The Rothschild Community of Excellence will support 15 schools in West Yorkshire through their first four years of specialist status. Since the programme began in September 2004, nine schools have joined the community, and applications from prospective schools are very welcome (please read our eligibility criteria).

As a member of the programme, schools receive a share of £500,000 cornerstone funding from Rothschild to enable them to raise the sponsorship needed to attain specialist status. Up to £40,000 is available per school.

Once specialist status is achieved, the schools work with the University of Leeds to design a bespoke enhancement programme of activities to support and enhance the curriculum according to their needs. The activities range from in-school talks on curriculum topics to workshop days at the university exploring higher education and using state of the art equipment to develop skills and understanding in an area of Mathematics or Science. Examples of activities offered within the enhancement programme are available here in Word format.

School based ITT (initial teacher training) placements form a major part of the programme. Each member school hosts one postgraduate ITT student per year of the programme. The students are part of an innovative new course combining a PGCE with an MSc in research within the Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences at the University of Leeds and bring with them a wealth of experience and enthusiasm.

For more information about becoming involved in the Rothschild Community of Excellence, please read our School eligibility criteria and contact Tamasin Greenough Graham on 0113 343 3778 or t.greenoughgraham@leeds.ac.uk.