Greenhill School in Cardiff has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship Status.
A Great Place To Be
The strapline on the school’s newsletter is ‘Greenhill… a great place to be!’- and it is. Greenhill’s students are some of the city’s most vulnerable and most challenging who have generally been unable to settle and/or cope in a mainstream setting. Through a hard-earned culture of respect, tolerance, understanding, forgiveness and ‘second chances’, they are supported in rebuilding and progressing. The school believes that relationships are everything and this is enacted day in, day out.
The school has developed an exciting curriculum- much of which involves getting outside and taking part in activities designed to build skills, increase confidence and promote wellbeing. Staff and students spoke enthusiastically about climbing Snowdon, camping, canoeing, hill walking, paddle boarding, mountain biking, creating shelters and other bush-craft skills, all of which are meticulously planned and built into an overall curriculum plan.
Another interesting feature of school life at Greenhill is the therapy dogs and the on-site horses. There was first hand evidence during the visit of the impact that the dogs have on the pupils with their unconditional affection.
Safe, Nurturing and Supportive Environment
It is possible within a short visit, where the focus is very much on positive aspects of practice, that the degree of challenges faced by staff on a daily basis is underestimated. Senior staff at the school, however, were completely honest about some of the difficulties encountered and gave examples where things do not always go to plan.
To their credit, they tackled this in their characteristic measured, reflective way.
Even within a setting where “giving everyone a second chance” is the norm, being truly inclusive does not mean a free-for-all especially if they are to maintain the provision of a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment in which every learner knows that they are supported by every member of the staff team.
A comment that appeared in much of the feedback from parents and from conversations with students was that the school is like and behaves like a family. And, like a family, the care extends beyond the time when the “children” are at home. Contact is maintained after students leave and one commented that he “knows he can always come back and ask for help” after he has left. This is an important aspect of the school’s relatively new sixth form.
By the end of Key Stage 4, many of the boys are simply not ready to move on. The sixth form years provide an excellent opportunity to work on formal qualifications and become better prepared for the next stage- whether it is the world of work or further training/education.
Students Are Worth It
On our assessment visit, one got a sense of the day-to-day reality of school life through apparently disconnected examples of interesting and good practice. Examples such as the animals, toast in the morning, lunches based on food that students actually like, the vegetable gardens near the sixth form centre, the trips, the “spelling darts” game, the conversations between staff and students that retain that really difficult balance of casual openness and professionalism. These all add to what makes Greenhill special.
And just when you think you have seen it all… the barber’s room! A place where the boys can get a haircut, learn about grooming, get a massage or a pedicure and learn about keeping skin healthy.
Our assessor was left with the impression that only a school like Greenhill would attempt this and make it work with such a flourish of style.
To quote from a famous hair product’s advertising campaign: “because you’re worth it”! It sums up the school. Staff believe that the students really are worth it. There are apparently no steps the school will not take in order to rebuild the self-esteem of their students and to equip them for whatever comes next in their lives.
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
