Withington Girls' School case studies (41)

Impact of partnership work done in 2020 (ISC annual Census 2019)

• 15 state schools involved
• 500+ state school pupils involved
• 1100 staff hours given

Impact Statement

Withington Girls’ School is very active in working with state schools and a summary of the classes taught shows that over 700 children from state schools benefitted in the last year.

The SHINE programme, providing Saturday morning classes to local children from primary schools, ran for the 11th year in a row and over 50 children from state schools took part. The project is aimed to enthuse, inspire and raise the aspirations of these children, many of whom are from socially or economically deprived backgrounds. The programme initially offered Science classes only but has been extended to incorporate Design Technology, Food & Textiles Technology and Classics sessions in the last four years.

As a member of North West Gifted & Talented, a local charity, the School ran two events for boys & girls from the local community on a Saturday. Over 25 children took part.
There was a significant increase in the partnership activities with local schools organised by the Science Departments. Three examples are given below:

• Over 150 children took part in Science lessons delivered by our teachers at St Mary’s Church of England Primary School during Science Week in March 2018.
• More than 200 children from St Teresa’s Primary School in Stretford took part in a Junior Science Day in June delivered by one of our Chemistry teachers.
• The Head of Chemistry, in conjunction with Lower Sixth pupils, ran a Chemistry Communicators event in March 2018. Over 60 Year 5/6 pupils from Acacias Primary School took part as well as twelve Year 6 pupils from The Birches Specialist Support Primary School.

The School continues to provide support and share resources with state schools. A Digital Wellbeing information session was hosted for parents and staff from four local primary schools. This initiative was led by our Deputy Head and members of the Digital Wellbeing Team. We continue to provide opportunities for state school pupils to benefit from Mock University Interviews. In September 2018, a Cambridge Medical Applications Lecture was delivered at lunchtime and 30 state school pupils (from Whalley Range High School and William Hulme’s Grammar School) took part. The lecture was set up to assist pupils in their preparation to apply for Medicine at University.

The Head of Economics organises a termly consortium for Economics teachers in the area which facilitates discussion about the curriculum, pupil performance and assessments.

There have been numerous competitions involving Withington and state School pupils during the year. One example is the Faraday Challenge which is hosted in the School and to which 5 other state schools were involved. Another event which has benefitted all pupils is the hosting of Geographical Association events. These events are open to pupils from state schools and provide an opportunity for pupils to hear from experts in their field, many of whom are retired academics.