Morton & Magpies

Staff and pupils at The Morton School in Carlisle and premiership giants, Newcastle United Football Club are celebrating this week as they both share the honours of being awarded a national recognition for the quality of their educational work. The Morton School is the only school in the County to gain such recognition. 

After a recent assessment by top national judges the School and Newcastle United Learning Centre have been awarded Established status for the quality of Study Support. Study Support is out of hours learning which takes place after school as a voluntary activity. Pupils from eight local primary schools, as well as Morton School pupils, have benefited from the scheme. 

The Morton School was one of the first schools in Cumbria to get involved in the initiative, which is funded by National Lottery cash through the New Opportunities Fund. In the three years the scheme has been running, over 1200 young people have taken part in activities ranging from Arts and Crafts through Sport to GCSE coursework support. 

Joan Stocker, Cabinet Spokesperson for Education says 

“This is a wonderful achievement for the school. Gaining ‘Established’ status for a first application is a rare achievement and I am delighted that the high level of provision currently available at the school has been recognised.” 

Margaret Watson, Study Support Manager responsible for this initiative and piloted the Quality in Study Support Bid (QISS), says 

“I am absolutely delighted that this initiative has been such a success and the hard work of the pupils and staff has been formally recognised through this award”. 

Mike Bell, Principal of The Morton School says 

“I am very happy that The Morton School’s work in the wider community has been honoured in this way, after coming as it did, on top of the rating by Ofsted Inspectors showing that links with the community were one of the strengths of the school”. 

The School will be presented with a Certificate of Achievement later on in the year at a ceremony shared with Newcastle United.