Morrisons Southport announces 'Quieter Hour'

MORRISONS Southport is to introduce a quieter hour for customers who would benefit from a calmer shopping trip. Designed to help customers who currently struggle with music and the other noise associated with supermarket shopping, it will take place every Saturday, within the Winter Gardens store, from 9am to 10am.

The Quieter Hour initiative has been created with the support of the National Autistic Society. Many people who are autistic or those with autistic children can find shopping in a supermarket an anxious experience.

So Morrisons carried out a trial earlier in the year in 3 of its stores to find out what improvements can be made and to find a convenient time each week for the 'Quieter Hour' to take place.

Listening to customers they found 1 in 5 had a friend or family member with autism and many appreciated the option to shop at that time on a Saturday.

During Quieter Hours the store will:-

► Dim the lights.

► Turn music and radio off.

► Avoid making tannoy announcements.

► Reduce movement of trolleys and baskets.

► Turn checkout beeps and other electrical noises down.

► Place a poster outside to tell customers it's Quieter Hour.

Morrisons will also work to improve awareness amongst colleagues of the issues autistic customers face in store.

Daniel Cadey, from the National Autistic Society said:- "Around 700,000 people are on the autism spectrum in the UK. This means they see, hear and feel the world differently to other people, often in a more intense way. Morrisons 'Quieter Hour' is a step in the right direction for autistic people who find supermarket shopping a real struggle."

Robert Alexander at Morrisons Southport said:- "Our initial trials showed there is a need for a quieter shopping experience. We hope that these changes make a real difference for some of our customers at our store."

For further information on Morrisons 'Quieter Hour' please visit:- My.Morrisons.Com/Blog/Community/Quieter-Hour.

₤7,500 to help local children SHINE

BENJAMIN Barker from The Great Schools Trust, based in Liverpool and Warrington has won ₤7,500 to realise his fantastic idea to help ignite their students' passion for science as part of the annual Let Teachers SHINE competition.

Let Teachers SHINE, run by the education charity SHINE and supported by Tes (The Times Educational Supplement), offers funding to teachers who have brilliant ideas to help disadvantaged children succeed in English, maths or science. As well as funding, SHINE provides teachers with free access to a broad range of development workshops and coaching opportunities.

This year, Benjamin became 1 of just 14 finalists who demonstrated their unique idea to raise achievement in science.

The proposed idea looks to help strengthen literacy within the sciences, to help close gaps between the pupils we serve and their peer nationally. The money will be used to help create a novel curriculum that serves to help develop the key knowledge and literacy skills in our pupils. The funding will also go to help improve the cultural capital of those we teach as well as their parents by encouraging University visits and the opportunity to develop relationships with parents and carers through celebrations of pupils' achievements.

Benjamin, Vice Principal at King's Leadership Academy, said:- "the journey to this point has been an extremely rigorous process, but ultimately I hope very rewarding for the pupils across all three Schools within our Multi Academy Trust. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and using this grant as a catalyst to help every single one of our pupils achieve their goals while they are with us in the Great Schools Trust"

The project will be run as a year-long pilot from September 2018 to September 2019, and follow-on funding is available from SHINE for projects that have the potential to scale up in future.

Fiona Spellman, CEO of SHINE, said:- "We received so many applications for Let Teachers SHINE this year and it is so inspiring to see just how many teachers want to go that extra mile to help disadvantaged children achieve their potential. We're delighted to be able to support these teachers and we're looking forward to working with them to develop their projects so they can reach many more children beyond their School."

Ann Mroz, Editor of Tes, adds:- "I am incredibly impressed by the standard and quality of the entries this year and each and every winner has shown innovation and a dedication to improving attainment. Congratulations to all the winners!"

Since August 2000, SHINE has invested more than ₤25 million into projects that have created opportunities for 400,000 children from more than 6,000 Schools to achieve their potential. The winning Let Teachers SHINE programmes make up some of the most dynamic of these projects. This year's winners will join the 83 teachers supported by the competition so far.

For more information, please visit:- ShineTrust.Org.UK/lts2018.