A local primary school, which received a glowing Ofsted report following its last inspection, has got high hopes of building on their growing reputation.
Despite being in the bottom one per cent of the most deprived areas in the country, Bankside Primary was rated ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ features in 2009 and has subsequently earned a valued status as one of the top educational institutions in Harehills.
The three-form entry school currently caters for almost 700 children, from all faiths and backgrounds, with almost 100 staff members on hand to ensure every child receives the utmost attention.
Deputy Headteacher, Chris Florey, has been in his role for the past two years and has been a teacher at the school since 2007.
Throughout his time, Mr Florey explains how the school just improves year on year and how proud he was to be part of the ‘amazing team’ which helped gain the most recent Ofsted report.
“It really is a fantastic school to work in,” he said. “As a school we have grown into a new building which is great and in terms of our outcomes for the children the results are getting better year on year.
“It is only due to the hard work and dedication of our wonderful staff and parents and it really is generally a great place to work.”
He added: “We are due our next Ofsted Report any time now and according to our development plan we will hopefully receive another great result. We know we are very good, but it is not up to us to say what we deserve.”
Next year, a special Bankside’s Got Talent event will be held at the school for the first time, giving children from every year group the chance to showcase their talents; whatever they may be.
Auditions begin in January 2014, with the final show being held in March. The initiative is the latest of a number of extra-curricular events the school hosts throughout the year and Reception and Nursery teacher, Salik Miah, believes it will give pupils the chance to build their own self-confidence.
He said: “We have never done anything like this so it is very exciting really. It is open to anything, from singing, dancing, jokes anything at all.
“It is something which will help build up the independence and self-esteem of our children and hopefully help them improve on their own skills, with aid of our fantastic teaching team.”
If anybody would like to get involved with Bankside’s Got Talent or could donate a prize please contact the school on 0113 336 8383.
