Stagecoach

I have  been preparing a testimonial sheet to go into my information packs and thought that I should upload it to the website for existing students and their parents to see. Here is the side that deals with inspection reports.

One of my Stagecoach schools is inspected, at random, each term. The Inspection Team is independent of Stagecoach and is therefore impartial. The inspector`s arrival is unannounced and therefore provides the most reliable kind of feedback because we cannot put on a “show for the inspectors”. What they see is a normal week in action. Many of the inspectors that we see, are Ofsted inspectors during the week, so they know what they are looking for. I have been very proud of how positive has been their reactions to Our Yarm and Darlington  schools.

I was particularly flattered when Jean Harding, the lead inspector of the Inspection Service, said that she had been reading a succession of excellent reports from my schools for years and had to come and see our Yarm AM school, in action, for herself. At the end of the morning, she was very enthusiastic in her appraisal of what she had seen. I quote from her report on the Yarm Early Stages class:-

“A delightful class. Students learn well and behave well as a result of the very good teaching. The principal, teacher and helper work very well together, as a result the children enjoy their practice for the show.”

Of the Yarm AM Main school she chose to call the teaching “Outstanding” and said that “the inculcation of creativity is a strength of this school. The teaching is organised and creative. Students respond accordingly and acquire not only very good skills but a `feel` for performance.”

In her summary, she said “This is a super school. Students display a wide range of well-developed integrated skills and also have great fun. They are very well behaved because they are so focussed. Fabulous range of genre. Students LOVE coming.”

This was a particularly pleasing report because Jean is such a senior inspector, with many years of experience to call upon.

Other Inspection Comments on all schools in recent years have included:-

I was impressed by the professionalism of the principal and teachers and the high standard of skills of the students.” V.Munnich 21.01.10 (Darlington Thursday school)

A confident, lively atmosphere is very apparent in this school, where creativity and the involvement of all students is so well encouraged, especially for the shy students. All the staff are very well-prepared and professional M Walker 15.10.11 (Darlington Saturday PM school)

This is a highly effective school, particularly in respect of generating energy and enthusiasm amongst the students. There is a genuine sense of good humour, collaboration and confidence. G Watson  04.03.11 (Darlington Friday School)

Very experienced staff and principal, who demonstrate strong expertise in their specialisms. All sessions enjoy a sense of fun, albeit underlined with good learning opportunities. Dynamic approach to teaching, with adventurous projects being developed. A well-managed school.  G Rolfe 09.10.10  (Darlington Saturday AM school)

An exciting, lively school, well-managed. The students show obvious interest and enjoyment. Very good discipline.  M Walker 30.05.10  (Sunday Yarm PM school)

A well-considered and organised class, where students are cared for and feel secure. Staff work enthusiastically and present a range of suitable tasks that are both demanding and enjoyable.  G Rolfe 09.10.10 (Darlington Early Stages)

My American online friend who keeps me abreast of what Jamie Bell is doing, sent me an e mail a couple of weeks ago to say that Jamie had mentioned me on Facebook. As I don`t have a Facebook account, I couldn`t check it out so Ted gave me the wording. It was “I wouldn`t have a career without Trudy Hindmarsh. Love and support to her and all who attend Stagecoach!”  How lovely is that. Thank you very much Jamie.

Received today from the organisers of the Vibe Awards for children in Darlington.

Hello Trudy,
 
Just wanted to say a big thank you to you, the other teachers and young people for performing again at the Vibes again.
 
They were all amazing as usual and feedback has been fantastic!!
 

Jo

There were two awards nights last week and our All Boy Dance Class and Dance STARE performed at the Tuesday awards night. The Boys danced to “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and were complimented enthusiastically by the editor of the Northern Echo when I met him on the stairs at the interval. 

STARE performed to “Bridging the Gap”, as the night`s finale and the dance ended with a spectacular `explosion` of dancers. Hayley Moohan said that she had visited Hurworth School the night after and the Hurworth teachers who had been at the Vibes were full of praise for our groups - saying that they get better every year. Here is an article about the awards from the Northern Echo. The Boys group is pictured taking a bow.

The STARE concert at Middleton Hall Retirement Village went very well indeed last Monday evening. Plenty of residents turned out to watch and I was proud of all the students and their singing - some of them were singing solo in public for the very first time!

I called into Teesside High School on Wednesday and one of the senior teachers there greeted me with “I hear that you have held a very successful concert at Middleton Hall,” so word was quick to circulate.

