Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence status.
Kindness, Care, and Positive Relationships
Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College is an 11-16 Local Authority (LA) school, situated in the city of Worcester. Of its cohort of 1049 students, 50% are Catholic whilst the remaining 50% are of various faiths and ethnicities. Students in receipt of ‘Disadvantaged Funding’ form 16.4% of the school population, which is just below the Worcestershire and National percentages. Eleven students are in the care of LAs. The number of students identified as requiring Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) support is 122 (11.8%) and 11 (2.4%) have Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs). The needs of children requiring support with Additional Needs span all four broad areas of SEND. Both figures are slightly above the national percentages.
Kindness, care, and positive relationships permeate Blessed Edward Oldcorne like a stick of rock: a diverse body of staff demonstrates that it cares deeply that all students achieve the very best they can and shows them great care and kindness, being powerful, positive role models. Leadership is extremely strong at all levels and the Headteacher’s passionate and clear vision of inclusion drives the mission to address all barriers to learning, which is shared by staff and Governors and much appreciated and valued by students and parents. Staff turnover is low and staff who train at the school often stay as they “love it here!”
Sense of Teamwork
The sense of teamwork is all pervasive enabling there to be a very close interweaving of the warp and weft of personal development and academic achievement. The former is at the heart of a student’s experience at Blessed Edward Oldcorne.
The approach to personal development is all encompassing and effective in its impact. Character development is integral to the school’s purpose and is built upon twelve ‘virtues’. These are physically evident around the school site, practically woven into curriculum design and spiritually demonstrated in human interactions. The Catholic Creed is understandably important and a major ‘rock’ upon which the ethos of the school is built but students of all faiths and no faith are welcomed and fully included. The uniqueness of the individual is celebrated and respected within the curriculum, assemblies, the discrete, comprehensive Personal Development and RE Programmes and Form sessions. This is also reflected in the design and content of the school website.
It is notable that just as Blessed Edward Oldcorne has reached out to include all members of the community, its students reach out to others through charitable activities and donations.
Barriers Have to be Addressed
There is a firm, common belief, that students need to be fit to learn and barriers have to be addressed, in order that they can thrive academically. Staff are regularly upskilled to broaden and enhance their pedagogical practice enabling them to address individual needs at either Wave 1, 2 or 3 Level. Collaboration in the development of the Curriculum and Teaching and Learning is the norm. Students are offered a broad curriculum at KS3 and a wide choice of subjects at KS4. They are guided to follow their interests and ambitions. Staff consider it their job to provide the appropriate teaching, learning opportunities and support to enable them to achieve in their chosen areas. The ‘Think SEND; Think Disadvantage’ driver has resulted in all departments catering for all children and planning for ‘Quality First’ teaching. In addition, the provision of enhanced experiences and cultural capital is the responsibility of all.
Practical structures and systems facilitate the ongoing easy communication of information about students in response to reflective assessment and review. This, in turn, drives effective teaching and learning. Teachers and Learning Support Mentors work closely together and all staff, whatever their roles within the school, are considered to be educators of all children. A Site Manager described conversations he has had with students about reading.
Skilled and Talented Staff
A strength of Blessed Edward Oldcorne is that, although it has very skilled and talented staff, leadership recognises and accepts when external expertise could benefit both staff and students. The school has the respect of external agencies, other professionals and providers as a result of the positive working relationships which it has forged. Professional curiosity and flexibility of leadership enable this to happen and are also reflected in the significant investment which has been made in human resources. A raft of staff has been employed to work with individuals, groups and families in striving to enable young people to be engaged and integrated into the Blessed Edward Oldcorne learning community, irrespective of any barriers they might have.
In developing a large site and irregular set of buildings which have evolved over time, leadership views design and resourcing through a lens of ‘Additional Needs’, ensuring that all decisions provide for full inclusion. No adaptation seems to be too much if it is needed. The environment is clean, calm, focussed, happy and, as several people cited, “Blessed Edward has a special something”. The school certainly exudes a warmth and genuine concern for human beings and their wellbeing, alongside celebration of their unique skills and achievements. However, leadership is not complacent and there are strategic plans for further development and resourcing in the wake of some of national and international events of recent years and their impact on families and the Mental Health of some students.
This drive to provide equity of access to a rich curriculum, both formal and extra-curricular, in addition to equality of opportunity underpins robust structures and rigorous systems to engage, motivate and support young people to “be the very best and do the very best that they can” and enable them to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Popular
It is not surprising that Blessed Edward Oldcorne is so popular and draws students from a wide area. Parents positively choose the school for their children because, as a parent stated, “it has a reputation for accepting and supporting everyone and helping them to flourish…my son did… he achieved so much here and was very happy”… he said, “I’ve left Blessed but Blessed has never left me!”.
The quality of provision at Blessed Edward Oldcorne is recognised by the LA Executive Team and Worcestershire Children First. The school has been asked to host Senior Leaders from the LA with a view to them witnessing the ‘learning, leadership, structure, Governance and culture of an inclusive secondary school.’
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.
Want more information on the IQM Award? Click here to request your free IQM information pack.
• Our inaugural National Inclusion Conference will take place on the 27th November, for further details click here.