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Posted on: 16/06/2021OSA Y8 Students Graduate from the Brilliant Club
Twelve year 8 students at Onslow St Audrey’s School in Hatfield have celebrated their virtual graduation following a university-style tutorial programme with a PHD tutor from King’s College, London.
Organised by the education charity ‘The Brilliant Club’, the students took part in ‘The Scholars Programme’ where they took on the challenge of becoming ‘Disease Detectives’ and completing a series of virtual lectures with their tutor. To graduate, the students then had to independently research and complete a 1500-word university-style assignment, which were submitted and marked by the university tutor. The programme was a resounding success, with half of the students achieving the highest grade of a first, and the other half achieving a 2.1 qualification.
Due to the lockdown rules, students took part in a virtual graduation-style celebration event alongside schools from up and down the UK, receiving certificates to mark their fantastic achievement and to congratulate them on completing the course.
Every student gained an insight into what university style learning looks like, taking part in confidence-building discussions with university staff and students and why they might want to apply in the future. Completing the programme was no mean feat, especially since the students had to complete the sessions during the spring term on top of their lockdown learning timetable at school. Mr. Finn, who was running the programme, said, “I am delighted that they have completed this at such a difficult time. The amount of resilience they have shown to keep up with the workload and the degree of challenge was inspiring. It has been a pleasure to work with them and I have been lucky to be a part of the process”.
Each student studied with their PHD researcher on the topic of contagious diseases, logging into virtual sessions and completing homework alongside their research from home. At the end of the course, they were given a deadline upon which they had to submit their assignments on how to tackle an outbreak of Malaria in Mali, Africa.
Year 8 student, Daniel Tual said, “The programme was challenging and fun and it was great to have the chance to learn about something that we wouldn’t normally do at school. I feel that getting this university grade puts me one step ahead, and if I choose university in the future, I am prepared for it”.
Posted on: 20/05/2021Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at Danes Educational Trust
In 2018 when our Trust was on the cusp of expanding beyond its original 2 schools, we brought together key stakeholders – teachers, support staff, governors and Trustees - to identify what is important for us and what we want our legacy to be. Out of this vision day, we identified 6 core values which underpin everything we do, one of these values is “we provide equality of opportunity and experience for all”.
It wasn’t until May 2020 and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement that we really reflected on how well we were living this value and whether there was more that could be done to advance equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in our schools.
St Clement Danes school decided to lead the way on auditing its current EDI practice with a view to achieving an external benchmark that would quality assure its commitment to equality. In part, this was in response to the challenge from current and former students demanding a more inclusive environment, a challenge welcomed by the school. The benchmark chosen was the Equaliteach Equalities Award which includes a rigorous audit of EDI practice aligned to Ofsted’s inspection framework: Behaviour and Welfare, Leadership and Management, Personal Development of Pupils and Teaching and Learning.
In order to bridge identified gaps, the school created a new, compelling vision for EDI: “At St Clement Danes we are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers and embracing the difference they bring to our school community. We want everyone in our school community to experience kindness and respect; and to be treated with the dignity they deserve”. The vision is supported by robust equality objectives, an EDI staff working group and an EDI student group. All staff have received training on the Equality Act, Unconscious Bias and the Public Sector Equality Duty and further training in partnership with Equaliteach is planned for the Summer Term.
The school has shown such energy and commitment to achieving the award that it has achieved it in just 8 months, a process that usually takes 18 months and is testament to the efforts of those involved in particular, Sarah Doyle, Assistant Headteacher.
Looking ahead, we would like all schools in our Trust to participate in the Award to ensure that all of our environments are ones where there is equality of opportunity and experience for everyone enabling all members of our community to be the best they can be.
Marianne Barlow
Head of Human Resources
Read more about the work done at St Clement Danes School as part of the audit in the article on their website.
Posted on: 29/04/2021Old Dane publishes debut novel
Simon Elson, who studied at St Clement Danes from 2012 – 2019, has published his first book ‘Hades Forest’ which will be available to purchase on Amazon from 1st May.
Simon spoke to Rachel Brindley, our Trust Improvement Director and Simon’s English Literature A Level teacher about publishing the book:
“I chose to self-publish the book so I can keep a greater percentage of profits per sale. Self-publishing also means that I don’t have to sign a contract that forbids me from ever switching genre for the rest of my writing career. I was offered a contract by a few small and medium-sized traditional publishers, but I turned them down. We will see if that decision pays off!”
