West Berkshire Council's recommendation of a sponsor for a new school in Newbury has been approved by the government.
The council received five bids to sponsor the school, which will be built to meet the high demand for primary school places in Newbury, and will gradually build up to a 210-place primary school with a 26-place nursery.
The bids were carefully considered by an Evaluation Panel, followed by interviews for short-listed bidders.
Following this process, the council recommended the joint bid from Newbury College and Theale, CE Primary School to the government for consideration. This bid has now been confirmed as their preferred sponsor for the new school in Newbury.
Ian Pearson, Head of Education at West Berkshire Council said: "Newbury College and Theale Primary school demonstrated ambition in playing to the strengths of both partners to create a distinctive vision. The bid had very strong credentials and the college and the school have proven track records including how to deliver outstanding primary and Early Years provision. They shared a compelling vision and were able to offer detail about how this vision would be achieved with staff, children, parents and the local community."
Dr Anne Murdoch Principal of Newbury College, along with Catherine Morley, Headteacher at Theale CE Primary School, are delighted to be chosen as the sponsor of the new Primary School in Newbury. Dr Murdoch said "We have worked really hard to develop an innovative vision for an outstanding School. The new School, which will be set in College grounds, will have a broad curriculum that will inspire our pupils to achieve at all levels. The School will also have state of the art, brand new facilities, which will enable pupils to learn by using the latest technology and they will be taught by the very best teachers."
The new school will be located on the Newbury College site and will be known as High Wood Primary School. It is expected to open in September 2017.
Newbury College played host to the annual West Berkshire Work and Careers Fair on Thursday 25 March. The fair, which gathered over 55 organisations with both work and training opportunities for people in West Berkshire, was officially opened by Newbury College Principal Dr Anne Murdoch OBE.
Following on from the success of last year, this event is the largest of its kind staged locally and is produced under the direction of the West Berkshire Skills and Enterprise Partnership with the support of Newbury College.
Dawn Ray of dawnrayconsulting who organised the fair said, "The event this year has been the most successful to date in terms of number of exhibitors and visitors throughout the day. The Careers Fair is a great way for people of all ages and skills to speak to advisors and employers about possible career options and to gain advice".
With over 55 exhibitors, the Work and Careers Fair has brought together businesses and organisations from a wide range of sectors who are actively offering opportunities via apprenticeships, full and part time jobs, internships and voluntary work. Amongst the exhibitors, some of the big names included Barclays, Bayer, John Lewis, Newbury Racecourse, Sovereign Housing, JobCentre Plus, Vodafone, WBTC and Wetherspoons.
Newbury College Principal Dr Anne Murdoch OBE was delighted with the turn out of the fair, "Newbury College is pleased to once again host the West Berkshire Work and Careers Fair. The event has been fantastic with many employers recruiting for jobs in their organisations. The visitor numbers exceeded our expectations with more than 500 visitors attending throughout the day, and we look forward to some very positive outcomes for both exhibitors and individuals looking for jobs. We hope that visitors and employers alike will view the video of the event which can be found on Newbury College's website".
In addition to meeting employers, there were a series of workshops and one to one sessions taking place throughout the day offering advice on successful job hunting, help for self-employed, how to start your own business, writing CVs and preparing for interviews as well as learning how to effectively job search.
Newbury College has recently been named a pilot site for Rush Hockey. The sport has recently been created for those who love a team sport but have never had the time to commit. The game fits around people's lifestyles, is fast, furious and fun. Rush Hockey is a 5-a-side game, played on a smaller pitch than normal Hockey, and can be played indoors or outdoors.
This opportunity has been made possible thanks to a National Lottery funded sports grant from Sport England which has enabled Newbury College to be one of 150 colleges around the UK to recruit a full time sports professional, a 'Sports Maker', to help increase student participation in sport.
Sports Maker Aimee Kaur is delighted with the involvement from students and said, "Rush Hockey is a great sport for students to get involved in and allows the students the opportunity to work as a team which is a useful skill for both their social and working lives".
Rush Hockey sessions were launched at the College at the end of February and have so far proved popular with students, engaging a variety of curriculum areas from Motor Vehicle to Animal Care.
The programme has been launched by Sport England in order to carry out research to look at the attitudes and behaviours of college students towards sports and to help them increase participation.
Newbury College is working with The Central School of Ballet. Spring 2015 sees the return of Central School of Ballet's renowned touring company Ballet Central to the Newbury Spring Festival at The Corn Exchange on Thursday 14th May. In advance of this popular performance, Central School of Ballet has been allocated funding by the Greenham Common Trust which has allowed them to offer workshops with local primary and secondary schools including Newbury College.
Last week Newbury College's Preforming Arts GCSE students were treated to a workshop from Central School of Ballet. The workshop required the students to work together and aimed to improve communications between pupils, enhancing their classroom relationship.
Performing Arts Lecturer k9ztge Gudino-Resendiz, who has been working with The Central School of Ballet to organise the workshops for College students, said "This is an exciting opportunity for the students to be part of a community project where not only dance skills are at play but their social, physical and intellectual abilities too". Central runs a wide programme of outreach work to encourage and broaden participation in dance and are passionate about encouraging young people to adopt a more active and healthy lifestyle through dance.
"We are looking forward to bringing our Dancing Partners programme to schools in Newbury" said Central's Head of Widening Participation and Access, Debra Cougill, "Our workshops are accompanied by a pianist or percussionist therefore enriching the class and additionally offering participants the experience of hearing live music. The primary schools that we visit also receive Continuing Professional Development Training during which we aim to provide classroom teachers with the skills and the confidence to deliver dance as part of their PE curriculum and integrate it across the Curriculum".
Central School of Ballet has had a long standing relationship with the Corn Exchange Theatre in Newbury and Ballet Central, the school's graduate touring company, perform annually as part of the Spring Festival. Each year Central invites local schools to the Ballet Central afternoon dress rehearsal to observe their third year students perform. "This has proved invaluable to young people not only in giving them positive role models but in encouraging young people to think about their own pathways and progression routes into Higher Education" adds Debra.
The dress rehearsal and Q&A with members of the company also introduces children to the work of the Conservatoire of Dance and Drama (comprised of eight elite schools across the country who are specialists in their art form). "The Conservatoire are passionate about encouraging young people from as diverse backgrounds as possible across the country to consider the arts as a career path and they provide scholarships and bursaries to emerging talent who could not otherwise afford to do so." explains Debra.