Ravenhurst Primary School in Leicester has achieved the national award for the third time.
Context
Ravenhurst Primary School is a large 3 form entry school that nestles on the edge of Leicester City. It serves a diverse and vibrant local community within the area and the school although large, is full due to its highly inclusive nature. There are a significant number of pupils with welfare needs that require additional family support. It has become a school that has supported particularly vulnerable pupils and families and is constantly looking to improve and learn. The school has gone through recent unease and currently has a new Senior Leadership Team.
Happy and Welcoming
The school is a happy and welcoming school providing a safe and supportive environment that enables pupils to develop and reach their potential. Its mission statement “Committed to be an inclusive school, caring, high quality, challenging education where learning and teaching are exciting and creative within a safe, secure and nurturing environment” underpins all its work. This was demonstrated in reception where the class teacher enthusiastically demonstrated imaginative ways to develop vocabulary through the topic of space.
Core Values
The school has six core values, namely Positive, Happy, Respectful, Inclusive, Safe and Caring. There is a wider range of values that is focused on through the curriculum and assemblies. There are whole school awards that relate to the values and parents are notified and always attend to celebrate their child’s success. The school values are displayed around the school and the children can talk enthusiastically about their impact. Pupils behave well in class and around school and are rewarded accordingly for their good behaviour and work.
Very Strong Links
The school has developed very strong links with other schools in the area and in other counties through groups including Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) working in partnership to support the mental wellbeing of vulnerable pupils. As well as being part of Affinity Teaching School Alliance, working with 68 vulnerable children with Educational Psychologists to develop programmes such as ‘Bucketful of Happiness’ for pupils with worries and anxiety. This is a national programme that the school is fully committed to with the pupils working together to ‘Smile and the world smiles back.’ The school also works closely with other outside agencies including other Local Authorities in supporting a significant number of children in care. This commitment and partnership working is summed up with ‘Hugo’ the pupil reading dog who comes into school to support highly anxious children. Hugo empowers the pupils to read to him in a safe environment. The school is very proud of its work with vulnerable pupils and feel that all in their community get equal opportunities to succeed. Ravenhurst Primary School has a small transgender population and is learning to support these children. They have actively created links with the Mermaid Society who support their work with the pupils and families. This work has been a challenge, however, the ethos of the school is to be inclusive and positive, as a result, they enable those pupils and families to be part of the school community
Sharing Inclusive Practice
The school uses opportunities to share inclusive practice with other schools who request visits to the school or through networking. The SENCO has shared their experiences, SEN policies and procedures with local schools. The school is an outward looking school and is constantly looking to improve outcomes for its pupils, particularly the most disadvantaged.
Quality of Provision
Ravenhurst Primary School has developed links with ‘Outstanding’ local schools to share good practice. This has enabled staff to have accurate judgements on the quality of provision and to develop the curriculum to enable pupils to make progress. Attendance at the school has rapidly improved over the year and the systems and processes in place enable the children to access a challenging and exciting curriculum. Governors have engaged with this inclusive practice and are holding leaders to account for the outcomes on the provision the school provides.
Inclusion is High on the Agenda
Ravenhurst Primary School has made progress in its action plan with inclusion remaining high on the agenda. This is evident from a comment from the Deputy Headteacher who is clear in her expectations of staff “We work hard to include all children and their families despite the challenges that the school faces.” The school has identified areas for development for the next twelve months. In addition to these, there are some recommendations outlined in this report that were discussed as part of my review visit.
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
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