Hunsbury Park Primary School is a 1.5 form entry primary school with a Designated Specialist Provision for 50 children with an Autistic Spectrum Condition diagnosis, called The Nest.
The school currently utilises single age year groups in KS1 and mixed age year groups in KS2. The school is incredibly well maintained and welcoming. Its vision is ‘Working together to be the best we can be’. It is evident that children and staff thrive at this school through learning and CPD. The Headteacher has a mantra of ‘What Next?,’ which is explained as a desire for everyone to reach a level of improvement and then question how they can develop this further, never resting and always thriving in new opportunities.
I had previously assessed the school several years ago; they had shown exemplary practice in inclusion, most notably with the development of a SEND Partnership Network and it is evident that they have built upon this (highlighted in their Flagship Project) and other areas to become the best they can be.
On the day of the assessment, the tour of the mainstream section of the school revealed open classrooms with positive, purposeful working environments. Resources were readily available and displays within classes were useful and used for the children’s learning. Many children had individualised target cards close by them as a resource and were using these to remind them of their expectations within a given lesson. Classes were all organised consistently with identical working walls and colours (aiding transition) along with the new Zones of Regulation scheme.
Within the classrooms, adults engaged incredibly well with the learners, delivering well-planned lessons (with progress and effective teaching and learning sequences evidenced in the children’s books). During a maths lesson, I witnessed a teacher drawing out learning through questioning and in this context all children were engaged and motivated to learn. These positive behaviours for learning were evident in all classrooms.
It is clear children want to learn, feel safe to learn and have trust in adults. This was made firm when I asked the children what the best thing about their school was. One child explained, “I like the teachers. They make my day; they make me giggle and they are friendly…They make things easier to understand and give you options of how to learn things.” In fact, all children spoke resoundingly about how much they liked and respected adults in school and about how much they enjoyed the learning on offer.
The school has large outdoor grounds with access to outdoor gym equipment, play areas and sports courts. It has an onsite Forest School but also backs on to a country park which they use for Forest School expeditions. The school has an incredibly well resourced and engaging outdoor Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) area with its own distinct Forest School, music area, mud kitchen and science area (amongst others). The school values the outdoors and outdoor enrichment and this was evident in the development of the Junior Duke Award.
As noted previously, Hunsbury Park has 50 places in its Designated Specialist Provision for children with an Autistic Spectrum Condition diagnosis. Children attending The Nest have Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCP), which identify needs associated with Autism such as sensory impairments, speech and language and communication needs. The Nest is split across two sites, with Reception and Key Stage 1 based at Hunsbury Park Primary School and Key Stage 2 at another nearby primary school. The Nest curriculum is highly adapted, according to the needs of each learner. Each child has a Curriculum Flightpath which identifies the key skills and learning for them (intent), the methods and approaches used to deliver this (implementation), and the different outcomes expected (impact). Learning within this setting is highly personalised to each learner; this can be seen in the work they undertake and how adults work with and respond to them. The environment in these settings is highly organised, carefully designed and developed to ensure that it meets the needs of children with Autism, featuring sensory areas and rooms to regulate. All areas are painted in muted tones, and it has a ‘distraction free approach.’ Children are supported with consistent routines, visuals, and structures by highly skilled adults.
On the day of the assessment, I witnessed children effectively using cue cards, visual timetables, and workstations to access tasks with complete independence. The level of engagement was fantastic to see, and it is quite visible that witnessing the organisation and operation of workstations in this setting would be invaluable CPD for other schools. Although The Nest is across two sites, the transition for children from one site to the other (moving from KS1 to KS2) is very well managed. The school has ensured both sites look and feel identical and as a result, this minimises the impact of transitional change for these learners.
Within its mainstream setting, the school utilises a learning hub, a separate classroom space without a fixed class group, set up as a more intimate and nurturing learning environment. This space was originally set up as a space to support children with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health challenges; however, the school has effectively ensured that through inclusive practices, those children who would have attended the learning hub in this capacity are now fully successful in lessons through inclusion. As a result, during mornings, the hub is now used for identifying children who benefit from smaller groups to boost their learning in reading, writing and maths. Children attend sessions based on need and different year group phases use the space each term. During the afternoon, the space is then used for intervention sessions based around wellbeing; for example, working on personalised approaches to Zones of Regulation or taking part in group Yoga practice.
The school understands that inclusive practice should inform practice for all. As a result of this, the way they communicate with children in The Nest provision influences the way they communicate with learners across the school. Within all written work and work developing oracy and vocabulary, widget communication symbols and colourful semantics are utilised to bolster verbal communication. Staff recognise this may not be necessary for every child, but they provide options in the communication of concepts and ideas to bolster learning.
On the day of the assessment, the general behaviour displayed across the school was outstanding: children were incredibly polite and kind; adults were incredibly polite and kind. Hunsbury Park feels like a wonderful and welcoming place to be. When I asked parents if they could provide me with words that could sum up the school, they said the place was safe, content and accepting. There was a feeling that everyone was welcome. One parent told me, “it does not matter who you are here, everyone is treated equally and with equality.” The classroom environments showed this equality; each classroom showed learners who were engaged and had the right level of support to remain engaged.
On the day of the assessment, I looked through a variety of children’s work. Their books show clear progress and well-defined sequences of learning. Teachers aim to provide purposeful feedback. Books have differentiated marking codes for each year group, denoting feedback types that are relevant, manageable, and effective. Teachers are encouraged to live mark to ensure the most effective feedback methods. The Head of School explained that they are always looking at ways to reduce unnecessary workload and to do this, feedback and recording of work has to be manageable. To aid this, across all year groups, classes utilise SeeSaw. Within this application, children can record their work by taking pictures of it using Tablets. Teachers can then leave relevant voice notes for marking that can be played back. During the day of the assessment, I saw a Year 1 class undertaking a practical maths activity, where they were recording outcomes with this method. The children were fully engaged and excited about the process.
