Coronavirus update
Our schools will be open to all pupils as planned from September 2021. Following the government guidelines, Paradigm Trust revised its arrangements again in May 2022. Our arrangements are available here.
Piper’s Vale Primary Academy celebrates ‘GOOD’ Ofsted rating
Piper’s Vale Primary Academy in Ipswich, part of Paradigm Trust, has achieved a ‘GOOD’ Ofsted rating across the board for the first time since 2007.
The report summarises the school as having ‘a sense of ambition and belonging’ where ‘pupils behave well’. The report also describes the school as ‘a hive of activity with music, singing and physical education activities going on’.
Kimberly Morton, Principal, comments:
“We are all absolutely delighted with the results. Our staff and pupils have worked tirelessly, despite the pandemic, to continuously raise standards across the school. We have provision from nursery to year six with fantastic facilities here at Piper’s Vale and now our community also has the reassurance that pupils are receiving a good education. There will be celebrations all round.”
Having achieved an overall effectiveness of ‘GOOD’ the school is praised in the report for the strength of its teaching of reading. Leaders are described as having high expectations and ensure all pupils in school are able to read fluently – with a vast majority of pupils reaching this attainment by the end of key stage 1.
The report also outlines how pupils in the Specialist Education Unit have a personalised curriculum that all adults take responsibility for implementing. It comments that the complex needs of these pupils are well understood by the adults that care for them; leaders ensure staff know how to adapt their teaching, so pupils access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.
Piper’s Vale became part of Paradigm Trust in September 2017 and the principal joined soon afterwards in January 2018. The Ofsted report recognises that the trust has focused on the right priorities and has effectively supported leaders to improve the quality of education at the school. It says the trust, alongside leaders from the other schools in the trust, have supported the staff well.
Paradigm Trust ensures all its schools offer a fantastic education in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. This is supported by enrichment opportunities that enable children to have the best opportunity to reach their potential and achieve more through education.
Parent Director role (London)
The Board of Directors is seeking to recruit a Parent Director in London to join the Board.
What does the Board of Directors do?
The Board of Directors is responsible for both the conduct of the Trust and for promoting the high standards that we expect for, and from, our pupils. The Board carries out its role by setting the vision for the Trust and then ensuring that the schools across the Trust work efficiently and effectively towards achieving its vision. It does this by both supporting and constructively challenging each of the schools within the Trust and by ensuring accountability and compliance.
The Board is permitted to exercise all the powers of the Trust. The Board is responsible for the appointment, removal and remuneration of the CEO. The Board will delegate to the CEO responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the Trust. The directors can determine whether to delegate any governance functions.
Who are the Directors?
Currently the Board is made up of eleven Directors who have been elected by Members, co-opted by other Directors or are a Parent Director. The CEO is a Director of the Board.
Why become a Parent Director?
Being a Parent Director is a challenging but hugely rewarding role. It will give you the chance to make a real difference to young people, give something back to the local community and to use and develop your skills in a board-level environment.
What qualifications do I need to have?
There are no formal qualifications needed, however, the one essential requirement is an interest in, and commitment to, the education of our pupils.
How much time will I have to commit?
A Director serves for a term of four years. In each academic year the Board of Directors currently meets nine times, with meetings starting at 18:00 and usually lasting for two hours. There is also a commitment to complete training particularly in the area of safeguarding and child protection. The Company Secretary will provide you with a structured induction and will support and guide you through the first few months.
Finally….
Parent Directors must be prepared to adopt the Trust Directors code of conduct and the Nolan principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. The role of a Director is voluntary and is not paid.
Interested?
All parents/carers are able to nominate themselves for the role providing that they have a child currently attending one of the London schools in the Trust. If you would like to find out more about the role of the Parent Director and/or request a nomination form, please feel free to contact Emma Vehit, Company Secretary by email: emma.vehit@paradigmtrust.org. Nomination forms should be returned no later than Monday 25 April 2022.
Science Threshold Texts in Key Stage 2
What is Disciplinary Science Writing?
At primary school, pupils spend a considerable amount of time learning to read and write both fiction and non-fiction texts. Often in primary schools, pupils write about their science, but are not taught what makes scientific writing distinctive from other styles of writing. Instead of writing: “A butterfly travels from flower to flower, transporting pollen.” pupils might write, “While the iridescent butterfly glitters in the glorious sunshine, it transports pollen from one stunning flower to another.” At Paradigm we teach pupils the distinctive nature of scientific writing.
How We Teach Scientific Writing
We have developed a science reading and writing week each half term in addition to our weekly science lessons. For the first half of the week, pupils read a scientific text based on a topic in which they are already secure (the study text). In the second half of the week they plan and write their own text on a similar but not identical question (the outcome text).
Example study and outcome texts:
| Study Text | Outcome Text |
| How plants are pollinated by insects. | How plants are pollinated by the wind. |
| Describe the function of the heart. | Describe the journey of blood as it travels around the body. |
| How does coastal erosion take place? | How does river erosion take place? |
The purpose of having similar study and outcome texts is that pupils can practise using the same vocabulary, sentence types and structure as they have just been studying, without the writing being a direct copy.
We have drawn on the following books in developing our programme:
- Reading Reconsidered (Lemov, Driggs and Woolway);
- Bringing Words to Life (Beck, McKeown and Kukan) and
- The Writing Revolution (Hockman and Wexler).