The Raedwald Trust is a grass roots Multi Academy Trust (a group of schools that work and collaborate together) that is singularly committed to raising outcomes and life opportunities for vulnerable children, children who have behaviours that present challenges to adults and children who have experienced exclusion.
A partnership of alternative provisions and bespoke pathways, the Trust serves children and young people requiring a different route to success.
The Raedwald Trust aims to be a centre of excellence with high expectations, positive student attitudes, good behaviour and a clear focus on raising standards and ensuring progress for all. Learning and teaching is at the heart of the Trust, with the belief that every minute should be a learning minute for students.
By fostering an ethos firmly rooted in social justice, civic values and lifelong learning, the Trust has a culture where every student feels valued and every member of staff is committed to students achieving their very best.
Angela Ransby, CEO of the Raedwald Trust said: “Across the Trust we always aim to be courageous and kind, organic but organised, look to keep children safe first (and then we teach), to stay responsive to the changing needs of our community and to provide an excellent service to schools, families and the local area.
“We also have some exciting new projects on the horizon: Medical Needs in Schools (MNIS) Suffolk is a project focused on how we can work together with the NHS and other organisations to best support our young people with medical needs.
“‘Cultural capital’ experiences are also a key priority for us. It’s important that our students have the skills, knowledge, norms and values which they can use to get ahead in education and life more generally. We also have a focus on British Sign Language at Parkside Academy which gives our students a new skill and an understanding of inclusion and diversity, as well as exposure to another language, with a fantastic teacher who is non-hearing.
“We are so proud of what the Trust has achieved, and we are excited about the future. Plans include creating a community centre on one of our sites which will deliver adult education to the adults in our childrens’ lives, to offer a food bank, to teach and reteach siblings of our children, and to offer early help in the form of services and surgeries on our sites. Ultimately we want to be the go-to Special Education Needs (SEN) hub for Ipswich.”
The Raedwald Trust is made up of nine schools across Ipswich and West Suffolk, including Parkside Academy, Westbridge Academy, Lindbergh Campus, Ipswich Hospital School, Alderwood Academy, First Base Bury St Edmunds Academy, Montgomery Road Campus, St Christopher’s Academy and First Base Ipswich Academy. It also delivers outreach services to schools across Suffolk. For more information about the Raedwald Trust or to arrange a visit, click here for contact details.
Digital systems across the whole of the Raedwald Trust have been given a boost thanks to a huge project that has improved IT systems at all school sites.
Young people across the Trust can now benefit from faster and more reliable internet access, enabling them to use more web-based systems and tools – ultimately opening the door to new opportunities to support and enhance their learning.
The now-complete digital-enhancement project took place over four months. It involved making sure all schools are on the fastest possible fibre broadband available (over four times the previous speed at some sites!), updating WiFi systems so wireless devices like laptops and tablets can work with faster internet and network speeds, upgrading the network cabling and harmonising and upgrading the internet filtering service to further enhance internet safety.
The enhanced internet filtering and monitoring service included in the upgrade also means that staff and students now benefit from proactive internet monitoring across the network. This is a recent requirement from the DFE (Department for Education) proscribed in their statutory guidance for all English schools; Keeping children safe in education, (September 2019) and it brings the Trust into full alignment with these stringent new national safety expectations.
Kim Charlesworth, Head of School at Lindbergh Campus said: “Both staff and students have benefitted from the improved internet service at Lindbergh. It is easier to communicate between staff at different sites and lessons can be planned and delivered in a more efficient way. Teachers are now trialling new technologies to further enhance student experience.”
This investment in the facilities at the Trust brings the IT systems right up to date. Before the update, the old systems in place meant that it was impossible for students to use all of the latest technology available to them. Now, there is nothing standing in
the way of young people at the Raedwald Trust from using the latest technology to expand their digital skills and future opportunities.
Ofsted visited Westbridge Academy in March 2019 and we are pleased to announce that it has maintained its ‘good’ rating.
Inspectors found that ‘the personalisation of the offer to pupils is an important part of the school’s ethos and allows a different package of academic and social support to be given
to meet individual needs’.
To read the full story in the Ipswich Star, please click here.
Ofsted inspectors visited Parkside Academy, Lindbergh Campus and the Ipswich Hospital School in March 2019. We are pleased to announce that all three provisions have maintained their ‘good’ rating.
Inspectors found that pupils across all three sites are “happy and positive” about their experiences at school and have good, respectful relationships with teachers and staff.
To read the full story in the Ipswich Star, please click here.
Suffolk Through a Child’s Eyes
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As part of the Suffolk County Council’s work to explore life for children in Suffolk, ‘Suffolk Through a Child’s Eyes’, students from Parkside Academy took part in a 2 hour workshop with Signals Media to design animations to present their views of what life is like for them. Students were involved, creative and superb representatives for their school.
The video can be viewed here. and find the full report here healthysuffolk.org.uk/uploads/SF1863[
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Snape Maltings Visit
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During June and July Snape Maltings brought four producer musicians in to work with the students from Lindbergh and Westbridge.
At Westbridge the students worked on lyric writing, track making in the studio and playing piano live.They also had singing lessons and introductions to Sax playing amongst other things.
Some amazing music was generated and the students enjoyed it thoroughly.
You can hear some of the work in progress tracks here.
The Musicians plan to come back in the autumn term to take this work further. Watch this space…
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Pizza at Parkside Academy
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In community time at Parkside last week, as an end of year celebration the ‘Blue Dragon” community group ordered pizzas and reminisced on the successful academic year we have all had.