He told Rachel her teaching continues to inspire him after leaving St Clement Danes:
“Thank you so much for two amazing years of teaching. The more time passes since my SCD experience, the more I look back on it with a grin like a Cheshire cat. You really inspired in me a passion for writing and reading that I didn’t know I had, and as you can clearly see, that has had a lasting impact on me far beyond school. Whether my writing is a success or not, I still find immense enjoyment in literature, and that’s mainly because of you. Thank you!”
We wish Simon the very best of luck with the launch of ‘Hades Forest’. You can order a copy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3dEdFtz
_________
Blurb from ‘Hades Forest’
Five tribes fight to the death
Only one can survive
In a dark vision of the near future, the Holy State of Borea is indoctrinating its citizens. No one is allowed to speak out against the government.
But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire for freedom - not for Perry Benson, at least. While his wife falls more and more in love with the state's regime, he searches for a way out.
His path forward becomes clear, and he escapes to a distant forest. The repressive state cannot find him here – yet he is not the only one living between the trees.
Perry must fight for his life, and unravel the government’s secrets… before he is killed by one of the five tribes of Hades Forest.
Posted on: 1/04/2021Elstree Screen Arts Academy joins Danes Educational Trust
On Thursday 1st April, Elstree Screen Arts Academy joined Danes Educational Trust – a multi-academy trust with schools in South and Mid Hertfordshire. The academy is excited about this strategic move and the increased scope and potential for collaboration it will bring.
Principal Chris Mitchell said “We are proud to be joining the Danes Educational Trust. As a leading, specialist creative academy for the culture industries, Elstree Screen Arts Academy can’t wait to bring our creative and technical zeal to this superb trust. We work with some of the best creative industry partners in the world and now we are joining an outstanding educational trust who believe in ‘making the difference together’. This is a defining moment in the brilliant Elstree Screen Arts Academy story.”
Students from the academy celebrated by recording this short video talking about their hopes for the future. You can watch the video here: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnBfbs0sAHk
The Danes Educational Trust is committed to ensuring that all its learners benefit from being part of the Trust and the opportunities afforded by this closer relationship. Following the move, the academy will keep its existing identity, including its ethos, motto and name, but students and staff will reap the benefits of collaboration on staff recruitment, training and projects of both an educational and resourcing nature.
The Danes Educational Trust was formed when St Clement Danes School, an outstanding school in Chorleywood, was asked to open a second school in South West Hertfordshire – Croxley Danes School. The Trust now comprises of two further schools Chancellor’s School and Onslow St Audrey’s School and primary school De Havilland.
Its CEO, Dr Josephine Valentine OBE was Headteacher at St Clement Danes for 20 years and is thrilled to be welcoming ESA into the Trust. “Danes Educational Trust is delighted and excited that Elstree Screen Arts Academy has joined our family of schools. The addition of this vibrant and exciting Academy will further enhance the diversity, joy and creativity experienced by students and staff across Danes Educational Trust. Working in partnership with schools to improve educational outcomes and experience for all is at the heart of our commitment to our learners”.
Posted on: 1/10/2020De Havilland Primary School joins Danes Educational Trust
Today, De Havilland Primary School became the first Primary School to join Danes Educational Trust – a multi-academy trust based in Chorleywood in the South West of the county. The school is excited about this strategic move and the increased scope and potential for collaboration it will bring.
Pupils from the school celebrated today by launching paper aeroplanes symbolising the school’s link with the De Havilland aircraft and the start of this journey. The planes were made by the children and each child wrote their career aspiration on the wings. Sarah King, Head of School at De Havilland said: “We have been working with Danes Educational Trust for a year now and are delighted to formally join. We are so excited to join the Trust, as we have the highest aspirations for our children. Together we can ensure our children are given the best possible learning opportunities over the coming months and in the years to come.”
The Danes Educational Trust, whose motto is “Making the difference together” is committed to ensuring that all its learners benefit from being part of the Trust and the opportunities afforded by this closer relationship. Following the move, the school will keep its existing identity, including its ethos, motto, name and uniform, but students and staff will reap the benefits of collaboration on staff recruitment, training and projects of both an educational and resourcing nature.
The Danes Educational Trust was formed when St Clement Danes School, an outstanding school in Chorleywood, was asked to open a second school in South West Hertfordshire – Croxley Danes School. The Trust now comprises of two further schools Chancellor’s School and Onslow St Audrey’s School.
Its CEO, Dr Josephine Valentine OBE was Headteacher at St Clement Danes for 20 years and is thrilled to be welcoming this local school into the Trust. “We are delighted that De Havilland will be the first primary school to join our Trust. We are excited to realise our vision of providing seamless, outstanding education for children and young people from 3 to 18 as they move from De Havilland to Onslow St Audrey’s and Chancellor’s schools who both became part of the Trust in the last year.”
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