Mortimer Community College Reading Road South Shields NE33 4UG A Specialist School for Arts and Sport

These are exciting times at Mortimer Community College. We have a state of the art school under the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme, we have transformed the learning community for the benefit of everyone. Specialist Arts and Sport status allied to the BSF programme at Mortimer, creates a powerful combination, drawing together an exciting range of new ideas and innovations to deliver what we believe is a Centre of Excellence for Sport and the Arts, and an outstanding community based learning facility that will benefit all our partners. Sport and Arts Specialist Status offers a unique opportunity to re-define a new 21st Century ethos and identity for Mortimer and as such is the essential component within our transformation plans. New School – New Status – New Vision – New Opportunities – New Future.

Our Vision

As a specialist school of Arts and Sport we have transformed our organisation to establish a Creativity and Movement Centre of Excellence, whose influence extends way beyond the remit of a conventional school to become a prominent sporting, cultural and learning landmark within the local, regional, national and international community.

Our sole aim is:

 To promote a life long understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the Arts and Sport  To raise attainment for all students both in the specialist subjects and across the whole curriculum  To become a recognised centre of excellence in Teaching and Learning (including CPD), by developing quality strategies in the specialist subjects and using these to drive up standards in the rest of the school  To develop new, innovative and dynamic methods of Teaching and Learning, to engage, inspire and raise achievement, led by the specialist subjects.  To embrace equality of opportunity and social inclusion and to develop personalised lifelong learning pathways for every learner.  To provide more exciting, active and engaging opportunities for learning, particularly through creativity and the use of new technologies.  To develop new high quality learning opportunities and outcomes in the specialist subjects, for partner schools and the broader community.  To strengthen our relationships and understanding with the local and global community through reciprocal partnerships. Why we chose Sport and Arts (Creativity and Movement)

We have chosen Sport and Arts as they are acknowledged areas of strength within the school curriculum and have the capacity to lead whole school improvement and community development. Mortimer has held an excellent reputation for sport and the arts for many years, and the inclusive popularity, success and shared aspirations of these subjects have led to the establishment of a new Faculty of Creativity and Movement. All subjects within the Faculty provide opportunities for students to participate in an extensive range of sports and arts activities outside of schools hours and there are excellent community links. Professional artists; sports coaches, theatre visits; workshops and performances are frequently used to enhance the curriculum. In PE, students successfully represent the school in a wide range of local, regional and county events - Football, Netball, Basketball and Trampolining. We have a strong record of student success and selection for district and national teams and events.

How the Specialisms will be used to Raise Attainment

We are determined to find ways of transferring this success to the whole school and raise whole school attainment by:

 Promoting and leading the development of dynamic, interactive and multi-sensory teaching and learning practice across the school.  Making students and staff more aware of the essential skills for life long learning that are developed in Sport and Arts i.e. self-discipline, communication skills, thinking skills and problem solving, cooperation, team work, social skills and organisational skills.  Using PESS (PESSCL) to transform break and lunchtimes; improve concentration, motivation, behaviour and leadership skills by giving students responsibility for out-of- hours activities.  Exploring the popular and engaging nature of Sport and the Arts as a context for learning throughout the school and community.  Celebrating success and participation. Promoting positive self-esteem and confidence by increasing the numbers of students taking part in sports events, arts performances and exhibitions, within school and beyond.  Further exploiting the effective use of ICT to develop investigative and evaluative skills to enable students to develop higher order thinking skills and their ability to self- evaluate and improve performances.  Promoting good health, positive attitudes and emotional well being  By developing mutually beneficial links with the wider community and working collaboratively with: other schools, Post 16 providers – FE and HE, Arts and Sports professionals/organisations and Business.

Ref: Specialist Status 2013/pp