Burley Oaks Primary School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Aspirational Opportunities for Every Child
Burley Oaks Primary School is an outstanding school (Ofsted 2022) and a founder primary school member of Moorlands Learning Trust (2023). Relentless in its commitment to providing aspirational opportunities for every child, with inclusion embedded at its core, Burley Oaks provides a curriculum where learning is fun, meaningful and purposeful, with the aim being to foster skills for life-long learning. Every child is valued as being unique, living the school values of ‘Belong, Believe and Achieve’.
From arrival and taking the first step into the school building, meeting leaders, staff and children, it became clear that the whole school vision underpinned and permeated every aspect of school life.
On meeting with the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and Assistant Headteacher/IQM Co-ordinator, the passion, enthusiasm and sheer determination for ensuring that the children and families of Burley Oaks were central to any and every decision made was strongly demonstrated.
It was clear that the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) was willing to do whatever was required to ensure that their community was able to receive the breadth of opportunities needed for every member to reach their potential in the widest sense. Partnership working was evident and from discussions throughout the day, remains critical to the opportunities on offer, examples being the impact of being part of a high-performing Trust, the English Hub, Bradford Writing Specialists, Red Kite Alliance, Two Valleys Learning Collaborative and Bradford School Improvement Partners. All partners are key stakeholders in ensuring a deep and rich tapestry of opportunity for all – ALL being the keyword repeated in every discussion and interaction throughout the day.
During this, the third year of achieving Centre of Excellence, progress towards each target is evident. A forensic approach led by the IQM Co-ordinator to identifying long, medium and short-term aims utilising staff and stakeholder strengths has been pivotal in the transformation to curriculum and CPD opportunities. These aspects have been driven by the determined approach of all staff recognising and positively embracing the changes, actively engaging with the strategies, training and opportunities available.
Culture of Support
At the start of the school day, our Assessor had the pleasure of meeting with the knowledgeable Assistant Headteacher/SENDCo to discuss the impact of the vast array of mental health and wellbeing strategies and programmes currently implemented across the school. This was a valuable discussion highlighting not only the quality of the programmes but also the culture of support available when embracing mental health and wellbeing; Jenby’s emotional literacy programme as showcased in the Write Mind Magazine (2023) has subsequently evolved into the school WellMe programme, focussing on three key areas, anxiety, emotions and self -esteem.
The WellMe programme featured strongly throughout the day, with the Co-ordinator, children and wider staff groups celebrating the impact of the programme. Children ably explain how useful the workshops have been for them, “calming and reducing anxiety” and that they can refer should they feel they need support. This culture of openness, honesty and deeper understanding of emotions and feelings have resulted from the persistent and determined work of the IQM Lead and Wellbeing Co-ordinator in accessing accredited CPD, then identifying pertinent and relevant CPD for other staff to access, planning, preparing, resourcing and introduction of a programme bespoke to the needs of the children and school community, the introduction of Wellbeing Wednesdays; dedicated time each week for each class to focus on mental health and wellbeing, the use of Colour Monsters to support the identification of feelings in Early Years and Key Stage 1 (KS1), the recruitment of wellbeing ambassadors to take a lead on supporting their peers (easily identified by their caps and badges) whilst also supporting at wellbeing events for parents/carers, leading assemblies within school and as part of the school’s inspirational intergenerational work.
Celebration
The learning walk that followed was a celebration of the school curriculum; singing assembly with year groups rehearsing for the Easter performance, Music with children confidently performing on chime bars and bells repeating rhythms introduced by the Music Leader, outdoor provision mirroring the quality of indoors, the focus on cycling and the progressive approach from children in Reception using balance bikes to Year 6 Bikeability.
Busy boxes were introduced to support children who need short bursts of activity, for example, fidget toys, dough, sand and Lego were readily available with sensory circuits also accessible for those needing movement breaks. As the learning walk progressed it was clear that each area and space had been utilised to support, inspire and nurture the children’s engagement with specific rooms established to support wellbeing, newly established wellbeing room, sensory room, music rooms and library.
What was also apparent and should be celebrated is that learning environments were unique to each class and cohort, with reasonable adjustments made to ensure each child could engage with their learning. This is done with the mindset of making sure everyone is included and feels part of the collective. The IQM Lead throughout the learning walk was also keen to share the developments and improvements to the already high quality environment that were scheduled to take place to further enhance learning.
Ensure Pupil Voice is Listened To
During the day our Assessor had the opportunity to speak with a range of staff. This was a valuable opportunity to hear each speak with such enthusiasm, passion, empathy and honesty about their roles with children and families and how valued they feel within the school environment.
The Music Lead and Art Lead display an overwhelming enthusiasm, determination and commitment to ensuring that the Burley Oaks ‘Arts’ offer enables ALL children to participate and develop their talents (whatever this may be). The staff will work tirelessly to ensure that pupil voice is listened to, heard and acted upon which equates to staff having detailed knowledge and understanding to be able to adapt the curriculum offer so that the talents and attributes of EVERY child can be realised.