Across all subjects, you can see a clear progression in learning. This is evident in the way the school organises its curriculum into key concepts and lenses and how these are developed and built upon, year after year. For example, in history, they may have a key concept of ‘Investigating the past.’ This is looked at through the lenses of ‘Artefacts.’ Over time, further lenses can be added to develop concepts. These concepts and lenses are interweaved across the curriculum. The school’s curriculum has been highly developed over time. They use well known schemes across many of their subjects, but these have been personalised for their learners. Additionally, the school brings in CPD to develop these schemes (for example using Talk for Writing consultants to ensure the quality and development of teaching and learning). Their curriculum is well mapped and clear to ensure gaps in knowledge and concepts are minimised. On this note, the school has effective systems of assessment for all subjects and can use these systems of assessment to identify if there are areas of their curriculum that need development. The Nest leader explained that in the specialist provision setting, they can effectively track children’s learning using an Assessment for All program; however, moving forward they are keen to develop systems of assessment to measure progress in preparation for adulthood as this is an area that is of key importance to their vulnerable learners.
The school excels in providing opportunities beyond the statutory curriculum. They offer a wide variety of clubs, for instance, in football, archery, yoga and science. There are sixteen clubs in total this term which children can attend at lunch time and afterschool. Parents spoke highly of the extra opportunity’s children were offered, explaining that the school considers the whole child, offering a wide variety of things to allow them to be successful. One of the clubs offered is called Wellbeing Ambassadors. Here, children learn and develop strategies for maintaining positive mental health (strategies that would exist within their toolkits linked to Zones of Regulation). They then act as wellbeing ambassadors in the school, helping other children if they are in need. When talking with a group of wellbeing ambassadors, they explained how important it had been to them to be part of this group as it helped them to stay calm and focused. The school also works closely with a partner secondary school to offer opportunities in sports and activities that they might not have within their facilities, such as paddle boarding. The development of the Junior Duke Award Scheme is another example of how the school seeks to offer further opportunities to develop the whole child, beyond the academic, relating clearly to their vision of ‘working together to be the best we can be.’
Leaders explained that they offer opportunities for the ‘whole child’ as they are firm in their belief that they want to show children possibilities of what they can do, be and achieve; they want to raise aspirations. Raising aspirations is part of the culture of the school, children are asked at the start of the year to create a display about what they want to become and adults develop opportunities around this (for example, one child has a one-to-one club where they learn about photography, their special interest, and they are commissioned to take photos for the school which are put on display), children are invited to in school careers fairs (this year the school had Formula 1 team members, animators, jewellers, police and fire officers and a county planner to name but a few) and the school regularly has guest speakers coming to discuss opportunities of future employment.
The school is also part of the ‘Change Makers’ project with the University of Northampton. For this, children are taught to be entrepreneurial and make a positive change in doing so; the children are currently raising money to develop a garden area near the school. They have so far raised money by selling ice creams and contacting relevant organisations for sponsorship. It is evident that the school takes preparing children for adult life in the mainstream and specialist provision seriously and ensures it does what it can to make this preparedness happen, as one of the Assistant Headteachers explained, “we understand our children and families, and a lot goes into raising their aspirations and giving them the opportunity. We put effort into their learning, but we go beyond that so that they are successful in life and so that they can cope with life and their emotions.”
Through projects such as the Wellbeing Ambassadors, the school wishes to empower its young people and give them social responsibility. Another fantastic example of this is the school’s ‘Communication Champions’ Project. For this, Year 6 children apply and commit to training for the role, for example, learning signing. These children then work with the children in The Nest, modelling social skills and play. On the day of the assessment, I witnessed a group of communication champions in The Nest. All children were fully engaged in this process and it allowed all children to interact and develop friendships fully.
The leadership team provide a supportive environment for staff to be successful and in turn, help children to be successful. One staff member commented, “this place is caring, child-centred and we make a difference…I love it here and the opportunities for CPD are amazing. I get given so much to develop.” The leadership team have developed structures within the school to offer capacity for improvement, both in terms of whole school improvement and the development of individual staff members, for example, the school SENCo (who originally set up the SEND Partnership Network) is currently seconded to a large secondary school, developing inclusion in this context. This not only develops them as an educator but also allows other staff members to step into leadership roles and develop personally.
The school has a fantastic sense of community and values working with its community and its wider network. Families feel included and part of the organisation. One parent said, “the whole school is welcoming and inclusive. We know all about the children’s learning and what they are doing, and the children love it here.” Another parent commented, “my child comes to The Nest…he is happy and seeing his achievements is amazing. He wants to come to school, and we feel included.”
Parents all shared the sentiment that the school was incredibly supportive and did everything they could to help families. They actively engage with parents through regular coffee mornings which incorporate the attendance of the Specialist Support Service, providing a network of support and advice and guidance for families in need. One Governor explained that over the past few years, the partnership between parents and external agencies has been hugely developed. They noted that the parent workshops that the school offers through the Send Partnership Network have been instrumental in this. Alongside this, a parent explained that the individualised approach the school uses with their child, alongside the support given at home and learning provided through the parental workshops has had a huge impact on their family. In their own words, “the school has been transformational for our family and the positive change in our child has been amazing.”
The school works hard to have a positive impact on their community and beyond this through their work with the Send Partnership Network, they are impacting schools, children, and families right across the county.
