This week we are delighted to welcome 5 new schools to the IQM family. Give a big shout out to Rayner Stephens High School, Arrow Vale High School, Fawbert and Barnard Infants’ School, Wyvil Primary School and Resource Bases for Speech, Language and Communication Needs, and Autism, and Comet Nursery School and Children’s Centre.
Improving at a Fast Pace
First up this week we made our way to Dunkinfield where Rayner Stephens High School achieved our prestigious Flagship status.
Our Assessor explained, “It was a pleasure to engage in discussions with staff, students, and external partners as part of the review process and to hear their differing but supportive opinions of the school and their involvement. There is a strong belief that the school is improving at a fast pace and is an outstandingly inclusive place and that it will continue to evolve and change to meet the need of its community, rising to meet whatever challenges occur in the future.
“It will be of great interest to see how the school has moved forward at the next review and it will be a pleasure to re-engage with these extremely passionate, articulate, and inclusive members of the school community. During the review there were a number of opportunities to discuss elements of inclusion with a variety of stakeholders and to visit areas of the school.”
• Read more – Rayner Stephens High Achieves Flagship Status
Clearly a Very Special Place
Also achieving Flagship status this week is Wyvil Primary School and Resource Bases for Speech, Language and Communication Needs, and Autism.
Our Assessor felt the London school is clearly a very special place. They explained, “It is a school that caters for children with a very wide range of needs, both in the mainstream school and in the 2 resource bases.”
As was explained to our Assessor, “a resource base should be a ‘bridge’ to mainstream at some point. However, this is not really an option for children in the Autism Resource Base. In effect, it is a special school without the appropriate funding. This lack of funding hinders the provision for these children in terms of material resources. As the funding arrangements are now more transparent since the new Headteacher arrived, the 2 SENCos have more input into how the resource bases are funded,” the Assessor continued.
“The 2 SENCos are very experienced and skilled practitioners and they know what they are doing. They are thinking ahead and planning the way forward. They work collaboratively and build on each other’s strengths. They are both part of the Senior Leadership Team and so are part of whole school developments. The new Headteacher is bringing about many changes and is ambitious to ensure the school remains as an IQM Flagship school but also a centre of excellence for SEN children in the Local Authority. Her support and determination to make this happen will depend, to a large extent, on her SENCos as well as her Governing Body and staff as a whole.”
• Read more – Wyvil PS and Resource Bases Achieve Flagship Status
Incredible Sense of Teamwork
Securing Centre of Excellence this week is Arrow Vale in Redditch.
Our Assessor explained, “Dialogue is held with staff at the feeder schools around attendance, wellbeing and any specific student issues, alongside building relationships with students in the classroom. This ensures that students with additional needs are well known by Arrow Vale and appropriate support identified prior to starting at the school.
“Links are maintained with the feeder school at the start of Year 9, with tutors from the feeder schools supporting students struggling to develop a rapport with their new key worker, ensuring continuity of support. Arrow Vale also makes its facilities available to the middle schools to enable curriculum building opportunities,” they continued.
“There is an incredible sense of teamwork within the school. All staff are highly committed and passionate about their work in school and students praised the staff as being one of the strongest aspects of the school. Numerous examples were shared of when staff have gone over and above normal expectations to support a student or their wider family.”
• Read more – Arrow Vale Achieves Centre of Excellence
Support Staff Feel Highly Valued
Also achieving Centre of Excellence status this week is Fawbert and Barnard Infants’s School.
After visiting the Sawbridgeworth school our Assessor explained, “Support Staff feel highly valued and appreciate that they are regarded as important members of the teaching and learning team. They are invited to attend relevant training and are paid if this takes place outside of their normal working hours. They appreciate that training materials are posted on the internal network enabling them to ‘catch-up’ if they have missed particular information.
“They are also regularly updated during their Core Professional Development Meetings on information shared earlier with teachers. They have established excellent working relationships and agreed that they support one another and have developed a caring ‘family feeling’ within their team. They greatly appreciate the thank you cards that appear in their pigeon-holes and most especially the ‘golden ticket’ which enables them to have a paid half day off from work at an agreed time.”
• Read more – Centre of Excellence for Fawbert and Barnard Infants’
All Staff Should be Heard
Our Assessor explained, “The Headteacher is passionate about providing an integrated and inclusive provision for local children. She believes that the inside and outdoor environment must be inclusive to offer all children various and many opportunities and all achievements must be celebrated. A Governor said that ‘We have to adapt the offer to meet the individual needs of every child.’ The Governors are fully supportive of Comet being an inclusive nursery. They scrutinise policies and help them make effective improvements.
“The Headteacher believes that all staff should be heard and should contribute ideas as they are the ones who work closely alongside the children every day. They have been involved in designing the new Comet Curriculum, so it serves the needs of all of its children. It is based around the 7 areas of learning outlined in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum.
“The (SALT) works with families by sharing ideas and videos of play-based activities. She supports the staff using a coaching approach. Makaton is taught to all the children and there is a Sign of the Week. She agrees that Comet offers children a space so they can all thrive regardless of their prior learning and ability. She said that Comet has a good local reputation for supporting children with speech and language issues and accepts all children regardless of their need.”
• Read more – Inclusive School for Comet Nursery & Children’s Centre
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.