Aspire Programme

"Alexandra park primary school staff go above and beyond for the pupils and families in the community. I am proud that my children have attended/attend there."

“The scientist from NASA has blown my mind!” parent and governor, following a visit from a scientist speaking to Year 6.

We want our children to be inspired to learn more about both the world around them and about the opportunities open to them so that they can become the scientists, leaders, musicians, sports people and entrepreneurs of the future. All of our children are enrolled on the Aspire Programme when they start at Alexandra Park Primary School. Through The Aspire Programme, children have opportunities to work with businesses on a range of projects, meet members of parliament, scientists, work with artists and musicians and engage in a range of sporting opportunities. Previously, our children have listened to Angela Rayner, Shadow Education Secretary, met Prince Harry and worked on business projects with John Lewis and Sainsburys. They have had the opportunity to play guitars with The Halle Orchestra, cycle at Manchester Velodrome and BMX track and work with local artists. Each class has an Aspire Book that travels with them through school. The Aspire Book gives our children the chance to reflect on the range of opportunities that they have experienced at Alexandra Park Primary School. Our aim is that as a result of these experiences, our children have the curiosity, ambition and confidence to achieve in their futures.

Our ‘Aspire in Science’ programme is a remarkable inspiration to our children. In 1990, Helen Sharman, OBE, replied to a radio advert which said, ‘Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary.’ Her successful application led to her becoming the first Briton in space. We want the children of Alexandra Park to have the knowledge and love of science that means in the future, if there is a similar opportunity, our children will have the skills and knowledge required for the role and the aspirations to seize the opportunity. Yes, we do want our children to go to the moon! We also want them to have the confidence and love of learning that means they can pursue all opportunities and careers that interest them. To achieve this, every child has had the opportunity to either work with a scientist, including a scientist from NASA this year, or has been on a science trip. Children have also demonstrated their science at ‘Science Shares’, region-wide events.

However, our Aspire Programme is about more than one off events. After high school transition day, the main thing the children talk about is what they did in the science lab. We want our children to have this awe and wonder in every science lesson at primary school. To achieve this goal, with help from our local community, we created our own ‘Aspire’ Science Lab where we can ensure high quality resources are available in an environment where the children see themselves as young scientists – they even wear lab coats! We employ two science teachers whose expert knowledge and passion are invaluable in providing our children with what is a world-class scientific learning experience.

Performing Arts

Have a look at the amazing performances from our KS2 children. Our theatre teacher, Anne-Marie, worked with each year group over a half term to put these performances together. 

BMX

During assemblies, we will often learn about people who have demonstrated our school values. One such person is Sam Willoughby who aspired to be a BMX racer and eventually become a BMX World Champion. We learnt how it was not easy for him as he had to leave his home in Australia to pursue his dream and move to America. Initially, he did not even have enough money to pay rent so he slept on friend’s settees!

Sam Willoughby also taught us that it is not just enough to aspire - your aspirations need to be supported with hard work and commitment. We also learnt that there may be times in our lives where we face huge challenges. In Sam’s case, he was paralysed after a training accident. His response to this was something we all learnt from as he went on to be a coach and coached his wife, Alise Willoughby, and she too became the World Champion!

Following on from these assemblies, as part of our Aspire Programme, some of our children went to the National BMX track in Manchester so they could experience racing BMXs too. We were very fortunate that the British Olympic team were on the track before us. After seeing how brave our children were we may have some future Olympians at Alexandra Park.

As seen in the M.E.N

We were recently featured in the Manchester Evening News as "The primary school giving kids a lie-in after the England game" after Mr Brook told our parents "We just want everyone to enjoy it properly."

See the full article here.

Green Week 

Green Week - What a fantastic week! Across school we have been thinking about global issues such as reducing plastic waste, recycling, fair trade and sustainability. We have also been improving our school environment by planting vegetables and hanging baskets.