Smartphones Ban in Schools

I've been reporting at the biggest secondary school in Sheffield, Ecclesfield School as a ban on smartphones in schools in England comes into force making individual schools and trusts legally responsible for being phone-free throughout the day.

BBC Copyright

Schools Threat

I covered a story in Huddersfield about a man being arrested after two schools in Kirklees were put into lockdown when they received malicious emails.

BBC Copyright

War Dog

I had a thoroughly enjoyable morning visiting Lawns Park Primary School in Leeds. They invited in a children's author who's written a book about the remarkable Second World War dog called Judy. 'War Dog' is the first picture book written by Leeds author Tom Palmer. 

BBC Copyright

A Level Results Barnsley College

I was at Barnsley College this week as hundreds of students collected their A Level, T Level and BTec results...

BBC Copyright

Teachers' Strike

I covered the teachers' strike last week - we reported from the demo in Sheffield.

BBC Copyright

School Trip

A community in Leeds has rallied round to raise thousands of pounds to enable more than fifty children in their area to go on a residential school trip to Whitby. Meadowfield Primary School in Halton Moor was forced to scrap their annual 3 day trip because they simply couldn't afford it any more. But when the owner of the local corner shop found out, he stepped in to fundraise three grand.

BBC Copyright

Exams Resume

GCSE and A Level exams got underway in full this week for the first time in three years. Unlike last year, students have not been given advance information about the topics they're likely to be tested on. The regulator Ofqual says the disruption caused by Covid will still be taken into account in the grades that are awarded - but some students are worried that they've been unfairly affected by the virus and, more recently, strike action.

BBC Copyright

Twins Schooling

I covered the troubling story of four year old autistic twins in York where only one of the boys has been given a place at a special school...

BBC Copyright

School disrepair

A mother from Sheffield who was hit by a fascia board which fell from a school building is calling for more funding to be given to schools. Carla Ashman was waiting to pick up her two boys from Dore Primary School when it happened. She was left with cuts and grazes, a black eye and tinnitus.

BBC Copyright

School Talk

I had a very enjoyable morning speaking to schoolchildren at Ecclesall Primary about my job. The Foundation children, who are aged 4 and 5, are learning about different professions and have had visits from people who do different jobs. I talked about being a BBC News and Sport reporter and showed them the camera and tripod I use to film stories. They listened really well and asked me some good questions. I also showed them the short video below which has clips from some of the stories I've covered for BBC Look North in recent years...

BBC Copyright

School Uniforms

I've been filming at a Yorkshire charity which collects and redistributes school uniforms. Uniform Exchange says demand has never been so high. They gave out 3,500 school uniforms to children in Kirklees last year - stopping the clothes going to landfill and helping families at the same time.

BBC Copyright

Free School Meals

The families of school children in Rotherham who are entitled to free school meals will get supermarket vouchers to buy food during summer holidays. They'll be worth fifteen pounds per week per child. The number of children in Rotherham who qualify for means-tested free school meals has risen more than a third to nearly twelve thousand children since the start of the pandemic. It was an eye-opening experience to speak to teachers and parents at Badsley Primary School in Rotherham to see how the cost of living crisis is impacting on families.

BBC Copyright

Adult Education

I covered a story about a training provider which runs adult education courses in South Yorkshire which is urging the City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis to intervene and reverse a decision not to continue funding them. Last year almost two and a half thousand people in South Yorkshire attended courses run by the charity W.E.A but now its funding of £1.7 million has being cut.

BBC Copyright

Creative Schoolchildren

We had a brilliant day filming at Byron Wood Academy in Sheffield where schoolchildren are being encouraged to be creative and use their imagination with literacy charity Grimm and Co...

BBC Copyright

GCSE Results Day

I went to Firth Park Academy in Sheffield to witness the excitement of GCSE results day, something I still remember very well despite it being half my lifetime ago!

BBC Copyright

A Levels U-Turn

I went to report at a Yorkshire school which saw a dramatic change in its results following the government's u-turn on A-Level grading.

BBC Copyright

Virtual Clearing

I went to the University of Sheffield to see how they were managing clearing this year. More than a hundred University of Sheffield students & staff were answering thousands of calls from A Level students wanting to study there. It was almost all done from home because of social distancing.

BBC Copyright

School Refusal

I've been working on a story for a few weeks to do with school refusal or phobia as it's sometimes known. It's is a problem that results in a child refusing to go to school on a regular basis. The mental health charity Mind is calling on the government to carry out an urgent review into the issue and to stop treating children with mental health issues as truants. We filmed with Kai and his Mum Debbie in Chesterfield. The story was featured across the BBC - on Radio 4 Today programme, BBC News website, News Channel and on BBC Breakfast...



BBC Copyright

Trampolinist Bounces Back

I've been to Sheffield High School for Girls where one of their students is trampolinist who's back competing two years after breaking her neck in a training accident. Lucy Horan was told by doctors she'd never be able to trampoline again but she's proved them wrong, winning bronze at the English Championships last month. I thoroughly enjoyed working on the story and had to have a go on the trampoline myself!



BBC Copyright

Latin

I've been to the only state school in Sheffield that offers the study of Latin where they've started a crowdfunding campaign to save the subject. Spending cuts and changes to the national curriculum mean that Classical Civilisation and Latin are under threat at High Storrs School. They need to raise a hundred thousand pounds to be able to keep teaching the subjects.

BBC Copyright