To celebrate ‘Programming for Primaries Week’, we spoke with experts from across the digital industry to better understand why teaching digital skills to children from an early age is so important to both their educational journey and their future career prospects.

Broadly defined as the tools needed for a person to “use digital devices, communication applications and networks to access and manage information”, the term ‘digital skills’ covers a wide range of topics and competencies – from the fundamentals of how to access the internet, right through to writing code.

While many of today’s school-age young people have been using digital devices since they were old enough to walk, there are still a startling volume of people; not only among older generations, who lack the basic computer literacy to support themselves in their personal and working lives.

So, why are digital skills so important? And why should we be ensuring that these skills are developed from an early age?

In the modern world, there are few jobs available which don’t require some level of digital savvy. From cash registers to contactless payments and emails to video conferencing, the business of business relies heavily on computer technologies and as time goes on, this is only going to increase.

Our reliance on technology has been brought into even starker contrast through the Coronavirus pandemic. During the extensive periods of lockdown, our computers and mobile devices have enabled us to work, learn and socialise from home – helping millions of people to stay connected at a time when we had to physically keep apart.

While hope is on the horizon for a return to ‘normal’ on 21 June, whatever the new normal looks like, many of the diversifications that organisations have had to make in the past year are likely to stick around for some time to come.

James Lane, Sector Manager for Digital at education and skills charity and national awarding organisation, NCFE, commented:

“The digital skills that were once seen as ‘desirable’ by employers are now necessary requirements. While this is of course a reactive response to the current situation, the skills that children as young as six have acquired through the course of remote learning will (if maintained) stand them in good stead for what is almost certainly going to be the ‘new normal’ of learning and working life.

“The need for these skills is twofold. Firstly, all jobs require some element of digital awareness – to even apply for a job in most industries, employers expect applicants to either fill in an application online, or submit a CV via email. Secondly, in light of the pandemic, the digital sector is growing. Businesses have had to adapt in order to remain trading through lockdown which has seen a boom in e-commerce and the demand for web-based services – creating subsequent job opportunities for digital experts with the right skill sets.”

While ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has been part of the UK’s National Curriculum since 2009, some of the more advanced elements, such as programming and coding, are not introduced until learners reach secondary school.

It’s felt by the digital community that Year 8 (age 13+) is just too late to introduce this into the curriculum, which is why Programming for Primaries Week was launched back in 2014 to shine a spotlight on the support and resources that are available to primary schools to help introduce these skills earlier.

James continued:

“For those wanting to enter the digital sector as a programmer or software developer, programming skills are obviously essential – but the fundamentals of these actually sit in the language of logic.

“When we talk about programming languages, such as Python and C#, the conversation can sometimes focus on syntax, ie, how pieces of code are strung together. Naturally, as technology continues to advance, we don’t know what programming language might look like 20 years from now, but it could be a matter of syntax, which is why teaching children and young people the fundamentals of how and why things work in the way they do is so important for their skill development.”

Matt Peters, Managing Director at EdTech provider, U-Explore, which specialises in careers guidance for young people in schools and colleges, added:

“The role that schools play in helping to set learners up for future success is as much about equipping them with the skills they need as it is the aspiration to pursue digital as a career path.

“As we continue to transition to a more digital economy, we’re going to see more and more demand across a wide range of industry sectors for candidates with highly-developed digital skills to fill those ‘next generation’ job roles.

“While we might not know exactly what the requirements of these roles will be yet, the earlier we are able to introduce children and young people to the digital industry and start to develop their skills and confidence in using computers, the better.”

In some respects, the imposed lockdown caused by the pandemic has actually benefitted some pupils’ digital literacy, as they have had no choice but to learn how to access classes and complete and submit work remotely. For others, lockdown has simply further highlighted the digital skills gap which exists, most commonly in those areas of high economic deprivation. In some cases, the digital skills gap is generational, in others, the lack of understanding is due to lack of access.

Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (NCEAT) has issued over 800 Chromebooks and reformatted laptops to learners across its primary and secondary campuses throughout lockdown to support them with their remote learning.

Roger Pearson, Network Manager at NCEAT, commented:

“The ICT team are delighted to have been able to provide so many devices to learners to support them with remote schooling during the pandemic, using both converted inhouse netbooks and DfE supplied Chromebooks, which the Trust are able to keep for future use. Our integrated suite of Google applications and other online curriculum systems like Purple Mash has made it easy for pupils to share their work back and forward and for teachers to issue resources and host live lessons as well as keep in touch with each other via email. This level of interaction has helped pupils to stay on top of their learning and will stand them in good stead to integrate quickly back into full-time schooling.”

