Gloucestershire County Council - Community Learning in Schools

Ashchurch Primary School - Ashchurch, Tewkesbury

SCHOOL INFORMATION & BACKGROUND

Ashchurch Primary is a semi rural school with around 120 pupils currently on roll. It is located in the village of Ashchurch, just east of Tewkesbury. The school serves a wide-ranging social catchment, including a Ministry of Defence Base. It has also been officially recognised as one of the top 100 most improved schools countrywide in 2000.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT

The main school accommodation occupies a Victorian building. Therefore, like many other school buildings of this age, it has its fair share of structural and damp problems. Most of these problems were confined to the first floor area which left the head teacher with a problem in that:

· A growing school had approximately 22 square metres of unused and fast deteriorating accommodation which had the potential to be a valuable resource to the school, and its surrounding community.

· This accommodation couldn't be utilised without a huge amount of investment, time , commitment and determination.

But what to do with the space? The headteacher had long wanted to use the space for a wraparound care provision for the pupils and to provide Information Technology Opportunities to the community. However to achieve this investment in excess of £125,000 was needed.

AIMS OF THE PROJECT

The main aim was to turn:

This.....

This.....

And this.....

Into:

……. A quiet area for children who receive after school care....

..An activity Room…

….and an ICT Suite for school & community usage…...

The above are superb examples of the what can be achieved through vision, dedication and determination of a committed staff, despite numerous set backs which could have deterred a lesser staff. It is this kind of effort that brings to life the aims of the Gloucestershire Education Development Plan 2002-2007 (EDP 02-07).

WHAT KNOWLEDGE/EVENTS DID IT BUILD UPON?

Headteacher Judith Price knew exactly what she wanted to achieve from the space, this was key to funding the project. To receive extra monies for many school projects it is imperative that the need is determined first, this helps source suitable pots of money.

To achieve the major building works at Ashchurch money was sourced from:

· Local companies such as Moog.
· School fundraising through the PFTA
· Grant opportunities including:
New Opportunities Fund - Refurbishment/revenue funding.
Seeds Challenge - specifically for New build works.
Capital formula - New works
Small schools cluster bids - to pay for IT technician when completed.

'Communities and organisations which have learning at their heart' (EDP 02-07)

As well as utilising the space the headteacher was also aware of the potential users for any new facilities. An Army base is located within the immediate vicinity of the school therefore there are many wives who are often left for long periods of time whilst partners are away on exercise. These exercises often make it difficult for the remaining partner to obtain work or join any training opportunities because of childcare. The new facilities had the potential to offer childcare and training on the door step.

ACTIVITIES

Although not strictly an activity of the new facilities it is important to note that the following actions all needed to be undertaken as part of the project, and each.

· March 2000: liaised with the LEA to conduct a feasibility study of the area for its intended purpose including questionnaires to the community.

· June 2000: deadline for submission on many of the capital bids. Voluminous amounts of detailed paperwork necessary to prove the project had been thought through beyond the initial build.

· October 2000: Notification of success/failure of various bid applications. Some bids granted with 'use by' date restrictions.

· December 2000: plans being drawn up, sourcing funds for equipment etc.

· March 2001: some 'use by' dates expire whilst waiting for planning permission. Hence some funding withdrawn, need to re apply for certain funds and the long wait for verification of funds.

· May 2001: builders move in, estimated completion date of 25th July 2001

· September 2001: due to open to fulfil grant conditions, many items still not meeting safety regulations. Social Services final inspection before opening delayed until very last minute as builders still present.

· Day before Autumn Term begins, Builders leave - only 6 weeks late!

After School Club

One of the main uses of the new space is the after school club ' Sparkies ' this operates in 2 of the three rooms. Children can take part in activities such as:

Reading Art & Crafts Outside Games Television Information Technology Board Games Relaxing in the quiet room.

The club can cater for 22 children at any one time during term time and 40 during holidays with extended hours from 8am till 6pm when the school hall and playground can also be used.

Due to legal requirements the out of hours facility must be self-funding, therefore the running costs are met by the charges to parents which are comparable with any other similar facility. To break even the club needs 15 children at a session, therefore in the early days it was essential to have some reserves to draw on. To ensure that minimum reserves were drawn upon an advertising campaign was mounted in Village publication and the local newspapers to draws attention to the facilities.

Community Usage

Whilst the after school club is an attraction to the children the computer suite is a benefit to many in the community. Like many other schools Ashchurch has opened it's new suite to the public for accredited training. It has links with Gloscat (Gloucestershire College for Arts and Technology) to deliver courses such as CLAIT (Computer Literacy & Information Technology which are well subscribed. As in so many other cases learning on the school site is beneficial in that

It is familiar territory to parents · The buildings are fully utilised · Classes are small and informal · Attracts all age groups · Social interaction
	When the pupils are not using the suite parents who have attended courses often come in to sharpen their skills.

Computer suites indeed have many advantages once up and running. However as the school has discovered there are many associated aspects, which need to be covered, to ensure your new computers are a success:

Before purchasing expensive hardware the school honed in on the community aspect by liaising with the Market Towns Initiative to offer 'training in the community'. This ran on the basis of 2 sessions a week for 2 terms with lap top computers being brought to the school for the sessions. This was advantageous in that there was no immediate financial outlay and the trainers has specific experience of delivering this type of programme to community learners.

If the taster groups are going well look into additional funding, it is often out there, but may mean yet more bid completing. Ashchurch used funds from the Government to continue taster sessions on in house machines, which the school paid for.

Getting the machines is purely the start. Once you have them they need maintaining by a technician who knows about school networks. Yet again look to your existing resources; in this case it was to the local School Cluster network. Aschurch, along with 4 other schools in the area, successfully bid for a small school grant, this funds a part time technician who visits the school regularly to remedy any IT problems.

SUCCESS OF PROJECT / EVALUATION

…………Importance of community relationships…………..

Many were already established therefore increasing opportunities for local support and funding. Also during the building work the village hall, located next to the school, was used successfully as temporary class accommodation.

'Equality of opportunity with learning accessible for all'…..EDP 02-07

The flexibility of the after school club doesn't restrict any social group. Working families tax credit is available for families and there is also a 25% discount for siblings. Children can attend for varying amounts of time for example:

· 3.15 - 4.30pm £3.50
· 3.15 - 5.00pm £5.00
· 3.15 - 6.00pm £6.00

These costs are comparable to a nursery/childminder and there are no retainer fees,
which makes it much more affordable and brings more of the community to the school.

Parents have become more positively involved in the school. Three parents have taken advantage of the opportunities offered and have registered on Learning Support Worker courses this year and will be doing their work placements in school. The school has also been accepted as a training establishment for teachers and has trained a local lady full time under the G.T.T programme.

FUTURE PLANS

To let the facilities for corporate use, the separate access to the computer suite lends itself beautifully to external usage without impeding the safety of the children. This would also generate more funding which could be ploughed back in.

'Provision which instils the love of learning, which makes learning fun, so that children, young people and adults will be helped to aquire the learning habit, to want to develop their skills, knowledge and insights thoughout their lives' (EDP 02-07)

Expand the wrap around care to include pre school provision for children aged 3-4 so they can attend workshops with their parents and get used to the school environment before attending formally. It is hoped that this could lead to a regular Family Learning programme.