It was clear from initial discussions with leaders that enriching the lives of all children and lighting the musical spark from Early Years onwards is critical and this was evidenced in the discussions of the previous evening’s Drumming Extravaganza as ex-pupils were welcomed back into school; the school where their passion for music and performance began, to showcase their fantastic skills (video observed).
Children at Burley Oaks are fortunate to be taught by a team of musically talented staff who are committed to ensuring that from when they first enter the school doors, each child can access performance on a range of instruments as part of the school’s core offer, chime bars, African drums, piano, recorder, saxophone and ukulele. The Art Lead is equally as impressive with fantastic artwork displayed throughout the school, joint art and RE projects, buddy craft, intergenerational activities and visits to galleries to inspire which inspire the children to produce their art gallery linked to mental health and wellbeing ‘express yourselves’ during parents’ evenings. The Arts are strengths of the school.
Love of Learning
Speaking with the Forest School Leader was a complete joy! She is highly motivated, enthusiastic and demonstrates a real drive to ensure that children have opportunities to develop key skills, collaborate, communicate effectively, build resilience, make connections and have the freedom of choice whilst being physically active outdoors. The quality of the recording of each Forest School session undertaken is exemplary, evidencing not only pupil voice and progress in skills but the fun and love of learning inspired daily.
When speaking with the highly expert English Lead, who is also the English Lead for the Trust, it became apparent that the motto of ‘pitching high and including all’ underpins not only the English writing curriculum but across the breadth of the curriculum. There has been a real investment into CPD for staff, upskilling, coaching and team teaching, with the introduction of surgeries to support the drilling down into each unit or concept to make writing as effortless as possible. The impact of this exemplary leadership and CPD was apparent in the progress evidenced in writing workbooks.
Children our Assessor had the pleasure to spend time with were knowledgeable, articulate, enthusiastic and keen to share their views on their educational journey and what it is like to be a child at Burley Oaks. They were superb in demonstrating the values of the school and every child was able to articulate that Burley Oaks is a wonderful place to learn and highlighted the many opportunities they can access Music, Sport and visits.
Leaders at Lunch were confident in articulating their roles and responsibilities, ‘making sure that everybody has somebody to play with’, ‘to make the corridors safe’, ‘make the playgrounds as fun as possible’, ‘referee football games’, ‘support children’, ‘be a playground friend’, ‘give out lunchtime bands’, ‘we are here to help’, ‘be kind and caring’, ‘resolve problems’ and ‘set a good example.’ The consistency in pupil voice of the Leaders at Lunch was that, “overall, we try to make our school a happy and safe place”.
Wellbeing Ambassadors were also extremely proud of their roles in school identifying what they felt the qualities were to successfully support others. They felt key attributes were to be, “resilient, approachable, kind, able to resolve conflict and take ownership”. All children spoken to during the visit were fantastic ambassadors and had true pride in their roles.
When speaking to children from Year 1 and Year 3 regarding their views of Forest School, it was wonderful to see and hear how much they enjoyed and valued the opportunities on offer, den building, mud kitchen, digging pit, making art with the leaves, having adventures down the windy and secret paths and birdwatching. Teamwork, talking to each other, not getting cross and being patient are all key factors to a successful Forest School!
At One With the Natural World
Staff spoke with enthusiasm about the Forest School and the impact it has on the mental health and wellbeing of all involved; the impact of being outdoors at one with the natural world. The adaptability and creativity of the Forest School Leader were celebrated yet equally, the staff involved in supporting Forest School were as adept, confident, articulate, passionate and enthusiastic about the provision including, Talking Stick, Mindful Minute, Singing Bowl, the holistic approach ensuring there is ‘something for everyone’. Benefits observed include improved communication, teamwork, developing friendships, the opportunity to take risks in a safe environment, a sense of awe and wonder, excitement and enthusiasm about nature.
Our Assessor was fortunate to be able to meet with a parent Governor during my visit. This was a valuable opportunity to see the supportive yet ‘critical friend’ aspect of Governance. Discussion focussed upon areas of need and the prime areas of need within the school community. The Governor was highly knowledgeable of the cohorts across the school and of the interventions, CPD and support in place to accelerate progress whether this be academic or Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH). Governors are kept up to date with regular inputs at Board meetings and partake in aspects of the School Improvement/Development cycle therefore having a deep understanding of the IQM project priorities and progress towards meeting each.
The final feedback meeting furthered our Assessor’s understanding of the clarity Leaders and staff have about their place within their IQM journey. Leaders value school improvement and continually strive for excellence for all. Therefore, staff are proactive, keen to share ideas and undertake high quality CPD to ensure they have the skills to lead, teach and impact positively on the development of the whole child. All stakeholders connected to the school uphold the drive, motivation, passion and enthusiasm for ensuring all pupils succeed.
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.