The Manchester Grammar School case studies (29)

Impact of partnership work done in 2023 (ISC annual Census 2024)

• 24 state schools involved
• 201-500 state school pupils involved
• 950 staff hours given

Academies or free schools sponsored

• New Islington Free School

Impact Statement

Partnership: Manchester Swire Chinese Language Programme

We are now in the seventh year of our partnership with the Swire Chinese Language Foundation. Our aim is to secure a major expansion of the teaching and learning of Chinese throughout schools in Manchester and beyond. It is envisaged that the project will act as a catalyst to enable the teaching of Chinese to become self-sustaining in due course. We are currently working in partnership with Blacko Primary School, Laneshaw Bridge Primary School, Lord Street Primary School, Colne Park High School, Co-op Academy Failsworth, Co-op Academy Swinton, Pioneer House High School and Loreto Sixth Form College. In March 2022, MGS hosted the inaugural Swire Chinese Student Conference which was attended by 240 secondary school students and 40 teachers of Mandarin from across the UK.

Partnership: Blackden Trust

We continue to support The Blackden Trust, an inspirational cultural hub which provides art events and tours for adults alongside special interest days and site-specific, focused educational courses for schools. Our Year 8 Enrichment programme – Stars and Stones - is inspired by the site, and includes an exploration of wide-ranging topics, including Astronomy, Archaeology, History of Medicine, Witchcraft, Storytelling and Folklore, all of which are related to the life and work of the author, Alan Garner. We were delighted to be able to take the whole of Year 8 to visit to The Blackden Trust in 2022, after a two-year Covid-induced hiatus, where a band of enthusiastic volunteers taught the boys about the astounding history and cultural resources that have been unearthed on the site. We were honoured that Alan Garner dedicated his latest novel, ‘Treacle Walker’ – short-listed for the Booker Prize - to the school, citing that “MGS is the point without which I would never have been able to write”

Partnership: The Bursary Foundation

MGS has partnered with The Bursary Foundation since 2018. The charity which works closely with primary schools in Manchester and Salford to identify pupils with high potential from low-income backgrounds and supports these pupils with tutoring and mentoring so that they and their families are well prepared and well informed before sitting entrance exams for MGS and other partner schools. Each year, The Bursary Foundation supports pupils who wouldn't otherwise be making applications to private schools or accessing bursary funding.

Charitable Fundraising

Our pupils continued their charitable fundraising efforts raising £11,800 for a variety of charities. The boys chose to support UNICEF, to address the humanitarian crisis faced by those displaced by wars and continued to support Shiners School in Kenya, which enables children from the slums to access education. This year also saw a return of the Stuart Dale football match, between an all-star parents’ team and the staff for Macmillan Nurses. Pupils in the Junior School raised money for the NSPCC with their colour stalls and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital with their concert. The return of Karaoke was welcomed and featured in the Senior School with a range of staff and pupils on show. On Mufti day the ‘Taskmaster Champion of Champions’ event saw the boys take on crazy challenges in front of their peers in the Cryne Theatre. Pupils helped sort and pack seven tonnes of

textbooks and cricket equipment with the help of the porters, which were shipped Uganda, headed for schools in the Busoga region. Once again the School awash with Poppies for the annual poppy sale raising funds for the British Legion.

MGS Staff in the Community

MGS staff gave over 7200 volunteering hours last year to support community groups involved in music, sport, religious, and education and youth settings. Many are involved in public life in roles such as Charity Trustees, Non-Executive Directors, Vice Presidents, supporting local politics and the local judiciary. Twelve employees are members of the governing body in local schools in the maintained sector and currently 21 members of staff work for national examination boards including The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. MGS staff have had academic papers published in national journals and have published and contributed to school resources and text books.

Supporting Specific Learning Difficulties

We currently support just under 200 MGS pupils who have diagnosed Specific Learning Difficulties such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD and also pupils who are on the Autistic Spectrum. In the past 12 months we have seen a significant increase with Social and Emotional problems who are also seeking help within the SEND department. The School funds five full-time members of staff and a part-time teacher of English who focuses on the higher level needs of our dyslexic pupils in Years 11-13. Within the department we have staff who are able to assess and diagnose pupils. This sets us apart from many other schools and means that parents are not required to pay for expensive private Educational Psychologists report or have lengthy waits to be seen by the NHS. We currently have 3 pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans. These pupils receive some funding from their LEA but any further needs are met by school. We look to support all of our SEND pupils from within the department and if the needs of a pupil are complex, we look to fund their support as part of whole school inclusion. We are proud that our SEND pupils go out to represent MGS at many of the top universities and across all disciplines.

Volunteering

Volunteering is a staple of the 6th Form Enrichment programme, involving 128 student volunteers and 19 members of MGS staff. The activities include supporting the French, Maths, Science and Literacy curriculum in primary schools across Manchester, supporting the EAL literacy programme at Manchester Academy North, supporting pupils at Piper Hill Special School as well as working with Manchester City Council in offering language and literacy support to children in the Afghan Resettlement Scheme Project. The Withington

Digital Assist programme has also seen our boys give a helping hand to an older person who wants to learn more about their electronic devices. In addition, this year we started working with Together Dementia Trust attending their friendship group in Longsight; we have enjoyed activities from dancing and singing to accompanying the group to dementia friendly performances at the Halle and the Bridgewater Hall.

MGS volunteers worked once again with Canon and Mrs Wyatt to support Salford Community projects linked to St Paul’s Church throughout the year. In the Christmas holiday, over 40 student and staff volunteers helped to sort and deliver 464 gifts, generously donated by the MGS community, to homes across Salford as well as to the children supported by Salford Council.

Middle School students continued to volunteer with the reception class at St. Mary’s in Levenshulme with literacy and language lessons. The Friends of Birchfields Park are also very pleased with the Middle School volunteers who pick litter each week in the park. Chess and Chat is a new addition to the Middle School volunteering programm; pupils have enjoyed their weekly visits to St Peter’s High School in Gorton, they have enjoyed the weekly chess challenge as well as the friendships that have developed.