Our Student Leadership
We have a student parliament that is organised to reflect the UK government. Separate departments focus on key areas of academy life such as the department for education, department for health and wellbeing and the department for conduct. Students work in partnership with senior and middle leaders to instigate positive change and action throughout the academy.
Our Empower programme works directly with our female students to develop their leadership abilities. Students on this program work towards a nationally recognised leadership qualification.
Our Culture Coaches are Year 11 students who support and mentor our Year 7 and 8 students.
Leeds City Academy work in partnership with the Diana Changemakers Award. This programme allows are students to develop their leadership skills and to become advocates for mental health.
Our Community Links
We are proud to be active and responsible members of our local, national and global community. At Leeds City Academy we work in partnership with charities and organisations and strive to ensure all students are aware of how they can become involved in community work.
Leeds City Academy's Student Parliament includes an active Environment Department who are community impact leaders within our local area, working with local conservation groups and road safety charities to make a positive impact in the community.
Our active citizenship community work was recognised by the Association for Citizenship Teaching where Leeds City Academy were one of three schools shortlisted nationally for the ACTive citizenship school of the year.
Phoenix Programme
The Phoenix represents new life and a fresh start and the rationale for the programme is to provide young people with real life experiences and show them how school life heavily links to’ real’ life in the world of work. Currently, the Phoenix programme works in partnership with the Tiny Trees Day Nursery with 6 year 9 students acting as apprenticeship 1 hour a week.
Prior to this, during half term 4 the girls were involved in sessions with Miss Manners such as ‘ The Bigger Picture’, Professionalism in the workplace’ and ‘How to respond to difficult situations’.
HT5 the girls commenced their real-life experience working in the nursery. The girls have temporary job description, been given policies and have undergone training such as behavior management. All six girls were deployed into the following room:
- Toddlers (under 2s)
- Over 2s
- Pre – School 3+
The girls selected for the programme struggle with the day-to-day practices of a school environment and often find themselves in the sanction areas of the academy such as detention and the RLC. However, in the nursery the girls are exemplary.
The Manager is extremely impressed with the girls and stated that she was skeptical at first but could not be more surprised in their work ethic, professionalism and enthusiasm during their time there. The Manager has told all the girls that they are what she is looking for in apprenticeships and if they continue to prove themselves, she would be more than willing to offer them an apprenticeship when they reach the age of 16. 1/6 girls are keen to work towards this. During HT5 the girls have:
- Read to children
- Set up play areas
- Assisted with outdoor play
- Play with the children (messy play)
- Help create recourses
The parents of these students are extremely grateful that they have been given the opportunity. Below are some comments made:
" She really is a nice kid Miss Manners, she's been through and seen a lot but she does care. She loves going to the nursery and when she gets home she tells me all about it. Amaya is a big help at home, she gets home late due to the distance but when she gets in she washes up, helps with the feeds, baths her brother, she's brilliant, I am so happy that she has this as she looks forward to it, she now understands her brother’s autism more"
" Aaliyah tells me about when she gets home, I think she now wants to work in childcare and glad she had a chance like this"
Although in the academy, the girls are still struggling; the above shows that the programme is having a positive impact on their mental health and social skills in the family home, which is impact that is not reflective of data.
In half term 6 the girls will continue with their one hour a week and continue into year 10. For those wishing to have a career in childcare, the academy will explore ways to increase time in the nursery by an hour. Tiny Tress are more than willing to increase the time as the girls are, in the Manager’s words “ smashing it”.