Partnerships, Enterprise & Character Education

Partnerships, Enterprise & Character Education

Dormanstown Primary Academy work with a range of partners and organisations as part of our core and wider curriculum offer to children and families.

Examples of Partnerships and Projects:

• Arts and Humanities Research Council
• Teesside University

• This project brings together researchers at Teesside University, the Health Determinants Research Collaboration and the Tees Valley Education Trust.
• It is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and is one of a number of projects across the UK which have been awarded funding to mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS.  You can read more about these projects here.
• The fact that some people don’t have the same access to important things that they need is a really big problem, and a lot of people can be really poorly because of this.
• Researchers will often call this Health Inequality. Young people are especially affected by this, but the voices of children are rarely heard in national debates about public health.
• This project will give young people in the South Tees region a chance to explore, express and talk about their views and how they feel about health inequality. There will be workshops for people to take part in, including comic-making, creative writing, animation, and dance and performance.
• The things that young people make as part of this project will be shared with people whose job it is to make decisions about how we can help people be more healthy, so they can help support young people more in the future.
• This study has been looked at by a group of researchers unrelated to the project, called a Research Ethics Committee, to make sure that everything we are asking to do is safe and fair to everyone who wants to take part.

• SHINE: Crafting curriculum with inequality in mind
• Chartered College of Teaching
• Evidence Based Education

• This year we have secured funding to develop a two-year project in our academy.
• We are working with a research leader in Tees Valley Education and with the SHINE charity to help our teachers get even better at planning and designing curriculum.
• As part of the project, a group of teachers and leaders are working with Evidence Based Education and the Chartered College of Teaching to develop our curriculum for all pupils, with a specific focus on those children and families that might struggle with curriculum ideas because of local inequality.
• Children are also working alongside researchers to investigate the concepts, big ideas and topics that they and their friends struggle with most. They will then use this information to help their teachers better plan for teaching and learning.
• This project will be used to help shape the way that teachers across the country and in the region plan, design and deliver curriculum in similar communities to ours.
• You can find out more about the project here.

• UNESCO
• Teesside University – International Business School

• As part of our Business, Industry and Enterprise curriculum offer we work closely with professionals at the International Business School.
• Key Stage 2 pupils take part in a business and innovation project alongside leaders at Teesside University. The project involves pupils working together to design a futuristic and sustainable version of Middlesbrough for the future.
• Pupils then present their work to a panel of special judges at the International Business School. The panel consists of leaders from Teesside University and from local industry employer Materials Processing Institute.
• Previous projects from pupils have included automatic robots that clean the streets of Middlesbrough at night, vegan friendly food outlets and some children even produced designs for their ideas using Minecraft. The project is a huge success and features as part of a UNESCO case study globally, so people from around the world will get to see some of the fantastic work that is produced by pupils in the academy.
• This project features as part of our Business, Industry and Enterprise Institute. You can find out more about this work in our academies by visiting: https://www.teesvalleyeducation.co.uk/trust-specialisms/business-enterprise/

• Power of Woman

• Dormanstown Primary Academy are proud to support ‘The Power of Women’ campaign, a movement to lift the aspirations of young women across the Tess region, after one study names Middlesbrough as the worst area in the country for women to grow up.
• The campaign is the vision of Professor Jane Turner OBE, pro vice-chancellor for enterprise and business engagement at Teesside University, who felt passionately that this should not be the case.
• As CEO for Tees Valley Education, Katrina Morley is supporting the campaign by sitting on the board as director, with Caroline Theobald CBE, Chris March, Dave Allen, Martin Walker and Rosalind Stuart, who runs Tees Valley Girls’ Network, an organisation that’s introduced 150 mentors to young women across the Teesside area.
• More information regarding specific projects and case studies can be seen in our newsletters and shared as part of your visits to our academy.

• Children North East
• Poverty Proofing

• We work closely with Children North East to regularly engage in activities and donation campaigns that help to distribute support to our families and children.
• In addition, our children and families have contributed to research that examines the ongoing impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis in our communities.
• You can find out more about some of this research here.
• Our academy also undertook a Poverty Proofing audit with researchers. This has helped us to further understand the ongoing needs of the families and communities that we serve.
• Our work with the Poverty Proofing team has also supported leaders and colleagues in making adaptations to our academy and how systems support our families most in need.

Industrial Cadets

• Industrial Cadets is an industry led programme to build pathways through education and employment.
• Promoting the development of the next generation of UK’s young minds, Industrial Cadets is a kite mark for schools and students seeking valuable and exciting STEM opportunities.
• Across the trust, pupils worked with Industrial Cadets to offer active learning experiences in STE(A)M related careers, giving them pupils the opportunity to gain knowledge and exposure that will help them make decisions about their future. Through each workshop, students engaged with STEM subject areas whilst taking part in hands on activities. The day was designed to excite and enlighten our students on how STEM is fun, interesting, and results in a rewarding career.
• The ‘design, build and test’ activities also helped build student’s soft skills of teamwork, communication, time management, creativity and problem-solving.
• Pupils in Key Stage 2 worked hard to combat climate change. In teams of four, the pupils created eco-gardens, specifically designed to reduce CO2 in the Atmosphere.

Spark Tees Valley

• With a focus on Enterprise and employability skills, pupils in the academy used Reality Composer to design AR objects with a specific purpose.
• One of our visitors said: ‘What a fantastic day today at Dormanstown Primary with the brilliant children (and staff!) in Y5.. What struck me today was how ‘switched on’ the children were in the class, and that comes from a great classroom ethic created by the school and teacher. They were particularly attentive listeners when they needed to be but also team workers when asked to collaborate. It was an absolute pleasure to work with them’.

British Science Week

• Through a trust wide science week we aimed to raise awareness, spark enthusiasm and celebrate science, engineering, technology and maths throughout each of our academies.
• The theme for the week was ‘Smashing Stereotypes’. Across the Trust, children studied significant STEM figures from both present day and in the past. This was aimed to show children that scientists take many shapes and forms and that they too can to have the aspiration of becoming a scientist. Pupils conducted second hand research around a STEM profession and discussed all of the career possibilities available to them.
• Pupils in Dormanstown used ‘Flight’ as a stimulus for the week. From Nursery to Y6, children worked on the theme of ‘Flight’ which linked to the curriculum topic of ‘Forces’, and focussed on working scientifically and fair testing.
• ‘Growth’ was another key theme for this year’s British Science Week. Pupils throughout the trust have been able to observe ducklings hatching and growing!
• We are sure that with all of the scientific work over the week, we have inspired a future generation to take up opportunities in the world of STEM!

Young Voices

• At Young Voices, our children take part in one of the largest annual children’s choir concerts in the world.
• Pupils performed alongside 5,000-8,000 other children as a single choir to audiences of family and friends.