The surroundings were lovely. The room we performed in was like a 4 star hotel.  We were warmly welcomed and given drinks and mince pies afterwards and each choir member was given a selection box to go home with. Many residents stayed behind to talk to me and praise the singers. We are already talking about another concert later in the year with some olde tyme songs on the programme.

It really made me feel like Christmas - which normally takes some doing. My grand-daughter Lily put in an appearance being very keen to sit with her great-grandad - my dad - who is a resident there. 

I saw lots of sniffling going on in the audience, particularly when Emma Walton, aged 6 and Nathania Ewruje aged 13 sang “Silent Night”.  I had a lump in my throat too when Francis Walton sang “Too Young” and several in the audience joined in. It reminded me of all the family outings that I had as a child where my aunties and uncles sang all the old songs as we were travelling home.

There was a collection for our “Arms For Angels” fund for Shannon Hart at the end which raised a wonderful £206.50.

I received this card this morning:-

Sally Messham of Yarm Further Stages stepped in to save a local amateur production. With only a few weeks to go the cast had lost a key member because of job relocation so Sally was auditioned and volunteered to help them out. Sally plays the daughter of a couple who unwittingly live opposite to a couple of Russian spies in the play “Pack of Lies” which is based on a true story. The chairman is very pleased with Sally and sent us a letter to prove it. She says, “the director is absolutely delighted with Sally`s performance and she has been an absolute pleasure to work with.  Here is a poster about the play -  and Sally. Well done Sal - you did us proud and prompted the chairman to say that no doubt in the future they will look to us again when they are needing children in their parts.

Thanks and a cheque for £50 towards our £2250 total raised for Cancer Research UK,  from Eston Residents Association after STARE performed at their Christmas celebrations

A week ago today, we were inspected on the usual random basis by the team of independent inspectors who visit us in every main school every year.  Despite the fact that there was nothing official that she could inspect, because there was no teaching going on because our “Billy Elliot” auditions were running all night, she decided to stay and really enjoyed seeing the children of the Thursday Darlington school perform. She left this comment with us on our report form:-

“I was impressed by the professionalism of the principal and teachers and the high standard of skills of the students.”

V.Munnich 21.01.10

Received from the organiser of the charity fundraising show at Middlesbrough Theatre that STARE and the All Boys Dance Class appeared at recently 

Feedback from the hotel events staff at Rockcliffe Hall Hotel has been very positive about the dummy run of our “paparazzi night” on Wednesday. Apparently everyone was very taken with the idea and thought that it added interest to their event. Claire from the events team wanted to stress how professional and enthusiastic she thought everyone had been on our team and even the M.D. was impressed (not sure if that means Steve Gibson the Chairman of Middlesbrough FC or not because I know the land and the hotel project are very much his and his daughter Katie was a Yarm Stagecoach student for several years.) SO …..well done to all those Further Stages students and Darlington PM Stage 3 students who did 2 rehearsals in 2 nights and kept up our Stagecoach standards so beautifully. And thank you to parents who made it all possible by ferrying children back and forth to the Forum and Hurworth. Great stuff. The hotel is now very open to letting us be involved in other projects in the future. And there are still 5 REAL paparazzi nights to go.

On Sunday morning Yarm AM Stagecoach was pleased to welcome Jean Harding to our school. Jean is the chief of Harding Associates - an independent team of inspectors who inspect each of my schools every year.

The inspector`s arrival is unannounced and therefore provides the most reliable kind of feedback because we cannot put on a “show for the inspectors”. What they see is a normal week in action. Many of the inspectors that we see, are Ofsted inspectors during the week so they know what they are looking for. I have been very touched in the past by how positive has been their reaction to Our Yarm and Darlington  schools

I was very flattered when Jean said that she had been reading a succession of excellent reports from my schools for years and had to come and see for herself.

At the end of the morning, she was very enthusiastic in her appraisal of what she had seen. I quote from her report on the Early Stages class:-

“A delightful school. Students learn well and behave well as a result of the very good teaching. The principal, teacher and helper work very well together, as a result the children enjoy their practice for the show.”

Of the Yarm AM Main school she chose to call the teaching “Outstanding” and said that “the inculcation of creativity is a strength of this school. The teaching is organised and creative. Students respond accordingly and acquire not only very good skills but a `feel` for performance.”

In her summary, she said “This is a super school. Students display a wide range of well-developed integrated skills and also have great fun. They are very well behaved because they are so focussed. Fabulous range of genre. Students LOVE coming.”

This was a particularly pleasing report because Jean is such a senior inspector, with many years of experience to call upon.

In 12 years, I can honestly say that all our reports have been ones to be proud of.  As we get future reports I will post the results to the web site and if I get five minutes might also get chance to post up some past reports too.