Our Partnerships
There a myriad of benefits to creating partnerships between school, families, businesses, universities and community groups. We firmly believe that society benefits when pupils, families, the community and schools work together to educate children. Education is not an isolated endeavour that takes place over the course of a person's life. When the community, schools and families work together, they can provide the best possible resources and expertise to enhance the education of all children. Please read on to learn more about partnerships at Loughborough Primary School...
Unicorn Theatre
We currently have a partnership with the Unicorn Theatre who want to bring children and young people right into the heart of their creative process and is committing to collaborate with children and young people in the early stages of developing new theatre productions. By 2023-24 they aim for all productions to have been informed by the ideas, knowledge or lived experience of local children and young people, especially those whose voices and experiences have been historically underrepresented in the arts.
Over 3 years, the Unicorn is working closely with us to provide a joined up cultural education programme. Our partnership will nurture creative arts-rich education in our school and demonstrate the power of creative activities to support personal development within education and learning, social-emotional well-being, personal expression, and build resilience.
Across 3 years, there will be opportunities for our teachers and pupils to collaborate with professional theatre makers at the Unicorn and take part in a co-creation project to help to shape their productions. These projects are going to be led by experienced facilitators and creative artists who are making the shows, and will be supported by our teaching staff to ensure that it meets the learning needs of our pupils.
The projects will not only influence the work on the Unicorn stage, but also introduce our pupils to a creative process and give them a better understanding of live performance. This exciting partnership aims to position the children as equal collaborators, who are bringing their own knowledge, experience or skills to develop the work with professional artists.
The Unicorn will also work with our school to enable more teacher-led creative classroom practice and work with our Senior Leadership team to embed creative learning and make lasting change across the school. In addition, we will have access to free and subsidised tickets to Unicorn Productions.
So far, some of our Year 3 pupils have taken part in a project about ‘Tropical Christmas’ and our Year 2 class with Afsana Akther are currently exploring different cultures and languages in a project called ‘Mountains’. In the summer term our Year 4’s will be exploring Greek Myths!
London Southbank University
Loughborough Primary School is proud to be partnering with London South Bank University (LSBU). London South Bank University are ranked top ten in London for graduate prospects by the Sunday Times (2022) for Education. All of the university's courses reflect their core focus on social justice and mobility.
The university offer three routes to becoming a teacher: Primary PGCE, Primary PGCE with Maths, and Schools Direct (SEND). The courses are professional and practical, and founded in latest educational research.
The university's highly-desired placement opportunities for students, open doors to careers with many partner schools including Loughborough Primary School and students are driven to improve the lives of children in London schools. Headteacher Laura McPhee joined the Strategic Partnership Board at London South Bank University (LSBU) in Spring 2022 and the leadership team at Loughborough Primary School are delighted to support the design and implementation of the Primary Curriculum at LSBU.
National School Breakfast Programme
Loughborough Primary School is proud to be partnering with The National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP)‹. The National School Breakfast Programme is funded by the Department for Education and delivered by Family Action to support schools in England to provide children with a healthy breakfast at the start of the school day.
Family Action is committed to supporting child development. They believe a healthy school breakfast, without barrier or stigma, can set up children to succeed and give them the very best chance to learn.
Blues and Roots Ensemble
Loughborough Primary School are delighted to be working with 'Blues and Roots Ensemble'. Led by double bassist Ed Babar, 'Blues and Roots Ensemble' specialises in sharing the music by the great bandleader/composer, Charles Mingus, through concerts and education projects. A diverse nonet of top international musicians from South Africa to Sicily, India to Cuba, the band has quickly grown a reputation for its captivating and raucous performances, as well as new initiatives in creative teaching and outreach work.
