From partnerships that create electric racing cars, through to professional development hubs for local teaching staff – Trent College and The Elms continue to create strong community links and forge partnerships that create very real results.
Outstanding Educational Partnership for STEM project
Our Infant and Junior school, The Elms, led an exciting partnership project with two local primary schools which was designed to ignite pupils’ interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and to encourage children to pursue studies and careers in STEM. The successful project has been recently shortlisted for an award in the Independent School of the Year for Outstanding Educational Partnerships, ahead of 1,000 other schools.
Funded by a grant from the Department for Education, and match funded by Trent College, the project involved 120 children from Firfield Primary School in Breaston and Harrington Junior School in Long Eaton, taking part in a series of eight workshops at The Elms, entitled Movies and Magic.
During the course of the project, children learned about the science behind magic tricks and Hollywood films, including magnetic levitation and green screen cinematography. They then worked to storyboard their own short film using these techniques, before creating it with plasticine figures and stop motion cameras.
The workshops culminated in a celebration event, where the children’s films were viewed by their peers, parents, and aerospace engineer and TV presenter Andrew Smyth.
Alongside the project, pupils from Firfield Primary School also took part in after-school clubs at The Elms, where they designed and built their own full-sized Green Power Goblin electric kit car! Pupils then had the opportunity to test the car themselves in an exciting time trial race.
Jacqui Rhodes, External School Liaison Manager for Trent College said, “The STEM Partnership’ has been a hugely successful example of schools working together to create something very special. All of the children involved have learnt a great deal, had new experiences, and grown to really love STEM subjects. Our shortlisting for this national award is testament to the success of the partnership.”
Sharing our facilities and specialist staff
We work with a large number of local schools to share the school’s excellent grounds, facilities, and specialist staff and to increase local pupils’ opportunities and aspirations.
Each year we welcome around 500 local secondary school pupils from Friesland School, in Sandiacre, and Wilsthorpe School, Long Eaton, to a Careers Fair hosted at Trent College. Representatives from universities, colleges, gap year providers and employers populate a market hall style event, where students can ask questions and gather information about future careers options.
A number of pupils from Friesland School are then invited to work with our dedicated Careers specialists in our Careers Hub, where they can gain advice and undertake pre-interview practices for Early Applicants to the Oxbridge programme for those applying to study medicine, dentistry, and veterinary science.
In addition to this, our beautiful 45-acre campus provides a welcoming venue to a wide range of projects and events including:
- Autumn Watch, where 75 children in Year 1 and Year 2 from English Martyrs Catholic Voluntary Academy visit to explore our grounds to freely look for natural signs of Autumn;
- The Great Trent Bake Off where 40 children from Sawley Junior School and Risley Primary School work with our Food and Nutrition specialists on designing and baking cupcakes in our modern Food and Nutrition suite;
- Celebration Story Evening where over 200 local Year 5 and Year 6 school children enter our short story competition. The top 20 writers are invited to an event in our Devonshire Library, to work with a published author and Trent College drama scholars to bring their stories to life.
Partnership Hub promotes collaborative working
At the start of this year we formed the Long Eaton Secondary Partnership Hub with our neighbours, Wilsthorpe School. The Hub involves both schools working collaboratively to inspire a passion in psychology for KS5 students in the local area, raising academic attainment and creating an enrichment experience that will benefit and support everyone involved.
Pupils from both schools have already had the opportunity to attend two psychology events held at Trent College, where they heard from guest speakers who are all experts in the field of psychology. In addition, over the summer, pupils collaborated together during a study event where they were asked to plan, design and carry out studies on a research project of their choice.
Sports mentoring
With exceptional sporting facilities and coaching, Trent College can provide a range of activities and events for local primary school pupils to enjoy.
Each year we welcome pupils to take part in a number of sports coaching sessions. These experiences give children the opportunity to try new sports or learn and improve their skills with practical support from Trent College coaching staff and other visiting professional sports people.
Last year over 480 children from eight local primary schools benefitted from free cricket coaching sessions at their own school, provided by Trent College staff and coaches. These newly acquired skills were then tested, as representatives of all eight schools were invited to Trent College for our annual Festival of Cricket.
A Year 5 teacher from Heymann Primary School in West Bridgford said, “Our Year 5 team thought the coach was amazing. They were really impressed with his sessions and his manner with the children. One even said it was the best P.E CPD he has had.”
Working in partnership with Loughborough Lightning, the East Midlands No.1 Super League side, Trent College invited eight local schools to attend a netball coaching session with Beth Cobden, England netball player and Commonwealth Gold Medallist.
Children from The Elms and local primary schools then went on to play in an U10s Bee Netball Festival where individual medals were awarded for super shooting, midcourt magnificence and dynamic defence.
Learning Hubs
Our Infant and Junior School, The Elms, host two different Early Years Foundation Stage Learning Hubs, where teachers and professionals from over 30 schools and childcare settings come together to network, share ideas, and learn best practice.
The Elms host six meetings each year and provide an opportunity for Continuous Professional Development by engaging external speakers to focus on specialist subject areas such as outdoor play provision. The Hub meetings provide teachers with an environment for sharing knowledge and insight through networking and Continuous Professional Development.
A teacher from Plumtree School said, “The Hub training was great, and my nursery teacher and I have been buzzing all day thinking about how to put it into action in our setting.”
To further this partnership work and shared learning, The Elms is holding its first EYFS Conference on Saturday 9th March 2024 entitled Foundations for Bright Futures. The event being held at The Elms school in Long Eaton, will enable Early Years practitioners to come together and learn from leading professionals including keynote speaker Alice Sharp, plus Julie Fisher, Kym Scott and Ben Kingstone-Hughes. To join this event, click here to book.
A bright future
Trent College and The Elms take great pride in the school’s strong community links and partnership work and look forward to the new and exciting paths that this will take over the years ahead.
Find out more about Trent College’s Vision, Ethos and Aims.
