo-ple as possible. At the moment I’m working with seven primaries but hope to get that number up to 15.”Rugby league has played a big part in Ian’s life, nurtured in him as a boy by his fa-ther, Roy, who played for Huddersfield in

the 1950s and would take him to Oldham’s Watersheddings to watch Oldham, then a major team attract-ing thousands of fans a week. Ian played as an amateur for several years, and for two decades worked for the Rugby Football League – the governing body for the pro game – and at Counthill at Hollingworth schools, where he was a learning mentor and a pastoral head. He did get into the pro game even-tually – as a Super League referee, taking charge of over 300 games in 12 years. Refereeing took him around the world, from Beirut to Cape Town and he also refereed 60 games in Perpignan, France, the home of Catalan Dragons. Ian was the championship’s referee of the year in 1999 and 2000 and he also helped to coach referees. “Rugby league is in my blood,” he says. “It’s a fantastic game and is a

big part of my life. If we can en-courage these youngsters to go along to watch Oldham RLFC with their families and friends, that would be great.”Lorna Philip, assistant principal and director of sport at Hathershaw College, said: “Ian has a lot of expe-rience in education as well as being a professional Super League referee. It’s fabulous for our feeder schools to get this level of coaching and for us to forge strong links for the youngsters with the club. “This year is the modern club’s 20th anniversary and I hope the children will be able to get involved with the celebrations. Ian, and club chair-man Chris Hamilton, have been very supportive about helping our young people to have access to live sport.”


Rugby fanatic Ian Smith is out in all weathers... teaching primary school pupils how to play the game

Ava Fernandez (left) and Luca Renfrew try their new-found passing skills.

Ian Smith from Oldham Rugby League Club, at St. Matthew’s Primary School.

FIDE

CUIVIDE

SED

If your child hasn’t been offered a place at their chosen primary school for September 2017, there is still time to join our boys and girls in Reception. Call our team or visit our website to find out more.

0161 624 4497 | www.ohgs.co.uk | [email protected]

DID YOUR CHILD SECURE THEIR RECEPTION CLASS PLACE?

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