For more information about NCFE visit www.ncfe.org.uk or for details about U-Explore, visit website.u-explore.com/.

As part of a new project to improve access to high-quality careers guidance, Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (NCEAT) has teamed up with not-for-profit organisation, Smart Works Newcastle, to provide one-to-one support for the parents and carers of its pupils.

The free to access service, which will initially be delivered by the in-house careers team at Duke’s Secondary School (part of NCEAT), will be available to parents and carers of children across the NCEA Trust who might be looking to change career, retrain or get back into work following an extended period of absence.

Following an initial consultation with a careers advisor, service users can be signposted to a number of different outlets, including Smart Works Newcastle, where they can explore routes back into education, the workplace or even a new market sector.

An exclusive service for women, Smart Works is a national organisation which supports women of all ages and backgrounds to build their confidence and skills to help them secure work.

Offering a wide range of services including CV writing, interview coaching and general careers advice as well as providing free work appropriate clothing to those who have confirmed job interviews. Smart Works has supported thousands of women across the UK into successful employment.

In becoming a referral partner to Smart Works’ Employment Support service, NCEAT will be able to signpost mums, sisters, aunties and carers to the service, where they can receive additional support.

Helen Boyd, Service Delivery Lead at Smart Works Newcastle, commented:

“One of the few benefits of the pandemic is taking our Smart Works Newcastle service virtual, meaning we can support more women across the North East. We want to help as many women as we can to build confidence in their skills and abilities and gain sustainable employment. Our amazing coaches can support at any stage of the job search from first roles out of school to those returning to the workplace. We are really looking forward to working with the Trust and their families.”

The partnership announcement comes as NCEA Trust schools have been celebrating National Careers Week (1-6 March).

The annual event, which celebrates careers guidance and free resources in education to help young people make informed choices about their futures has been a little different this year in light of the ongoing pandemic, with the majority of sessions for learners being held remotely. Within the campaign messaging however, there has also been an embedded sense of urgency to ensure that young people leaving school or college at the end of this academic year are as prepared as they can be for the world of work amidst a backdrop of high unemployment and labour market shifts.

While it is imperative that we support our young people to make sure they don’t fall through the gap between leaving full-time education and entering the workplace, we feel that it is just as important to provide the same level of support to parents and carers.

Natalie Cain, Careers Advisor at NCEAT, commented:

“We’re really excited about the launch of our new careers service. There is more emphasis on careers education in schools than there has ever been, and while it’s wonderful to see our pupils benefitting from this, we strongly felt that this could have a wider impact in the local community if we were to roll it out to parents and carers – especially in the current economic climate with so many people being furloughed or made redundant.

“Working together with Smart Works Newcastle on the project is really exciting – the work they do with women across the country is incredible and I look forward to seeing some of our own parents and carers across the Trust benefit from their expertise.

“While Smart Works Newcastle is exclusively a service for women, that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten the gentlemen out there who might also need some additional support! Our in-house careers service is available to all and we hope to expand our range of partnerships as the project progresses.”

Watch this space for further details coming soon!

Careers guidance appointments for parents and carers are available every Friday afternoon between 2-4pm. If you have any questions or to make an appointment, email careers@dukes.ncea.org.uk.

For more information about Smart Works Newcastle, visit: smartworks.org.uk/newcastle-smart-works.

A Northumberland primary school has achieved the School Mental Health Award which is delivered by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools. NCEA Warkworth C of E Primary School has become one of just five schools across the UK to be awarded a Gold standard for its outstanding mental health and wellbeing provision.

Warkworth Primary School has embedded a wide range of strategies and approaches to support the mental health and wellbeing of pupils, staff and parents, including mindfulness clubs, yoga, a therapy dog, mental health and wellbeing areas in each classroom and daily opportunities to talk about how everyone is feeling. The school has also made mental health and wellbeing awareness central to its PSHE and RSE curriculum and all staff have mental health training as well as access to dedicated Mental Health First Aiders – an offer which extends to pupils and parents.

However, it was Warkworth Primary School’s work to not only support its staff and pupils, but the local community too during lockdown that commended the school to the independent assessor from the Carnegie Centre of Excellence to receive the Gold standard award.

“The implementation of the third national lockdown has affected everybody’s mental health and wellbeing in a big way,” said Laura Ritson, Head Teacher at NCEA Warkworth C of E Primary School.

