PARKSIDE School has received national recognition for its literacy and numerous projects.

The school has once again been nominated for two prestigious awards by Sky Sports, Outstanding Project of the Year 2017 and Outstanding Contribution by a Teacher.

The nominations follow the Cullingworth school’s nationally-acclaimed Sky Sports Living for Sport project, which used five-a-side football to improve students’ outcomes in maths.

This year’s Sky Sports Living for Sport nomination reflects the “outstanding” work of the schools Numeracy Co-ordinator, Emma Brooksbank.

She has lead a team of 48 students in delivering a weekly form-time literacy and numeracy programme, to more than 700 students in years 7 to 10.

Under Emma’s guidance, the students plan, deliver and administer the programme to great effect and ensure that literacy and numeracy have a high profile at the start of the day.

Deputy head Matt Barratt has been nominated for Sky Sports Living for Sport’s Outstanding Contribution in recognition of his leadership of the projects over the last two years.

He said: “The nominations awarded to the school are a fantastic reflection of the hard work and dedication of the staff that have been involved.

“All the projects have proven to have a significant impact on the progress of the students involved, and also in their own personal development and attitudes to learning.”

Matt said the work of the Sky Sports Living for Sport mentor, former Rugby League Great Britain international player Paul Broadbent, had been integral in helping inspire the pupils he worked with.

Matt added:” The input given from Paul was both heartfelt and inspiring. It left pupils feeling capable of achieving anything!”

The school is now competing against a shortlist of schools from all corners of the UK to become the Sky Sports Living for Sport Project of the Year and build on its highly commended project from 2016.

Paul began his visits to Parkside in 2015 with a day of workshops intended to combine maths and football.

He reinforced the characteristics required to be a successful learner, then put soccer-mad students through their paces with a range of physical challenges.

The year 10 GCSE pupils went on compete in a five-a-side league, gathering data from their games to analyse in maths lessons, then applied the data and functional knowledge to their GCSE exam questions.

The students involved in the Sky Sports project also ran a Gifted and Talented Maths championship for the Parkside feeder schools during the summer term.