Aerodrome Primary Academy has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Inclusivity at the Core
Aerodrome Primary Academy is a 2-form entry primary school based in Croydon. The school is a mainstream school, which also includes an ELP (Enhanced Learning Provision) which includes 2 classes – a Key Stage 1 and a Key Stage 2 class for children with a Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). There are also 3 additional smaller classes to support children with speech, language and communication needs: The Meadow (Early Years), The Nest (KS1) and Flamingos (KS2). Flamingos also focuses on supporting pupils with learning needs. The school also has The Sunshine Room which is a room used by the Pastoral Team to support pupils who require some pastoral input during the school day.
Aerodrome Primary Academy is a highly inclusive school which is well regarded in the London Borough of Croydon. During a tour of the school, our Assessor was able to see all these additional spaces and provisions in practice and was impressed at how the school had worked hard to ensure that inclusivity was at the core. Pupils in the ELP get the opportunity to join their peers in the mainstream in a variety of subjects.
“Aspire, Persevere, Achieve”
The school’s motto is “Aspire, Persevere, Achieve” and it was clear during the assessment that this motto is practiced by all across the school. The school is a warm and welcoming place with very high expectations. Staff understand the value of therapeutic intervention for its pupils and the school employs a Speech and Language Therapist (separate to the therapy provided in the ELP) and a school counsellor. The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) are very focused on fostering excellent relationships with families. Teaching staff, support staff and pupils talked about wellbeing and there was lots of evidence to show that wellbeing is part of the school culture. Staff feel supported in what they do and pupils want to be at Aerodrome and do their very best. As one staff member explained ‘the Headteacher is really accommodating and approachable. It has changed my whole life being here’.
Praised staff
In a meeting with parents, it was very clear that they are proud of the school. Both parents had experience of the ELP and the mainstream part of the school. They praised staff for ensuring that parents are always kept up to date on all aspects of their child’s learning and any other issues that might occur. The school uses an app called Marvellous Me which parents thought was fantastic at keeping families up to date. Parents say that staff are effective communicators. Parents are given key information to support their children at home and the ELP gives the parents a lot of help to ensure that home learning is delivered.
Parents explained that at the beginning of each term families can come in and meet the teachers in the ELP. They talked about a range of learning which has been organised for parents including inspire workshops which aim to upskill parents on areas such as vocabulary; reading; phonics; Numicon and shape coding. Parents also get support sheets which can be taken away to follow up with their children at home. The parents our Assessor met with said they felt more confident in supporting their children at home thanks to all the input from school staff.
When our Assessor met with a group of teaching assistants, they spoke very positively about the Zones of Regulation. They explained that, due to the introduction of the ZoRs, the pupils are now better able to talk about their feelings and recognise feelings of others from facial expressions, body language and words used. They believe it has very much helped with supporting behaviour and regulating pupils’ emotions. Calm corners were introduced across all classes including the ELP. Teaching assistants explained that Aerodrome recognises that many learners are visual learners and respond very well to visual stimuli – the colours and pictures associated with the Zones of Regulations are therefore very helpful.
Because there has been a focus on developing subject specific vocabulary across all subjects, it has shown staff that reading is essential across the curriculum and not just something for English lessons. The curriculum is strong and interwoven. There are lots of cross curricular links which ensure repetition and over learning. This was very evident when our Assessor toured the school. All staff have had all the Little Wandle Phonics training ready to start the next phase of the learning. Our Assessor observed lots of preparation for its introduction.
Capacity for Flexibility
The Speech and Language Therapist who works with pupils primarily in the ELP is also a school Governor. She spoke passionately about the inclusive approach of Aerodrome Primary Academy and the hard work that staff do to ensure pupils make excellent progress. She explained that there is lots of capacity for flexibility in the delivery of therapy at Aerodrome.
Parents also have the opportunity to have meetings with the therapists which is as helpful for the therapist as it is the parent. The therapist discusses their child’s needs with parents but additionally, pupils are given the opportunity to voice their concerns or feelings about their own needs and if they need further support. Pupil voice is important. The school does not label the pupils with DLD as labelling can affect pupils negatively. Instead, it takes the approach to talk about needs and focuses in areas of strengths and practical strategies that will support them when they leave Aerodrome.
Wonderful Group of Pupils
Our Assessor met with a wonderful group of pupils who were absolutely delighted to talk about life at Aerodrome Primary Academy. They all agreed that learning is really fun at Aerodrome. The pupils were asked what made learning such fun and they explained that teachers offered a mix of both practical and theoretical learning. A couple of pupils talked about the joy of taking part in science practicals and experiments – there was a great experiment on volcanoes.
Another pupil said they are able to ‘roam free with the learning’ and be themselves in the classroom. Pupils explained that the classrooms worked well because each classroom has a little area you can sit if you are not feeling well or if you need to stay calm or self-regulate.
Pupils spoke about the Zones of Regulation and how helpful they were for all pupils. Playgrounds are a place of fun and staff help pupils play and even join in sometimes. Pupils don’t have the opportunity to feel lonely in the playground as there is always someone to talk to during break and lunch.
All of the pupils our Assessor met with agreed that staff listen to their views and opinions. For example, pupils were able to give ideas for the Year 6 production which were then included by the production organisers. Our Assessor saw Year 6 practicing their production and they were all very much involved. Pupils also spoke about Wilson, who is a dog that the school uses to support pupils’ emotional regulation. He was very popular indeed.
There was lots of evidence of strong inclusive practice during our Assessor’s 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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