The important role schools play in the wider community

Bradford Grammar Junior School Headmaster, Richard Ribeiro, talks about the important role schools play in the wider community.

The excited chatter and laughter in our Price Hall could be heard floating down the Bradford Grammar School (BGS) corridors the moment I stepped into the building. More than 500 children from primary schools across Bradford were waiting to meet one of their favourite authors as part of Ilkley Literature Festival. Francesca Simon, author of the young audience’s much-loved Horrid Henry books, was about to receive a rapturous welcome…

“Are you ready to welcome Francesca on stage?” rallied Lee Hanson, our Head of English.

“Yessssss,” they all screamed back.

This was just one of many author visits thousands of young pupils from West Yorkshire’s primary schools have been invited to at BGS over the years. We regularly host events and, where we can, share our facilities, our time, and our staff.

Francesca Simon’s visit was followed by an art competition, this time run as part of Ilkley Carnival, where children were invited to design the front cover of the event programme. Ilkley sisters Olivia and Erin Rix, of Moorfield School, were crowned winners of the creative competition which was based around the theme of ‘The Coronation’. Olivia, who was the overall winner, will receive an art set and a bespoke arts workshop at BGS for her and her classmates.

Local children will also be able to ‘get creative’ in the Bradford Grammar Junior School Craft Tent, with lots of arty activities, at the carnival on 1 May.

We also love science at BGS. At another event last summer, the playground was filled with noises of children taking part in experiments. What do satellites look like? How do satellites get into space? How do you make a water rocket? These were just some of the many questions which were hurled in the direction of technology expert, Tim Rogers, during two weeks of space and science master classes at our school. It was joyful, once again, to hear their excited cries as children shot water rockets into ‘space’ at the end of every session.

Tim, of Future Transformation and a STEM Ambassador, said afterwards.  “There was a real buzz and excitement. The children had had a great time. It was inspiring to think that we might have lit a spark in the engineers and scientists of the future.”

Lighting the imagination of thousands of children, not just our own pupils, has been a key driver in creating our active partnerships and outreach programme. Rob Moody, our Head of Chemistry, has devised his own chemistry roadshow as part of the programme. His first show was just before the start of the pandemic which he trialled at his daughter’s school, Wharton Primary in Otley, for Year 5 and 6 pupils.

“It was a great success,” he recalls. “I loved it, and the staff loved it, but most importantly, the children loved it! I did a spontaneous combustion experiment which culminated in a burst of flames! Launching rockets across the school hall was another fun experiment which the children thoroughly enjoyed.” Mr Moody believes science is for everyone and is ‘definitely not about just sitting and watching experiments on YouTube’.

“If you do an experiment like the elephant’s toothpaste one and show it to a group of primary school children it’s better seeing loads of foam squirting everywhere and hitting the ceiling live and in person, than it is seeing it on a screen. It really makes a difference in how science is experienced,” he says.

As well as science and the arts, we’re keen to encourage sports participation and we sponsor Skipton Tennis Centre (STC) every year. With STC, we support youth tennis and physical activity programmes for hundreds of school children from a wide variety of primary and secondary schools.

Both BGS and STC have hosted matches and masterclasses along with mass participation tournaments, which have seen children take part in tennis and multisport challenges. Shared sporting values of respect and fair play have brought STC and BGS together, along with a strong desire to take tennis to all corners of their local communities, including those where it has been suggested that tennis is ‘not for them’. Breaking down stereotypes and widening access is a key part of what STC and BGS are seeking to achieve.

Adam Cox, head coach at STC, says he takes great pride in instilling a love of tennis in the children who come to the centre. “We’re keen to ensure that tennis is inclusive and accessible for people of all ages and abilities and the regular BGS challenges and fixtures are a great way to encourage young people while still having that all essential fun,” he says.

Overall, for us, building and sustaining relationships remains part of our heritage and behaviour, bound to our identity and place within inner-city Bradford. Now, more than ever, there is an obligation to work together for the benefit of the young and through these partnerships and by widening access through our outreach programmes, we seek to remain a good neighbour in Bradford for generations to come.