“While our school remained open to vulnerable children and the children of key workers, the majority of our pupils have been taking part in live daily lessons from home. To help maintain a sense of ‘togetherness’ while we had to stay apart, we organised a community heart campaign where our children designed and delivered a series of paper hearts to residents for them to display in their windows. As part of Children’s Mental Health Week in February, we then completed a ‘walk to wellbeing’ around the village to see how many of our hearts we could find.

“We also sent wellbeing bags containing activities and resources home with pupils to help support pupils and their families, as well as organising weekly live wellbeing sessions to provide a safe space for pupils and their parents to discuss their thoughts and feelings during lockdown. We really do # strive together as one in all that we do at NCEA Warkworth Primary.”

“I am extremely proud of everything our staff, pupils and parents have achieved and to see their hard work rewarded through the School Mental Health Award scheme is absolutely fantastic. We’re now working with all schools within the Trust to really celebrate the great work that is happening across Northumberland Church of England Academy and develop an inclusive wellbeing strategy to support everyone.”

The School Mental Health Award was established in 2017 by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools – part of Leeds Beckett University – and social enterprise Minds Ahead.

The Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools aims to strengthen pupils’ mental health by supporting schools to make a positive change at all levels of the UK’s education system, improving students’ outcomes and life chances.

Professor Damien Page, Dean of Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Education, said: “Achieving this award is not just recognition of a whole-school approach to mental health, it’s a recognition of the school’s commitment to improving the life chances of children.

“We’re truly proud to have worked with Warkworth Primary School in this vital work and look forward to further collaboration.”

Nationally, more than 800 schools have signed up to take part in the mental health award.

Dean Johnstone, founder and CEO of Minds Ahead said: “This award shines a light on the excellent work schools are doing to promote mental health for their community of children and adults.

“It is thrilling and humbling to learn about Warkworth Primary School and the many other schools engaged in the quality award process. I’d like to offer my congratulations on this deserved recognition.”

For more information about Warkworth Primary School, visit www.warkworth.ncea.org.uk.

PHOTO CAPTION: Pupils at Warkworth Primary School with their wellbeing bags.

Despite the fact that 33.5% of the UK’s school aged population come from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, only 7% of children’s books published in the last three years have featured a minority ethnic character.

As part of a drive to readdress the balance and increase the cultural diversity of the reading material available to its pupils, Bishop’s Primary School has been accepted to take part in a pioneering project with Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020, the diversity project and fundraising campaign aims to give visibility to works by authors from BAME communities, which feature more diverse characters to help increase understanding and provide a stepping stone for teachers to encourage discussions around race and equality.

Bishop’s Primary School was one of 33 North East primary schools to benefit from the project. Since December, packs containing a range of diverse storybooks suitable for young readers have been delivered to all five of the school’s campuses in South East Northumberland in time for National Storytelling Week (30 Jan – 6 Feb), to the delight of the staff and pupils.

Mr Jack Christophers, Director of Literacy at Bishop’s Primary School, commented:

“At Bishop’s Primary School, we believe that our pupils learn so much through the stories they interact with and this is reflected in the fact that all of our pupils enjoy story time as part of their daily timetable. We also believe that education on matters such as diversity, equality, race and religion should start from a young age.

“Through the project with Seven Stories, we are delighted to be able to combine these two beliefs. By ensuring that we have a culturally diverse supply of stories to share with our children, we can actively support their cultural understanding and personal development.

“On behalf of all of the staff and pupils I’d like to thank Seven Stories for all of their hard work in putting this project together. Our campus libraries are now much truer reflections of the world around us and will benefit our pupils for years to come.”

John Coburn, Creative Director at Seven Stories, commented:

“At Seven Stories we believe that children’s books are a powerful way to open up conversations with children about a range of topics, including diversity, equality and racism. By supporting this fundraiser, we’re helping North East primary schools – including Bishop’s Primary School – to grow the diversity of their book collections and in turn, inspire young minds with new voices and experiences that might otherwise be missing from their bookshelves.”

Serving South East Northumberland with campuses across Ashington, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and Lynemouth, Bishop’s Primary School (part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust) is one of the largest primary academies in the region, with over 1,600 pupils aged 2-11.

For more information about the project, visit www.sevenstories.org.uk/blog/a-fundraiser-for-diverse-books.

Following a growth in demand for early years education in rural South East Northumberland, construction on a new modular early years provision has begun at NCEA Warkworth Primary School.

Based in the picturesque village of Warkworth, the new building will house two large classrooms as well as toilet facilities and a dedicated entrance hall for use by the school’s nursery and reception classes.

