School

PARTNER SCHOOL

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

General Information

General Information
SCHOOL TYPE Complementary/Supplementary
AGE RANGES
  • 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16, 16+
REGION North West
LOCAL AUTHORITY Trafford

About our school

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Bhavan) is a cultural and educational organisation promoting India’s rich cultural heritage by offering education in various Indian art forms such as classical and folk dances, musical instruments and languages to people of all ages. Bhavan aims to develop an awareness and appreciation of Indian culture by offering all communities an opportunity to enhance their knowledge and skills. More than 350 classes are attended by students each Saturday at Withington Girls’ High school. Our teachers are our main strength. They are highly committed and well qualified in their field. Some travelling from Birmingham, Leicester and Leeds to teach in Manchester.

About our partnership

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Levenshulme High School have been working in partnership since winter 2007. At Bhavan the Head of the complementary school has been directly involved in the project and is able to motivate and guide teachers at Bhavan as well as other supplementary schools in the area. The Head of the Language College at Levenshulme has also been involved and has discussed methodology and materials with the teachers at Bhavan on a visit to the school. As a result of the partnership, collaborative teaching materials/structures, introduced at the High school are now being used by teachers at Bhavan. There are also plans in place for Asset Languages assessments to take place in the Summer term.

Much of the partnership work in Manchester has focused on raising awareness about community languages and the value of partnerships between the mainstream and complementary school sectors. Two events were organised by the participating schools. An Annual Event for teachers from both sectors was held and was based around the core theme of “Assessment in Focus”, reflecting the importance of assessment as a means to raising attainment across both sectors. Delegates found the event to be a useful platform for networking and many felt the event laid a foundation for future collaboration between the two sectors. The second event was a twilight seminar aimed at teachers in the complementary sector and organised by Bhavan. Delegates discussed the use of both internal and external Asset assessment and the use of singing in encouraging youngsters to learn phrases and vocabulary.