Holy Cross Catholic Primary School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Behaviour of Children is Always Calm
Holy Cross Catholic Primary School is a smaller than average primary school with 147 pupils aged 3 to 11 years old currently on roll. The school is situated in North Birkenhead, an area of high deprivation. With around 70% of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM), the school has more than triple the number of disadvantaged pupils than the national average. The number of children who receive additional support for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is also significantly above the national average.
In a recent Ofsted inspection in October 2022, the overall effectiveness of the school was judged to be ‘good’, showing improvements across all areas since the previous inspection. The report recognises Holy Cross’ inclusive ethos, with pupils’ personal development and wellbeing identified as a strength, highlighting how they are, “central to the work of leaders and teachers”. The report also details that, “pupils are proud to be part of this calm, caring, happy and purposeful school”. Our Assessor noted that each time they visit the school, the behaviour of the children is excellent and the environment is always calm, almost a juxtaposition of many of the pupils’ lives outside of school.
Support Offered to Families
In view of the comprehensive support offered to families, Holy Cross serves as more than a school in the local area. For some, it is the only constant, safe place where families can seek help and advice. The phrase, ‘above and beyond’, does not do justice to the work undertaken by the staff at Holy Cross to support the parents and carers. From relentless phone calls to compel action to deal with social housing issues, to ensuring that other agencies implement the necessary assistance where there are wellbeing and safeguarding issues, the staff will do whatever is needed to help their families. The staff do anything within their power to get the children and the families the support they require. 
To offer additional support to the parents and carers of children with SEND, the school holds a fortnightly coffee afternoon. In a meeting to represent parents and carers, one parent talked about how invaluable the SEND coffee afternoons are, stating that they, “keep me sane”.
The afternoons provide parents and carers with the chance to offload and share experiences. External professionals are sometimes invited to attend the sessions to offer additional support and advice to families.
A representative from Positivitree, a locally based social enterprise charity, has recently been working with the parents and carers of the SEND group. On the Positivitree website, their mission is outlined as, “to empower parent-carers with self-care tools and experiences which improve wellbeing”. They are currently offering the parents and carers peer mentoring courses to enable them to support other parents of children with SEND.
Parents and carers are also well supported by the school in terms of their mental health and wellbeing. They say, “if we have any problems we can come in and speak to the staff”. One parent describes the school as, “my support network” and cannot, “praise the school enough”. All staff are friendly and relatable. They put parents and carers at ease, creating an open relationship, whereby they feel comfortable to approach Holy Cross staff, should they be facing any difficulties.
Opportunities for Parents and Carers
In addition to the comprehensive emotional and wellbeing support the school offers its parents and carers, there are also opportunities for them to complete qualifications which will help improve their quality of life, as well as that of their children. The most recent course on offer was a Level One qualification on Drug and Alcohol Awareness. The six-week course was led by staff from Engage and Change, a Liverpool-based alternative education company. The course included educational sessions combined with fitness classes to encourage healthier lifestyles. Engage and Change’s Director met with with our Assessor on the review day to discuss the programme. When asked about the impact, he explained how the course sessions are, “much more than the work material itself”. The participants, “talk about their issues”, with the sessions becoming therapeutic as well as informative.
Engage and Change continues to work with the children as part of a preventative strategy. The idea is to work with young people from areas of high deprivation, such as North Birkenhead, to educate them and try to prevent future issues, such as exclusions from school, antisocial behaviour in the community or involvement in criminal activity.
The Liverpool One Foundation provides the funding for Year 5 and 6 pupils at Holy Cross to access this beneficial intervention programme. As part of the Engage and Change programme, the pupils participate in gym sessions at the specialist gym in Liverpool. The Company Director from Engage and Change talked about how their aim is, “to instil positive fitness habits in children and teach them to not feel intimidated when walking into a gym from a young age”.
The Engage and Change staff also deliver Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education lessons at Holy Cross about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle. Education and raising awareness from a young age aims to help break the cycle of poor health and substance abuse within the local area.
Pupils’ Wellbeing is the Number 1 Priority
Pupils’ wellbeing is the number 1 priority at Holy Cross. To teach the children strategies to help look after their own mental health and wellbeing, the school has recently introduced the ‘myHappymind’ intervention programme. It has initially been introduced in Year 6 as a trial, with a plan to evaluate the impact, then implement it into the other year groups next term.
In discussions with the pupils, the children said they are enjoying the session where they, “learn about parts of our brains and how we react in different situations. One child said that the programme, “teaches us how to deal with stuff and make better decisions”. They enjoy not only the scenarios which they discuss as a group but also learning the support strategies, such as writing a journal, which they can use outside of lessons.
The highlight of the review day has to be meeting with the pupils. They are all very friendly and welcoming; a true credit to the school. All pupils said they feel safe at school and that the, “staff are really nice” as they are, “there for you when you need help”.
Through discussions with the pupils, the extent to which the school is genuinely transforming their lives became apparent. When asked what the best aspect of the school is, one pupil said, “our learning. We can all access it and the teachers help you and everyone gets to learn”.
Another child explained that they enjoy maths lessons because, “when you have a job, you can count how much money they should give you and know if they are taking the right amount from you (tax)”. They all agreed that the best thing about Holy Cross is, “the teachers and staff” as, “they are very supportive when you need it, especially the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher who are really understanding and get what situation we are in”. The children are well cared for by the adults at the school and they know Holy Cross is a safe place.
Thoughtful and Caring Staff
Pupils’ wider experience is a key focus as the Leaders recognise the need to provide the children with a variety of enriching experiences which they would not otherwise get outside of school. To develop pupils’ cultural capital, the staff have devised a ‘bucket list’ of 18 activities the children will complete from when they join Holy Cross in the Nursery to when they leave at the end of Year 6. The 18 activities are additional to the regular enrichment experiences within the curriculum and include a theatre visit, beach visit, the chance to be a zookeeper for a day at Chester Zoo, being an artist for the day, den building and kite flying. 
With a large number of the pupils and families living in poverty, Christmas can be an extremely challenging time financially.
During the review day, our Assessor witnessed the library being transformed into Father Christmas’ grotto. Many of the families would not be able to afford to visit Father Christmas so the Leaders decided to provide the experience for free in school.
Over the final week of term, pupils visited the grotto in class to listen to stories read by Father Christmas and at the Christmas Fair, children were able to pay Father Christmas a visit and receive a small gift. This is further testament to how thoughtful and caring the staff are at Holy Cross.
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.