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The Schools Engagement team (Widening Access) is part-funded by the Office for Students, to support targeted schools in specific areas across Northamptonshire.
The opportunities across both primary and secondary schools are targeted towards raising the number of students that transition from year 11 into post 16 education and higher education, supporting the attainment of young people in those schools and offering opportunities that contribute to the careers education in schools. Schools are identified from specific wards across the county of Northamptonshire (using Polar Q1&2 and gaps Q1&2 wards, IMD and Tundra data).
Our partner primary schools are called our SPARK schools. The University of Northampton opportunities are designed to support young people in our SPARK Schools to demonstrate:
Social impact
Positivity
Aspiration
Resilience
Knowledge
SPARK Schools list:
Abington Vale Primary School
All Saints VA Primary School and Nursery
Ashby Fields Primary School
Beanfield Primary School
Blackthorn Primary School
Briar Hill Primary School
Castle Academy
Cedar Road Academy
Compass Primary Academy
Corby Old Village Primary School
Croyland Primary School
Daventry Southbrook Learning Village (DSLV) – an E-ACT Academy
Earl Spencer Primary School
East Hunsbury Primary School
Eastfield Academy
Ecton Brook Primary School
Exeter – A Learning Community Academy
Falconers Hill Academy
Grange Primary Academy
Greenoaks Primary Academy
Hazel Leys Academy
Headlands Primary School
Hunsbury Park Primary School
Irthlingborough Junior School
Kettering Buccleuch Academy
Kings Heath Primary Academy
Kingsley Primary School
Kingswood Primary Academy
Lings Primary School
Lumbertubs Primary School
Malcolm Arnold Preparatory School
Northampton International Academy
Oakway Academy
Olympic Primary School
Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School
Park Junior School
Queen Eleanor Primary Academy
Rectory Farm Primary School
Rockingham Primary School
Rushden Primary Academy
Ruskin Academy
Simon De Senlis Primary School
Spring Lane Primary School
St Gregory’s Catholic Primary
St James CE Primary School
St Luke’s Ce Primary School
St Mary’s CEVA Primary School – Kettering
St.Mary’s Catholic Primary – Northampton
Stimpson Avenue Academy
The Abbey CE Academy
The Grange School
Thorplands Primary School
Upton Meadows Primary School
Vernon Terrace Primary School
Victoria Primary Academy
Warwick Academy
Weston Favell CE Primary School
Woodvale Primary Academy
The Schools Engagement team work with the following partner secondary schools and colleges in Northamptonshire.
All partner secondary schools and colleges will be identified a SPOC from the Schools Engagement team, to support you in identifying appropriate opportunities to meet the needs of your young people:
Secondary Schools and Colleges list:
Abbeyfield School
Corby Business Academy
Corby Technical School
Daventry Southbrook Learning Village (DSLV)
Kettering Buccleuch Academy
Kingswood Secondary Academy
Kettering Science Academy
Lodge Park Academy
Malcolm Arnold Academy
Northampton Academy
Northampton College
Northampton International Academy
Parker E-Act Academy
Rushden Academy
The Ferrers School
Thomas Beckett Catholic School
Tresham College
Weavers Academy
Weston Favell Academy
Wrenn School
As a hybrid authority through GDPR we are using “Legitimate Interest” for the lawful collection of relevant data to both our Widening Access and Aspire Higher (Uni Connect) programmes.
Why do we need this?
As a University we receive government funds through the Office for Students (OfS) to offer FREE opportunities, resources and activities for schools, to widen access and participation in higher education, support high aspirations and contribute to raising attainment. We are required to report accurately on the engagement of children and young people from our targeted widening access opportunities so that the Government can evaluate the impact of activities on the progression of children into higher education. The information provided is used for research purposes only and is stored within a secure database based in the UK. To ensure that we continue to receive further funding to be able to offer schools opportunities for free we are reliant on your support to gain the appropriate data from your parents and carers. Full information is provided on the documents at the bottom of the page.
The Information Sharing Agreement, Privacy Notice and Data Collection
Each school that works with us is required to complete an Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) and complete a data exchange so that the University can evidence numbers of young people participating in activities.
Under the GDPR regulation, we work under Legitimate Interest and Public Task to collect student data from each school directly through an Information Sharing Agreement (Word, 52KB) with the school, and a Privacy Notice (Word, 29KB) for the students. The Information Sharing Agreement sets out how we manage the data collected under GDPR. ThePrivacy Notice is for the students, it lays out their rights, how to have their data removed from our tracking system, and how any collected data is being used. This needs to be made available to all parents/carers of students who get involved in any Schools Engagement activity. Schools decide how they wish to communicate this to their community (e.g. letters, newsletters, emails or putting it up on your office wall or website).
Once the ISA has been agreed and Privacy Notice shared with your school community, the school is able to send UON student data using a password protected Data Collection Form (Excel, 18KB).
Once the University has received the signed ISA and the completed Data Collection Form, you are able to access the many opportunities on offer to us.
My school has an ISA with the University of Northampton
Your school has given us permission to share student information with the University of Northampton. Please send us a register of student attendees for each opportunity you participate in. We need each student’s name and DOB. Please ensure that this is emailed to the team in a password protected excel document to schoolsengagement@northampton.ac.uk
My school does not have an ISA with the University of Northampton
If your school is only participating in one activity, there is an alternative process to an ISA. For you to send us your student registers, we require a parent/carer Data Consent Form (Word, 89 KB) on behalf of each student. Not completing this will not exclude young people from participating in Schools Engagement opportunities, but will affect what we can report to the OfS (who fund these activities).
Schools will also need to send us a password protected register of students attending the opportunity prior to it taking place (name and DOB).
Parent/carer Data Consent form: you can download a paper version of the Data Consent form (Word, 89 KB) or share the online version with your parents/carers. If schools choose to use the paper form, you will need to collate the consent forms and bring them to the university opportunity that you are attending. There is an animation at the bottom of this page which you may find useful to share with your parents/carers.
Postcode calculator
If your activity is a focussed activity with your Aspire Higher / Uni Connect cohort (secondary schools only), please use the postcode calculator (Excel, 1MB) to help identify students eligible to participate in the opportunity.
Animation for parents/carers using paper Data Consent Forms
We have created a short animation explaining why we need students data when participating in our Schools Engagement activities. This is useful for school staff, and to be sent to any parents, carers or students who are required to complete our tracking data consent forms.