Crawshaw School News Feed

CEOP / Facebook Online

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:57:40 GMT

Protect your child online

The text below was taken from an email that has been circulated to all schools, from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP.) We feel it is importat to share this information with parents in order to raise the profile of this important issue.

As you may have seen in the press recently, Facebook and the CEOP Centre have joined forces to make young people safer online by launching the new ‘ClickCEOP’ application. Launched on 12 July, all young users of Facebook – and their parents – are invited to add the new ClickCEOP ‘app’ to their profile. Through this app, they will be able to access advice, help and support from the CEOP Centre. Crucially, young people will be able to report instances of suspected grooming or inappropriate sexual behaviour directly from their profile to specially trained investigators.

The ‘app’ is the outcome of collaboration between CEOP and Facebook who have combined Facebook’s expertise in connecting and communicating online with CEOP’s expertise in helping young people stay safe.

Once added to their profiles, young users will receive regular messages from CEOP and its partner organisations who operate ‘behind the button’ to make children safer. CEOP’s new Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ClickCEOP) will also contain polls, news alerts and status updates. The page will look at topics that teenagers care about, such as celebrities, music and exams and will link these subjects to questions about online safety.

Users can either add or bookmark the ‘app’ so it appears on their profile, as not only a constant source of help and reassurance for them but also as a strong visual signal to their friends, family and others that they are in control online.

The move is also being supported by an advertising campaign on Facebook that will encourage take up. This will include an automatic advert appearing on every profile of users aged between 13-18 years inviting them to add the app.

Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre said:

“Today represents a huge step forward. By adding this app, Facebook users will have direct access to all the services that sit behind our ClickCEOP button and this should provide reassurance for the many parents whose teenage children use Facebook. “We know from speaking to offenders that a visible deterrent could protect young people online. We urge all Facebook users not only to add the app, but also to bookmark it so that others can see that they’re in control online. Our dialogue with Facebook about adopting the ClickCEOP button is well documented – this is a good day for child protection.”

Joanna Shields, Facebook’s Vice President for EMEA said:

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our users, which is why we have invested so much in making Facebook one of the safest places on the internet. There is no single silver bullet to making the internet safer but by joining forces with CEOP, we have developed a comprehensive solution which marries our expertise in technology with CEOP’s expertise in online safety. Together we have developed a new way of helping young people stays safe online and backed this with an awareness campaign to publicise it to young users. It is only through the constant and concerted effort of the industry, police, parents and young people themselves that we can all keep safe online – whether on Facebook or elsewhere.”

ClickCEOP in Facebook…

If you would like to support CEOP and Facebook’s initiative, please feel free to use any of the following updates for your Facebook or Twitter accounts or website.

1. Facebook status update

(Your organisation /fan group) ...is / are supporting the ClickCEOP app on Facebook – if you are interested in keeping young people safe online, add the app

2. Twitter update

If you work with young people, help them stay safe in #Facebook and get them to add the new #ClickCEOP app from www.facebook.com/ClickCEOP

3. Web site contentEvery young person on Facebook needs the ClickCEOP app – this is whyIf you work with teenagers, then you’ll know most of them will be using Facebook. You might even be using it yourself... if so, you will want to know about a new, free application in Facebook that is designed to keep young people safe while they are having fun networking online. ClickCEOP is a new ‘app’ launched today (Monday 12 July) which links the young user directly from their Facebook profile to help, advice and reporting facilities of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – the police agency set up to tackle child abuse. By adding the app, young people and parents can get support from CEOP on a range of issues – viruses, hacking, dealing with bullying online and they can report someone who is acting inappropriately towards them online. If you have a Facebook profile, app and bookmark the app. If children in your care are on Facebook, get them to search ‘ClickCEOP’ in Facebook and give them to chance to be one click away from help – if they should ever need it.

www.facebook.com/clickceop

Summer Holiday Activities

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:43:58 GMT

Leeds City Council run activities brochure for July and August

The Inner Pudsey Extended Services offer a range of activities for families in the Pudsey and Swinnow area. We have posted their brochure for 2010 here for your information. Make sure you check the booking code to ensure you are not disappointed.

Home Access Scheme

Fri, 28 May 2010 07:49:29 GMT

Government initiative to support students

The Government recently announced their Home Access scheme that will help more families to get online at home and is aimed at those who need it most. From 11 January 2010, families with children in years 3-9 have been able to apply for a grant to buy a computer and broadband connection. Crawshaw have recently received further information about this scheme.

