Midcheshire Independent Issue 164

15 APRIL 2024 Visit our website: www.independentnewspapers.co.uk T: 0161 480 8171 | E: info@damartraining.com or visit our website: www.damartraining.com A specialist provider of apprentice recruitment and training • Stunning 80-acre campus in Prestbury • Excellent GCSE & A-Level results • Unrivalled extra-curricular programme • 11+ Bursaries & Scholarships available BOOK NOW www.kingsmac.co.uk www.kingsmac.co.uk | 01625 260000 The King’s School in Macclesfield Y ear 5 Taster Day (for Senior entry September 2025) Friday 28 June SCAN QR code ‘EXCELLENT ’ IN ALL AREAS - ISI Inspection 2022 THERE was a buzz around Tytherington School as stu- dents once again took over their teachers and other staff roles. More than 100 students took part in the annual Takeover Day event, giving them leader- ship experiences and a sense of what it takes to run a school. They had the opportunity to develop a range of leadership skills including public speak- ing, time management and col- laboration. Several staff roles were taken over for the day. Thejaswin Ramprasath (Year 8) and Iris Dalton (Year 7) took over the headteach- er’s role. Iris said: “It has been really enjoyable and has given me a better idea of what happens behind the scenes in a school.” Students take control Learning of life behind bars Lessons: Pictured with students are (front row, from left) King’s psychology teacher Mr Barnard, Jim, Carey Ratcli!e and Brian KING’S School sixth formers got a look at life behind bars when three former prisoners visited A-Level students to tell of the harsh reality of a crim- inal conviction. The day-long conference called ‘Behind Bars: Crime and Deviance’ was hosted by the Macclesfield school and run by True Life Conferences to examine whether prisons should be for punishment, retribution or rehabilitation. The conference looked to cover issues including crime prevention, the legal system, forensic psychology, drug awareness, mental health awareness and tackling stereotypes. Carey Ratcliffe, King’s psy- chology teacher, said: “Learn- ing from those who have lived part of their lives behind bars gives our students a real-life glimpse not only of the true consequences of crime but of the many professionals who dedicate their lives to helping them change their behaviour.” Joining King’s pupils for the day were fellow A-Level psychology students from Stockport Grammar School and Manchester High School for Girls. Conference manager Andrew Lewis introduced former prisoners Brian and Jim who spoke not just of the difficulties of life behind bars, but reflected on their crimes and the impact of a criminal record on their opportunities after release. Andrew, from True Life, said: “We aim to show young people who want to work in related sectors such as the Law, policing, social work, psychology and prison welfare what the costs and realities of prison life are. What it is like to be labelled and then dealing with what can be a life-long stigma. “We ask pupils to examine whether prison is really the best solution for some offences and whether the short sharp shock approach ever works. “We also look at more Headteacher Manny Botwe said: “This is one of my favour- ite days of the year. We really believe in giving young people the opportunity to take on real leadership experiences.” He added that he had met the government’s education secretary Gillian Keegan in his role as vice president of the Association for School and Colleges Leaders National Conference (ASCL) and put forward questions the Takeover Day students had come up with. He said: “The students came up with a whole host of ques- tions on the topics of funding, support for students with spe- cial educational needs, services for young people needing addi- tional support with their men- tal health, more opportunities for extra-curricular activities and greater initiatives to sup- port the recruitment and reten- tion of staff in schools.” serious offending, how those offenders think, and how we manage the segregation of dangerous individuals from society and the nature of pun- ishment for wrong doing.”