External stakeholder comments
Deb Troops, CEO GM Neuro Alliance; “I go into a lot of schools and always find Waterhead a great experience. The students come from a diverse demographic that has challenges around social mobility and poverty yet their aspirations and ambitions aren’t dulled by this. The school instils a positive can do attitude and I believe encourages the whole school community to be the best it can be.”
University of Huddersfield Facilitator; “I very much enjoyed delivering this session. The students were very engaged with the content.”
Mrs Leach, Farringdon CA School; “The students were amazing! Real superstars-I am so impressed. They were outstanding and wonderful representatives of the programme-they worked so hard-I am so impressed.”
Adam Cree, Sale High School; “The visit was inspiring and thought provoking. All staff and ALL students I met were friendly and helpful. I have taken away 10 key actions I believe can help my school move behaviour from good to outstanding.”
Chris Lewis, Oldham Youth Council; “The assemblies were well planned and executed and the students courteous and polite.”
Miss Edlington; Ysgol John Bright School; “The students were an absolute credit to Waterhead Academy. They were articulate and informative. It is clear that they are proud of their school and community and were fantastic ambassadors for Pixl Edge.”
Steph Brocken, Peshkar Drama CEO; “We enjoy delivering at Waterhead as the students are always very creative and open to trying our different ideas and creative techniques. We have had great support for our work through Waterhead and value them as a partner.”
John Young, Bank of England CEO; “As I said the attitude of the staff counts for a lot. At some places the teachers just see it as an opportunity to have an hour off. That absolutely wasn’t the case with you. I would be happy to come back again around the same time next year.”
Dr Naeem Rashid; Dentist (WA Alumni); “Fantastic facilities, Staff very welcoming, Great ethos and direction of the school and its aims with the children.”
Mr Roberts; Farringdon School CA; “Fantastic, open honest and well-mannered students. It’s working!”
Richard Lee, Vice Principal OSFC; “Thanks for the opportunity. I greatly enjoy working with Waterhead Academy to support their students and their aspirations.”
Oldham College Representative: “All students asked good questions. Great planned careers fair one of the best we have attended. “
Anna Chmielewska-Deeks, Capita Translation; “It was a great experience and all students were very engaged during the presentation.”
Sir Ian Powell, Capita CEO; “The year 11 leadership cohort were impressive and good role models, the year 7 students benefited from attending with them. It was good to meet the principal and to understand the ethos of Waterhead as this enabled meet to reflect the Academy’s values in my talk.”
Josie Hynes, NHS Careers Hub; “Students engaged. Lovely welcome from staff. Great room provided for the session. The students in my session show interest and asked questions. They fed back that after the session they would like to find out more about roles in health.”
Richard Lee, OSFC Vice Principal; “The organisation was really good and the students were attentive during both the sessions that I delivered. Thanks for the opportunity. I greatly enjoy working with Waterhead Academy to support their students and their aspirations.”
James Ashmore, SPA; “Calm and orderly lessons, evidence of high-quality teaching, knowledgeable and hard-working pupils and staff. Very focused learning taking place in maths with Mick McGuinness, Phonics with Alani Perkins and a child development lesson. There was real consistency of approach across the academy that appeared to be beginning to have real impact.”
Sally Goddard Greater Manchester Police; “ Staff very well efficient and welcoming. All year 7 engaged with the presentation.”
Greater Manchester Fire Service; “The pupils were well behaved and the look of the school was very good. I have carried out sessions with Year 7 and 8 and they were all good.”
Mr Whittam –YSOGL John Bright School; “The students were exemplary. The students who greeted us first thing in the morning were lovely to talk to. Leah kindly took me through her challenges. I look forward to seeing her on the TV at the Commonwealth Games or Olympics! They are a credit to themselves and the school.”
Michael Purches, Inclusion Expert; “The school always has a warm atmosphere and the students are very welcoming. The relationships between the staff and pupils is excellent. The inclusivity of the school is palpable.”
Jayne Greaves, Willmott Dixon Construction; “The girls were very well, behaved , polite and attentive; all the young ladies had a very positive attitude. We would welcome the opportunity to repeat this with other students and also the teaching staff to ‘educate’ them about roles in construction.”
Miss Firth, North Chadderton School; ”I was so impressed with your students. They were confident, articulate and so helpful. Please give a special mention to Patrick, Ryan an Iqra who chatted to me about Pixl Edge. Their advice and ideas will be used to help develop the award at our school.”
Dave Challis, The Outward Bound trust; “Very polite and engaging students getting signed in was very straight forward. It was very good and look forward to returning.”
Kate Filimon – University of Huddersfield; “The class I visited listened well and asked useful questions. Presentation was pre prepared for me, teachers were very supportive of the session.”
Kath Cannon-, Legal Aid Agency (Ministry of Justice); “Staff were very welcoming, the room provided was excellent for the activity. It was a nice modern environment. Well behaved pupils who seemed to enjoy the activities. We really enjoyed the session.
Karen Mee DWP; “The year 7 students have been really engaged. They contribute and are respectful and polite. All of the teaching staff have supported my events and ensured the classes were kept on track where required.”
James Nield, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (NatWest); “The kids do so well as part of the sessions and they are brilliant to be a part of!”
Positive Steps, 2019 Summary Report; “A great example of Year 12 follow up and partnership working was carried out with the Career Lead in Waterhead Academy. There had been a small number of NEETs who were not responding to follow up, so school staff supported with this engagement to make the introductions to Post 16 staff at Positive Steps. For a couple of the young people, we initially met with them on the school premises, a more familiar environment and were then able to encourage them to attend at Positive Steps. This has been a really effective piece of work which we will adopt across schools next year for those harder to reach. Many thanks to staff at Waterhead for their support.”