Nationally, only 270,000 successful applications will be accepted and over 120,000 devices have been distributed so far. It is important that prompt action is taken in order for our children to benefit through this scheme. There are certain crietria that need to be met in order to be eligible. For more information as to how a parent can apply for a Home Access Grant call 03332001004 or visit www.homeaccess.org.uk

There is also a flier to download above.

Exam Arrangements

Thu, 13 May 2010 08:25:55 GMT

Information about exam period arrangements for GCSE / AS / A2

Click on the pdf link above to download a document which lists the arrangements for the forthcoming examination period.

SSAT celebrates high attainment

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:33:26 GMT

Crawshaw is recognised for its continued achievement and improvement of exam reseults

Crawshaw was amongst schools who have been recognised for their high attainment in the 2009 GCSE exams at an awards ceremony held in London by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. Mrs Ruse attended the event which recognised specialist schools and academies who achieved all of the following criteria:

· 60% or more 5+A*-C results including English and maths

· 53.7% (national average) or more 2+A*-C results in science subjects.

· 31.6% (national average) or more 1+A*-C results in modern foreign languages.

Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, said: 'Congratulations to all the specialist schools and academies that have met the criteria for our high attaining awards. These schools are enabling more young people to reach their full potential and succeed in the 21st century. It is important we celebrate these achievements as they are the product of hard work and dedication by school leaders, teachers and students. By sharing best practice and partnering with other schools through the SSAT's networks, they are also helping to deliver improvements across the whole school system.'

The ceremony and dinner was held at Kings Place, London on Tuesday 9 March. Guest speaker, Schools Minister Vernon Coaker, said: "It's encouraging to see so many specialist schools and academies achieving such high standards - a tribute to the hard work of pupils, teachers and schools."

''With the huge leap in standards over the last 13 years, schools now have to be not just very good, but truly excellent to distinguish themselves. In 1997 for example, one in two schools were falling short of the benchmark of 30 per cent of their pupils getting five or more good GCSEs - including maths and English. Today that figure is around one in 12 meaning the best schools have to work harder to stay ahead - and so it's great to be celebrating the achievements of these top performers. The Schools White Paper will help build on this kind of success by encouraging schools to work in partnership, with the best helping the rest to improve and helping us to build a world class schools' system that gives every single child the opportunity to succeed - wherever their talents lie."

Himalayan Visitors to Crawshaw

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:18:00 GMT

Crawshaw welcomes return visit from link school in India

Two teachers from a school in the Himalayan foothills will be visiting Crawshaw School this week (25 March – 1 April 2010), as part of a government-funded education initiative to widen young people’s knowledge of development issues.

The two teachers, from Gurdut Anglo Vedic (GAV) School in the Himachal Pradesh district of India, are visiting Crawshaw to further develop links with staff and pupils, as part of the Global School Partnerships programme. Teachers and pupils from the two schools have been working together on joint classroom activities to find out more about life and cultures in their different communities.

Steve Smyth, ICT teacher and Partnership Coordinator at Crawshaw, travelled with Deputy Headteacher, Jon Norden to India to visit their partners last November as the first step to developing the partnership. Mr Smyth said: “We learnt so much when we visited the GAV school, and brought back so much information to share with our pupils, so we are really looking forward to being able to host our guest here and for our pupils to meet our partners face to face.”

Mr Sukhvinder Singh, the School Principal of the GAV School, and Mrs Monica Sharma, an English teacher, will have the opportunity to meet staff and pupils at Crawshaw to develop further project ideas, observe lessons, visit the local community with staff and governors and get a flavour of local Yorkshire life attending a Bradford Bulls Rugby match and visiting tourist attractions including York Minster and Whitby.

Associate SLT member for Humanities Specialism, Robin Ghosal also added: “This partnership is very motivating for everyone involved. With Crawshaw being a Humanities specialist school, pupils have been learning about global issues such as sustainability and diversity and will have the chance to share their learning and gain insight into our partners’ experiences of these issues. Through these classroom activities, pupils involved on both sides will gain an understanding of their place in our global society and begin to see themselves as active global citizens.”

Funded by UKaid from the Department for International Development, the Global School Partnerships scheme supports teachers and students from UK to learn about global issues, together with partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Schools involved in the programme receive grants and support to visit their partner school and develop projects together, with the aim of developing young people’s commitment to a fairer, more sustainable world.