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The Science of Party Poppers!
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In a recent Science workshop at Parkside Academy, we explored the ‘Science of party poppers’ to see if there is a relationship between the colour and the force needed to make them pop – it was a lot of fun. We concluded that the darker the colour the more force needed to pop!
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STEAM at Montgomery Road Campus
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Students from Montgomery Road Campus’ STEAM group demonstrate their sound and light inventions made for the children’s play area at the La Tour Cycle Cafe in Ipswich.
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St Christopher’s Academy visit to Pizza Express
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Last Tuesday pupils from St Christopher’s Academy visited Pizza Express where they had the opportunity to make their own pizzas. When they arrived pupils washed their hands and then they were taught how to prepare the dough. The boys particularly enjoyed kneading the dough because it was so spongy. They loved it when the flour blew everywhere! They all got to make Margherita pizzas. It was a great trip and the pupils got to take their pizzas home afterwards to enjoy! The boys made us so proud with their good choices and behaviour at the restaurant. Afterwards we wrote thank you letters to Pizza Express.
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The Launch of Friends of Raedwald Trust (FORT)
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A new community initiative has been launched by the Raedwald Trust to help make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in Suffolk. The Friends of Raedwald Trust was launched at an uplifting event, hosted at Quay Place in Ipswich on Wednesday, July 3, with over 30 local business representatives, dignitaries and individuals pledging to support young people by sharing their skills, resources and expertise.
The Raedwald Trust is a Multi-Academy Trust which provides alternative education for pupils of primary and secondary age with a range of behavioural, medical and special educational needs, as well as exclusion from mainstream school. To support their work with vulnerable young people, the Raedwald Trust is calling on individuals and businesses to come together and build a network of role models and mentors that will help to enhance the skills, confidence and employability for pupils across the Trust’s eight sites in Ipswich and one site in Bury St Edmunds.
Friends of Raedwald Trust could help with mentoring a young person, offering work experience, providing equipment or consultancy to the Trust, or volunteering with a specific project such as gardening at one of the Trust’s schools.
Angela Ransby, CEO of The Raedwald Trust, said: “We firmly believe that, by bringing the community together, we can provide young people with the skills, experiences and opportunities they need to counter the disadvantages they face. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the launch of our Friends of Raedwald Trust initiative, and to all the community representatives who have already pledged their support.”
Roger Fern, Chairman of Raedwald Trust, said: “The issues of knife crime, county lines and mental health are everyone’s responsibility and, by harnessing the power within our community, we believe we can make a real difference in young people’s lives.”
To find out more about the Friends of Raedwald Trust, or to sign up as a Friend, visit www.raedwaldtrust.org or call 01473 550 472.
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Music Day at Lindbergh Campus
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Great fun was had at Lindbergh Campus on Monday, celebrating Music Day with a fancy dress competition, music quizzes, karaoke as well as an afternoon of music production and lyric writing with Musicians from Snape.
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Brickmaker’s Wood
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Brandon joined the Skills4Life programme at Brickmaker’s Wood during his time at Westbridge Academy. Below is a video Brandon made documenting the positive outcomes he gained whilst attending the programme. Well done Brandon!
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Unicef UK’s Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA)
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We are very pleased to tell you that we have recently been awarded the first stage of Unicef UK’s Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA), Bronze: Rights Committed at Westbridge Academy. This achievement shows that we are committed to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school.
We have set up a pupil-led steering group and, over the last term, we have been introducing all students to their rights as a young person. We have explored the right to not be discriminated against, discussed whether young people in other countries have access to the same rights and have raised money through the Unicef/Clarks ShoeShare scheme to help less unfortunate children to go to school.
Right Respecting Schools across the country have reported that that the Award has many positive impacts including improved relationships, wellbeing and self-esteem, leading to better attendance and improved learning. We are now going to embed a rights respecting focus into the curriculum and go for Silver!
If you would like to find out more or be part of the RRSA Steering Group please contact Emily at Westbridge on adminwestbridge@raedwaldtrust.org
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Pizzas at Parkside!
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Pupils at Parkside Academy recently made pizzas and added ingredients in the shape of plant & animal cells as part of their Science project.
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STEAM at Montgomery Road Campus
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The STEAM group at Montgomery Road Campus try out their self-made windproof microphones at Alton Water. They really started listening to their environment and one commented on how relaxing it was.
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British Science Week at Westbridge Academy
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To celebrate British Science Week this year, Westbridge had a few activities going on. Along with science demonstrations and activities in lessons, we had a whole school CSI Day. It was amazing to see all the students really interested and engaged in the proceedings, taking it really seriously.
There was a crime science, forensics lab and interview rooms to interrogate suspects, the staff’s acting skills were on point!
We can’t wait until CSI Day next year and are interested in making it a Trust-wide event.
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Year 7, 8 and 9 Spring Fayre and Exhibition at Parkside Academy
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Last week Year 9 pupils at Parkside held a very successful Spring Fayre as part of their exhibition of project based learning and raised in the process an amazing £112.21 for Comic Relief. During their project, they learned about probability in Maths and then used this knowledge to create games that were based on probability including: a tombola, hook a duck and higher or lower and pick a square.
Mrs Duke and Mrs Orbell were delighted with the Year 9’s ability to run their stalls and organise the event.
In addition, Year 7 and 8 organised an exhibition of their work on ‘How can we plan a journey that takes us out of our world?’. Exhibits included work from Science and PBL where pupils have asked the question ‘How could we colonise Mars?’. Pupils made biomes in Science and undertook aerodynamic experiments in PBL.
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