South Wales Argus School and Education Awards: St Martin's School

Whether it’s discovering the lifecycles of bees through looking after hives in the school grounds, or getting to grips with the principles of nutrition while cooking for elderly neighbours in a professional catering environment, no two days are the same at the school in Caerphilly.

The success of the approach taken at St Martin’s can be seen in the continuous improvements in its exam results and attendance levels, both of which have led the school to be taken out of monitoring and rated as ‘good’ by Estyn within the space of just four years.

Indeed, in their report published in 2019, inspectors commented on how most students ‘enjoyed’ coming to school.

“Many teachers show high levels of dedication to ensure that pupils perform to the best of their ability,” said the document. “They deliver exciting lessons that capture pupils’ imagination. As a result, most pupils enjoy coming to school. “

The turnaround at St Martin’s was one of the factors that led it to be named ‘secondary school of the year’ at the last South Wales Argus Schools & Education Awards.

For head teacher Lee Jarvis, who arrived at St Martin’s in 2015 after it had been deemed to ‘need improvement’, the key to unlocking the students’ potential has been in finding ‘hidden gems’, both within the young people themselves and their wider community.

Along with making structural changes, learning from other educational establishments, investing in facilities and broadening the range of subjects that pupils are able to study, with more vocational courses added to the options available, the school has reached out to parents and its neighbours, inviting them along to coffee mornings and other occasions and encouraging them to work in partnership with its young people.

One example of these strengthened community links is the use of the school’s working restaurant, officially called ‘Touch of Class’ but commonly referred to as ‘The Class’, to host senior citizens living at a nearby residential home.

At other times the kitchen has been the setting for masterclasses led by chefs, including Giovanni Malacrino, of Giovanni’s in Cardiff, with students working with him to create dishes to serve to guests.

Initiatives like these have led to a surge in numbers wanting to study catering, both at GCSE and A level.

Other ‘hands on’ activities have included the setting up of a working salon for students keen to go into hair and beauty careers, with governors, staff members and friends of the school all undergoing transformations.

Meanwhile bee hives at the school offer a unique insight when it comes to science lessons, along with real time experience in harvesting and processing honey, creating labels for jars and sales.

“There’s a thread running through all our subjects and that’s in bringing them to life and making them appear real to the children and not just something they learn in a classroom from text books,” says Mr Jarvis. “They’re doing things they can use in their lives because they’re seeing the relevance.”

MANY of us can remember people the people who made a real difference to our early lives, whether through providing much-needed support during a difficult time or lighting a spark that set us on paths we might never have taken.

For the singer Adele it was an English teacher, Miss McDonald, who inspired a love of poetry, while the footballer Ian Wright memorably broke down in tears when he was reunited with Sydney Pigden, the man who had seen so much in the young lad from Woolwich.

These are just two well known examples of the countless positive and life-changing interactions involving teachers, teaching assistants, early years workers and the host of other people involved in our schools and colleges.

The South Wales Argus Schools & Education Awards, held in association with Cardiff Metropolitan University, is your chance to thank the people and institutions that are making a difference to children and young people today.

We want to tell our readers about the individuals and teams who are going above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of pupils and students.

Tell us about the initiatives that are enthusing your children; the brilliant ways that teachers are inspiring a love of languages, including Welsh; not to mention maths, literature, science, history, geography and sport.

Let us know about the wonderful ways schools have kept their students engaged with learning during the pandemic, with staff often working long hours to prepare online lessons, and hands on projects like the beekeeping and school restaurant at last year’s Secondary School of the Year St Martin’s School in Caerphilly.

The South Wales Argus believes that great work in schools and education is worth celebrating, and there’s nobody better to tell us about it than our loyal readers.

Why not take the time over Christmas to log onto our awards website at https://newsquestevents.co.uk/schools-education-awards/ and nominate your heroes