A report on the visit will follow in the coming weeks.

Crawshaw Receives DCSF Recognition!

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:04:22 GMT

Crawshaw is recognised for its continued achievement and improvement of exam reseults

I am delighted to report that I have received further confirmation of Crawshaw's continued development of high standards in education. On Wednesday I received a letter from Vernon Coaker MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners (DCSF,) stating that he is "delighted to congratulate the school on the excellent performance demonstrated at Key Stage 4 in the 2009 Achievement and Attainment Tables published on 18 January. The results for Crawshaw show that the school is amongst the top performing schools this year based on sustained improvement in 5+ A*-C GCSEs (and equivalent) including mathematics GCSEs." He added "Please pass on my thanks and congratuations to your pupils, staff and governors for their hard work and success, and send my best wishes for continued improvement in the year ahead."

This was backed up by Paul Truswell MP, who emailed me to congratulate the school on coming 64th in the UK for improvements in GCSE results. Paul added that "it's a great achievement of which staff, students, governors and the community can be rightly proud."

Joanna Ruse

An audience with a dragon!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:30:38 GMT

Business Students attend an audience with Theo Paphitis

On the 16 November four of our Year 13 Business Studies students were lucky enough to be chosen to attend and 'Audience with Theo Paphitis' at the Royal Armouries.

Dragons Den Celebrity and self made millionaire Theo Paphitis was in Leeds to talk to sixth form students about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Our lucky students Brad Wood, Alice Gill, Max Haley Neilson and Joe Smith thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were chosen to be photographed with Theo. They now have the opportunity to be selected by Theo to be mentored through university as part of his very own 'Masterclass'.

Student Photography Success

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:00:47 GMT

Crawshaw Student wins National Photography Competition

Year 9 student Luke Hudson has become the winner of a National Photographic Competition after beating hundreds of other students to claim his prize at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Luke was one of 30 students who participated in the Colliers Green Focus programme, which enabled children to explore their environment through the medium of photography. They were given the opportunity to spend a day with a professional photographer and geographer to discover the changing urban landscape in Leeds city centre. Armed with digital cameras, the group visited the area along the River Aire where they captured representations of Leeds and considered the contrasts between old and new. It was a brilliant opportunity for the students to experience geography in a fun yet meaningful way. The pupils were able to contextualize the urban and local geography they had seen in the classroom with many being able to make connections between the factors that led to the growth of Leeds and the recent developments in the city.

They were led on their field trip by Richard Chivers, a professional photographer and Gyles Morris, a geography leader. Richard said: "The students seemed to really enjoy the photography aspect of the day showing a real keen interest which was reflected in their photographs."

The students were asked to enter their top five photographs and a short list was chosen to be displayed at the Photographers’ Gallery in London during September. Olivia McDermott, Laura McMullen, Kelsy Wharton and George Rainford were amongst the finalists who enjoyed a visit to the RGS for the national awards ceremony. The judges had a difficult decision selecting a winner from the high standard of entries, but ultimately declared (a very modest!) Luke Hudson the winner. The judges commented on the exceptional composition of the image that fully embraced the aims of the fieldtrip.

The short listed photographs can be viewed at http://www.colliersgreenfocus.com/gallery.htm and an image from each student involved in the workshop can be seen at http://www.photonet.org.uk/colliersgreenfocus/

Crawshaw Exam Results

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 09:08:45 GMT

A brief run-down of our results

A Level students excelled themselves, with 79% of Year 13 leaver students achieving grades A - C in all subjects and 56% achieving A - B in all subjects. 100% of students leaving for university were accepted on their first or second choice of university. I wish all leavers every success in the future and look forward to receiving reports as to their progress in due course.

GCSE students smashed last year's results, with 59% of students achieving at least 5 grades A* - C including English & Maths. This figure is a 10% improvement on last year. To put this achievement into context, this figure exceeds our target and brings us in line with the top 25% in the country. 69% of students achieved at least 5 grades A* - C in all subjects and 92% of students achieved at least 5 grades A* - G. There were tears of joy amongst the building work as the students' high flying results were mirrored in the renovations that will further enhance the school facilities and what we have to offer in future. As ever, we are constantly looking at areas for development and there is still much to be done to ensure that we consolidate on these results. In the meantime, students and staff deserve a big pat on the back for their hard work and outstanding achievements.

Mrs J Ruse

Headteacher