Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

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Javed Bashir - Bradford College

JAVED Bashir is a Bradford Council employee who works with a number of the district’s supplementary schools.
There are over 130 of these schools in Bradford and they offer educational opportunities for ethnic minority children and young people outside mainstream school provision.
Mr Bashir was nominated for his work with these schools and the different communities within Bradford that they support. 
He has helped more than 100 supplementary schools with issues including safeguarding, child protection, developing their organisation capacity, building effective links with mainstream schools, gaining national quality marks and developing community cohesion around the district.
He works with the Council for Mosques, the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board and the NSPCC to take a multi-agency approach to identify ways children who attend Masajid and Madaaris stay safe, and also works with groups including the city’s Polish School and Bradford’s Chinese community.
Mr Bashir has also worked with Bradford College to develop qualifications for supplementary teachers.
He was nominated by three different people.

Noreen Khan - Neesie

NOREEN Khan runs Neesie, a support group for single mothers in Bradford that works closely with a number of primary schools.
The group provides women, many of whom have suffered from domestic violence and are from some of the most disadvantaged areas of Bradford, with the skills and support they need to better their lives.
She was nominated for the Community Involvement Award by staff at both Frizinghall Primary School and Lilycroft Primary School, who recognised the benefit of her work to parents.
The nomination from Frizinghall said: “She has organised the nine-week programme for 23 mothers to include First Aid, cyber safety, well-being through art, Prevent and fire safety. There is also a series of sessions run in collaboration with Bradford College, enabling mothers to move forward with their own education.
“Noreen also helped us to link with the Literacy Trust. Through this, we will have a group of parents who will be trained as Bradford Literacy Champions, helping to improve literacy in our community.”
The nomination from Lilycroft highlighted the work she had done for one particular family who suffered from “horrific” domestic abuse.

Jackie Rosano - Eldwick Primary

JACKIE Rosano was nominated for the Community Involvement Award for her role setting up an adult learning class at Eldwick Primary School.
The school had worked with an adult community learning centre, establishing English and Maths classes for adults.
But when funding was withdrawn and the adult community centre closed, those involved had to think creatively about how to continue with adult learning. 
A new provision was set up in the Forward Learning Community, made up of Crossflatts, Priestthorpe and Saltaire Primary schools, Beckfoot School and Bingley Grammar. Luke Weston, head at Bingley Grammar, saw the benefits of offering adult classes and agreed to fund a class for parents/carers from local schools in the area.
Mrs Rosano said: “It is so much more than an adult learning class. Adults come to us for different reasons, whether to refresh their skills or if they want to know more about Maths and English so they can support their children. 
“It is also used by adults who want to update their CVs.”
It has also been said to have helped improve the self-esteem of many local adults, offering them a safe place to brush up on skills, as well as giving them the skills to help their children improve.