Due for completion by Easter 2021, the opening of the expanded early years provision will create more spaces for nursery and two year olds, providing both 15 and 30-hour care packages.

Mrs Laura Ritson, Head Teacher at NCEA Warkworth Primary School, commented:

“As a village school, we have always prided ourselves on being actively involved in the local community and doing what we can to support the needs of parents and residents.

“For working parents in particular, finding suitable childcare which also supports their child’s educational needs can be challenging, which is why we’re delighted to be expanding our offer. We hope to offer lots of exciting new classes and experiences such as baby massage and sensory toddler sessions for the whole community to enjoy.”

While the increased restrictions introduced as part of the national coronavirus lockdown mean that the majority of pupils at NCEA Warkworth Primary School are currently learning remotely through live teaching, the children who have been in school (key worker and vulnerable children) have been enjoying having the construction team from Transform Building Solutions onsite.

After paying a visit to meet the builders, reception pupils, Flynn and Rudy, both aged 4, said:

“It’s going to be so cool! Look at him digging all that mud.”

“That’s going to be our new classroom!”

“Our pupils are very excited about the build!” Laura added.

“Our reception class in particular is very much looking forward to moving into their new purpose-built classroom.”

NCEA Warkworth Primary School operates as part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (NCEAT), which also includes Bishop’s Primary School, Duke’s Secondary School and Castle School for children with severe and multiple learning disabilities.

For more information, including how to apply for the additional 15 and 30-hour childcare places, visit www.warkworth.ncea.org.uk. You can also find more information about NCEA Warkworth Primary School on Facebook at @warkworthprimary.

Date: 07/01/2021
By Melanie Hinson, Principal at Bishop’s Primary School (part of the NCEA Trust)

Primary schools play a vital role in a child’s development. From reading their first words and counting to 10 through to the development of key skills such as communication and social interaction, primary school is the foundation stone of a child’s education.

Developing a love for learning from an early age can be crucial to ensuring your child’s future success, which is why choosing the right environment to help shape and nurture your child’s individual talents is crucial, but with so many schools to choose from, where do you start?

We understand that a child starting full time school can be an anxious time for parents. How do you know which school will best suit your child’s needs? Which school has the most interesting curriculum? Where will your child feel happy and cared for? – All perfectly rational questions. Unfortunately, as we enter 2021 still very much in the grip of the Coronavirus pandemic, for this year’s school intake, there is yet more for parents to consider.

How schools are responding to the virus in order to keep pupils safe should be a deciding factor when choosing your child’s prospective school. At Bishop’s Primary School, we continue to follow the guidance issued by the Department for Education closely to ensure the safety of our staff and pupils.

In the instance of a positive Covid case, we have worked in collaboration with staff and parents to quickly isolate the affected bubbles and switch to remote learning so that our pupils’ teaching hours are not affected by the need to self-isolate.

Keeping school as ‘near to normal’ as possible for our children is really important to us as we understand the impact that disruption to a child’s routine can have to their mental and physical health and wellbeing, as well as their personal and academic development.

As part of the Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust (NCEAT), our culture of high support and high expectation is echoed throughout all our schools. All Trust pupils are encouraged to become creative, independent thinkers with a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge, as well as responsible members of their local community. Our strong working relationship with Dukes Secondary creates an organic learning pathway that children can follow from our ‘Two Year Old’ provisions and Nurseries through to Sixth Form.

While the new academic year won’t start until September, the deadline for primary school applications is only just over a week away (15 January for schools in Northumberland).

For more information about the campuses within Bishop’s Primary School and the NCEA Trust specifically, please visit www.ncea.org.uk or contact us on 01670 816111. We will do all we can to support you through this process, by answering any questions or helping you to complete the online application form.

To apply for your child’s place for September 2021 please go to https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Education/Schools/School-admissions-places-appeals-1/Reception-entry-applications.aspx.

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us and due to Covid-19, many families are facing hardship, with some struggling to make ends meet. To make sure no child misses out this Christmas, the Wansbeck Christmas Campaign has been set up so that every child in the NCEA Trust, irrespective of where they live, receives a gift for Christmas.

If your child(ren) would benefit from this appeal, please send a private message to the Wansbeck Christmas Campaign Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/WansbeckChristmas) or text 07934 482883 with the following information:

• Named adult
• Address
• Gender & Age of Child(ren)
• Toy preferences/likes

Always remember: As a member of the NCEAT community, whether you are staff, a parent or a pupil, we would never want to see you struggling. Whatever the issue, feel free to email communitysupport@ncea.org.uk and if we can help, we will.