Tor Bank became a member of East Belfast Area Learning Community(EBALC) in April 2017. EBALC is made up of 11 local schools and was established to develop further post-primary education provision in the area it serves in a manner which promotes a culture of collaboration and respect for cultural diversity.

Whilst the community recognises the autonomy and ethos of the individual schools, the education providers of the area work in collaboration to progress the aspirations of the Entitlement Framework and support the implementation of the community’s strategic planning.

The community’s strategic intent is to act as an advocate for all of the young people of the area, developing an agreed framework of educational provision which provides equality of opportunity for achievement and progression and an agreed framework of holistic education.

The East Belfast Area Learning Community is committed to:

• motivating young people to participate in lifelong learning;
• providing opportunities for staff development;
• developing a flexible, challenging, broad-based curriculum, with training provision enhanced by collaboration, which prioritises young people’s needs and aspirations;
• promoting young people’s skills, ambitions and aptitudes while supporting their progression through Key Stage 4 to post 16 and beyond;
• providing courses leading to outcomes that learners value and which are valued by wider society;
• providing opportunities, as appropriate, for young people to be involved in the planning, reviewing and evaluation of provision;
• monitoring, evaluating and reviewing provision to ensure that it promotes excellence, reaches agreed quality standards, meets the needs of young people and prepares them for life beyond school;
• reviewing the efficacy and efficiency of the collaborative activity on an annual basis.

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In December some pupils from Grosvenor School organised a Nerf Wars day for some of our Primary and secondary pupils. We work alongside Grosvenor as part of EBALC and were delighted to participate in this event.