Arrow Vale High School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence Status.
Inclusion is Fully Embedded
Arrow Vale is one of the most inclusive schools our Assessor has ever had the privilege to visit. It is demonstrating practices well above those required for the Inclusive School Award. Leaders are fully committed to the IQM agenda and see this assessment as just the start of what they hope will be progression to Flagship status. Everything our Assessor observed during the visit demonstrated that inclusion is fully embedded and driving policy and systems within the school.
Rapid Progress
The school has been on an impressive journey. It was a National Challenge school until 2009. The school became a sponsored academy in 2012 with the Royal Society of Arts. The school has since achieved 2 Outstanding Ofsted gradings, the most recent being in December 2018. Ofsted recognised the rapid progress leaders had made in securing significantly improved outcomes and credited this success to the high quality of leaders within the school and the strength of teaching and learning. They also identified real strengths at Arrow Vale in the targeting of additional funding and support for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) pupils, reporting that ‘disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are highlighted by teachers for identification in planning and marking. Targeted questions, including those for identified disadvantaged pupils, ensure that all pupils remain engaged and focused on their learning. Teachers’ questioning is probing to ensure that pupils develop a deeper understanding. Explanations are clear when addressing any misconceptions’.
Outcomes have continued to improve since the Ofsted report in 2018 with the school achieving positive progress 8 scores with progress for Pupil Premium (PP) and SEND students being above national figures. The school is driving forward to ensure outcomes at Arrow Vale are in the top 20% nationally.
High Focus on Social Justice
Arrow Vale is an oversubscribed High School with 845 students currently on roll in Years 9 to 13. The Published Admission Number (PAN) has increased from 90 in 2007 to 240 in 2019. The school is situated in an area of high social deprivation. 434 of the 845 students live in the 30% most deprived area with 344 living in the 10% most deprived. 30% of the cohort are Pupil Premium with Year 9 having the greatest percentage of Pupil Premium students. The school vision places high focus on Social Justice and leaders are committed to: Realising human capability; educational improvement and social justice; and whole education.
Although the school takes students from Year 9, leaders see their journey with students and families beginning during Year 7 with transition seen as a 2 year, holistic programme with the feeder middle schools. Communication from the team at Arrow Vale starts 18 months prior to children joining Arrow Vale for students with SEND or other identified need. Arrow Vale staff attend annual reviews and meet parents and students during Year 7 and Year 8. Meetings are held between key staff at Arrow Vale and the feeder school during Year 8 and bespoke support identified for key students. Arrow Vale staff also attend all LAC meetings during Year 8.
Incredible Sense of Teamwork
Dialogue is held with staff at the feeder schools around attendance, wellbeing and any specific student issues, alongside building relationships with students in the classroom. This ensures that students with additional needs are well known by Arrow Vale and appropriate support identified prior to starting at the school. Links are maintained with the feeder school at the start of Year 9, with tutors from the feeder schools supporting students struggling to develop a rapport with their new key worker, ensuring continuity of support. Arrow Vale also makes its facilities available to the middle schools to enable curriculum building opportunities.
There is an incredible sense of teamwork within the school. All staff are highly committed and passionate about their work in school and students praised the staff as being one of the strongest aspects of the school. Numerous examples were shared of when staff have gone over and above normal expectations to support a student or their wider family.
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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