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King Edward VI Foundation Primary School Week

At the beginning of June, the Foundation launched its inaugural ‘Primary School Week’ led by our north cluster of schools. The week, which was attended by 120 Year 5 pupils from Anglesey Primary School in Lozells, was comprised of five action-packed days of lessons, outdoor education and activities.

Each day, pupils visited a different Foundation school to experience a day in the life of a King Edward VI student. The week also included a day dedicated to careers-related learning delivered by our partners at the University of Birmingham, with workshops focusing on technology in the environment and nuclear physics.

“I had an amazing week at the different King Edward VI schools. We were given a variety of lessons like French, German, Science, DT, Art, Maths, Debate and PE. Everyone was very welcoming, making me feel at home straight away. My favourite part was learning about alpha decay and constructing nuclei for Helium and Carbon. 

It has made me more determined to be educated at one of these schools”. Year 5 student, Anglesey Primary School

The Access and Participation department have held a collaborative partnership with Anglesey Primary School since September 2022. The department has run a series of activities and interventions over the course of this academic year with the school as a pilot project, with a particular focus on disadvantaged pupils and measuring impact.  

The objectives of ‘Primary School Week’, the culmination of the year’s pilot activities, were to showcase the strengths of our teaching excellence and physical facilities, establish high quality opportunities for pupils outside of the Foundation, as well as to help realise aspirations and better enable the recruitment of disadvantaged and under-represented pupils into our family of schools.   

“Primary School Week was a fun and engaging week of activities that allowed our children to showcase their many talents. The children enjoyed experiencing lessons in a science lab, a food technology classroom and an art and photography studio. Class teacher, Anglesey Primary School.  

We are delighted to have seen an increase of 72% in the proportion of the Year 5 cohort registering to sit the entrance test from this specific primary school. 

Next year, the department will be working with up to four partner primary schools, extending our reach across the region and providing access to King Edward VI Foundation opportunities and experiences for even more children. 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many teaching staff who have been involved in this first year of activities. The openness and willingness to share time, resources and expertise has been greatly valued, and as a new department, we are very grateful for the support that has been shown. We look forward to working together on another exciting year ahead!