The First Railway-Based City & Guilds NVQ Vocational Qualification Developed and Launched by Woodrush Academy

With funding from West Midlands Trains and support from Friends of the Shakespeare Line, Woodrush Academy have developed and launched the first railway-based City & Guilds NVQ vocational qualification based on horticultural studies. Students have also built a geocaching adventure based on stations along the Shakespeare Line as part of their IT work. It's the first railway-based Geocaching adventure in the world.

The school offers a City & Guilds NVQ 2 qualification for Horticultural Studies, a UK-first based on volunteer railway station work. The Academy is also working with Network Rail to explore a pathway for students to modern apprenticeships, a prospect Lord Hendy, the Chair of Network Rail, warmly encouraged when he spoke to students and staff when he visited the Academy in February.

Woodrush Headteacher Jay Barber said: 'The community partnership that has developed following our adoption of Wythall station has been transformational for our students. The partnership has led to us being able to offer unique curriculum experiences from landscape designing, gardening and planting, installation of artwork at the train station, new sustainability GCSE courses and a 2,000-sapling planting project with the Tree Council. Lord Hendy's visit to Woodrush signalled a key milestone in this unique and impactful partnership between Woodrush students the community and the surrounding public transport services.'

In a further example of the links that have developed from the original adoption idea, the school also partners with the nearby Transport Museum at Wythall. During its opening season, the Museum runs a vintage bus link to Wythall station.

Tree Planting

Freya Cooksey a student at Woodrush Academy joins Denise Wetton, Director for Central Route at Network Rail, Lord Peter Hendy, Chair of Network Rail, Fraser Pithie, Chair of Friends of the Shakespeare Line, Sara Lom, Chief Executive, from The Tree Council and Gille Bulteel, Tutor at Woodrush Academy as they plant a tree on 22 February 2024 commemorating the visit of Lord Hendy to the school

Lord Hendy Visit

Jay Barber, Headteacher of Woodrush Academy discusses with Lord Hendy, Chair of Network Rail, the benefits that have and continue to emerge by working with the stakeholders in the railways