A BRADFORD primary school that has turned its fortunes around is in the running for a £40,000 global education prize.
Feversham Primary Academy, in Bradford Moor, is one of six schools in the UK on the top 10 shortlists for the Education World’s Best School prizes.
The school was plunged into special measures back in 2010, but in 2019 was rated as ‘outstanding’ by education watchdog Ofsted.
The winners of the five World’s Best prizes – for community collaboration, environmental action, innovation, overcoming adversity, and supporting healthy lives – will each receive 50,000 US dollars (£40,000).
At Feversham, where around 90 per cent of pupils speak English as an additional language, every child is able to access a musical instrument and tuition throughout their time at school.
Music director Jimmy Rotheram said the investment in the arts helped to boost the school’s English and maths results.
“Music plays a really powerful part in the development of language and singing in particular,” he said.
“A lot of our children come in speaking very little English so we have to do a lot of extra work in teaching them to speak and write English.
“Music is incredibly good for this because it slows the language down and makes it more accessible to people.”
Mr Rotheram added: “To take the music and arts away would be an own goal. I think schools are scoring an own goal when they are not providing music.”
The 2019 Ofsted report said of the school: “The creative and well-thought-out curriculum, with music and drama at its core, makes a significant contribution to developing pupils’ very positive attitudes to learning and outcomes.
“This engaging curriculum provides pupils with a wide range of opportunities to extend their experiences and learning beyond the classroom.”
Vikas Pota, founder of T4 Education, said: “The schools shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prizes, no matter where they can be found or what they teach, all have one thing in common.
“They all have a strong school culture. Their leaders know how to attract and motivate exceptional educators, inspire change, and build excellent teaching and learning environments.”
He added: “Schools across the globe will learn from the story of these trail-blazing UK institutions and the culture they have cultivated.”
The top three finalists for each of the five prizes will be announced in September followed by the winners in October.
A prize of 250,000 US dollars (£200,000) will be shared equally among the winners of the five categories.
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