Five Acre Wood School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Welcoming to New Pupils and Families
Five Acre Wood School is one of the largest special schools in the UK with over 850 pupils. Its inclusive practices are at the heart of everything that happens at the school and feature in all decisions made by the school. The school is very welcoming to new pupils and their families.
As one of the Assistant Headteachers said, talking about individual needs: “The culture at Five Acre Wood School is, if we can make it work, we will.”
The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) is passionate about all the experiences and learning opportunities that they give the pupils. It was wonderful to watch a video of the children singing, “Beautiful,” which got to number 13 in the YouTube charts recently!
The Woodstock 2023 Festival was a marvellous showcase for Inclusion with all the children from the school and their families having a wonderful time as they experienced the onsite Festival with its fun activities that were tailored to all individual needs. The school now has its own community radio station.
Preparing for Adulthood
Five Acre Wood School has been able to source real-life, transport to place around the site.
An old railway carriage has been positioned in one of the learning areas. It will become a coffee shop, open to the public, where pupils will develop hospitality skills that exactly replicate the skills and attributes that a well-known international coffee shop requires so that they will be employment-ready.
They have acquired a bus from the owner of an independent bus company which is going to be made into a specialist soft play area. The bus company will bring a functioning bus to the school so that pupils can practice the skills needed to travel on public transport.
Next academic year the school will be receiving an aeroplane to be their inclusive library as well as opening their own farm shop, “Peggy’s Farm shop” with links to a local fruit packing industry.
Preparing for adulthood through vocational courses and high-quality work experiences within the school setting is an important part of the school’s offer.
Amazing Inclusive Practices
It was a pleasure to have a tour of the school and to meet some of the children to see all the amazing inclusive practices that are at the school. The “hygge” and “curiosity curriculum” set the right tone of emotional and cognitive level required for the younger pupils.
Two boys from Year 9 spoke about how much they liked their school. They value their teachers who help them to feel safe. They spoke about a soft toy and stress ball that they were carrying, explaining how it helps them to feel better and calm themselves when they are feeling a bit anxious.
They love the on-site farm that they access weekly, talking about their horticulture course, and the animals such as the three pigs and the guinea pigs. They spoke about their varied timetable which includes shopping for ingredients at Morrisons. They make the same recipe for about six weeks so that they are very confident about each meal before they move to the next one. They enjoyed going to the cinema this week.
Pupil voice is very effective in the school, one example came from the Snodland satellite provision where the children asked to have one of the school’s therapy dogs on their site, which was granted. Pupils spoke about how they like the choice of activities that they can do at the end of each day in choosing time, it motivates them. There are peer mentors at the Snodland site.
Communication is Constant
Our Assessor spoke to two parents who said that they are eternally grateful for everything that the school offers them, describing all the staff as being magic! Both parents have children in Year 1. They spoke about how welcoming the staff was on the transition days. The staff have an amazing wealth of knowledge about Autism and trauma. One parent appreciated that her social worker was allowed to come into school to observe her child. She values the teamwork between professionals and the family.
Communication is constant between school and home and parents feel fully involved in their child’s education at the school. They have a communication book that they use daily. Parent consultation evenings are useful to check progress on the Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) targets.
One parent spoke about how the school trained his family in how to use the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with their daughter which helped their daughter communicate much more effectively which led to her starting to make meaningful utterances.
One of the family support officers spoke in depth about her team’s role with families. It is wide and very varied, with the most important aspect being that of a “listening ear.”
They are a strong asset to the school and much appreciated by parents and families.
They have an early safeguarding role as they conduct home visits and welfare calls. They are well trusted by all parents which means they can have honest conversations with families as they champion them with no judgement.
They are a link between families and the classroom staff. They have strong links with the community, delivering food parcels, and making referrals to food banks. They deliver and signpost parents to lots of workshops and courses that they think are appropriate for particular people. They run their own Christmas shop at cost so children can buy presents for their families in a familiar environment.
Outstanding Curriculum at Five Acre Wood School
The presentation on the Curriculum (Intent, Implementation, and Impact) by the Curriculum Approach Lead and Lead Mentor was very informative and described in detail the extent to which the curriculum at Five Acre Woods meets pupils’ needs. It is recognised as an outstanding curriculum in feedback from Ofsted, critical friends, and other schools who visit to see and learn from the good practice.
The six learning approaches (departments) mean that all children are working at their own level with an approach such as Practical or Sensory for example, that is the right cognitive and learning style for them to make the best progress possible. Children from one of the satellite provisions, where appropriate, access mainstream lessons in one of the satellite schools.
Assessment has been refined with the recent introduction of B squared, used in conjunction with Evidence for Learning assessment. The school has run moderation sessions to ensure the evidence, internally and with other special schools. Performance management has changed with the introduction of peer observations and the use of the coaching model becoming more embedded.
Emily Rubin, the renowned international expert on Autism practices, advised the school to research a new initiative called Autism Level Up. Emily supported the school with the Appreciative Enquiry approach which is valued greatly by staff. Five Acre Wood School has supported other schools with behavioural needs.
A new position of Fundraiser was established this year and the post-holder who is a former teacher at the school, is already having a significant positive impact. She spoke about all the initiatives that have been introduced such as a Walk and Talk on the last Sunday of every month with everyone welcome to the local park. It is a chance for parents to network with each other and form friendships.
The first charity football match to raise funds for the school was held at Maidstone Town stadium recently and was very well supported. She is also organising some joint projects with a local hospice. She makes sure that all the school sites know what is happening and they are all included.
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.