Grange Park School in Wrotham, Kent has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Passion to support pupils
From the moment you arrive at Grange Park School, you are greeted warmly and positively by all staff. It is very clear from the moment you enter the school it is a purposeful environment that is needs focused with the students at the centre of all decisions.
Staff at the school were keen to meet with our Assessor during their visit as they are all extremely proud of the work they do. All staff spoke with a real passion to support their pupils to be the best they can be.
The Assessor felt it was an absolute pleasure to meet with a group of pupils from the school. They were all very keen to talk about what they think of their school, and all communicated how happy they are at school and how well supported they feel by staff. It was heart-warming to hear pupils speak of how they feel so much more supported and cared for at Grange Park School than they had in their previous schools, commenting on how staff understand their needs and know how to best support these. One pupil said they were “proud of their teachers as they don’t treat them differently and have high expectations of them.” This sentiment was reflected across the school during the learning walk and meetings with staff. Staff had prepared the students with the questions the Assessor would ask which allowed the pupils to respond confidently.
Student voice
Student voice is far from tokenistic at Grange Park School with every opportunity taken to ensure students are able to express their contributions to school life, from choosing their subjects, to choosing activities for lunchtime clubs. The school has two elected ‘head pupil’ positions. These were originally named ‘head boy’ and ‘head girl’ until a pupil raised the question as to why they were gender specific. The school has focused on celebrating diversity and is working hard to overcome stereotypes. An excellent example of this is inviting a past pupil back to school to talk to present pupils about his sexuality and coping methods he has used successfully.
Staff make a conscious effort to enable learners to understand their diagnosis in order to support them to take ownership of it and learn what they need to do to be the best possible version of themselves. As a result, the levels of self-advocacy displayed by learners is inspiring.
Therapy provision at Grange Park School is fully integrated into provision and therapists support and equip staff to be able to assist learners to reach their potential. Therapists have an open door policy for staff to ask advice to best support learners. The set up and environment of the school has been considered carefully and reflects the learning intent for the pupils and is supported by regular environment audits completed by the OT team.
Staff speak highly of
support available 
Staff wellbeing is a constant priority for leaders and they are constantly reviewing ways to develop practices to further support this. Examples of activities on offer to staff to support their wellbeing are Zumba classes, Friday scones baked by the leadership team, a wellbeing day of their choice for all staff and knit and natter. Staff speak highly of the support available to them and commented on the supportive nature of the leadership team. Two members of staff have been trained as mental health first aiders with the aim of the school having a proactive approach to supporting the wellbeing of each other.
Leaders are not afraid to have difficult conversations with parents and professionals if needed and always have the needs of the pupil central to decisions that are made. This extends to a shift in culture in supporting staff to have difficult conversations with students about future aspirations and ensuring that conversations are honest and result in suitable and purposeful qualifications and work experience.
Extra-curricular activities are vast
Extra-curricular activities are vast at Grange Park School, with all activities supporting pupils to develop their social communication as well as generalising skills learnt in the school environment. These activities include a whole school trip to Chessington World of Adventures, a girls sleepover and a talent show. The talent show actively supports pupils to be who they want to be and celebrates everyone’s strengths and interests.
Leaders prioritise transition across the provision and recognise that learners need personalised transition programmes to support needs. Grange Park School has a multi-disciplinary approach to transition led by the transition lead. Learner and parent voices are a very important part of this process. Leaders and staff from Grange Park School regularly visit the different sites. This informal handover very effectively supports learners’ transitions.
Truly pupils centred
Parents speak very highly of the school and give credit to the personalised approaches that allow their children to reach their potential. Parents are delighted that their children are supported to be themselves and build their self-confidence. It is clear that the transdisciplinary approach is very well received with parents praising the holistic support their children have. Constructive relationships were highlighted during the meeting with parents grateful to have a voice and input into their children’s school life. They described staff as ‘going above and beyond’ for their children and always visible at school events.
Grange Park School is truly pupil centred and staff work tirelessly to overcome any barriers pupils may face. Leaders pride themselves on starting with a problem and working out what needs to happen to overcome, regardless of resources, and then working out how to make it work for the school.
It was very evident from the Assessor’s visit that Grange Park School has a very talented staff group who support pupils effectively through a variety of embedded strategies. A discussion took place with the leadership team on the potential for the school to develop a strong outreach programme. Leaders have previously attempted to promote an outreach service with no success, it is thought that Covid may have played a part in this.
It was an absolute privilege to visit Grange Park School and to see all the good work that staff are engaged in.
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