Lord Derby Academy has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship Status.
‘Believe, Achieve, Succeed’
Lord Derby Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in Huyton, within Merseyside. It is part of the Multi-Academy Dean Trust currently catering for 1,080 pupils between 11-18 years. All schools across the Dean Trust embrace the Trust motto ‘Believe, Achieve, Succeed’, and their ethos is built upon care and aspiration for the whole school community, being fully inclusive in their outlook and ensuring; ‘equity for all.’
Lord Derby Academy staff throughout the assessment discussed and presented evidence of how they provide a dynamic and vibrant environment, a place where every child acquires a high-quality education and an unforgettable pupil experience. It was evident that all pupils, staff, parents and wider stakeholders feel highly valued, and excellence and enjoyment are embedded in all they do. It was clear that all members of the community were contributing to ensure that inclusion is at all levels and that there was a desire from all ‘to learn and have a zest for life through aspiration, determination and fulfilment.’ It is a ‘true community academy where all who work within, are keen to share how they are proud to serve this special community.’
Inclusive practice comes naturally within Lord Derby Academy and it is evident that all learners access a high-quality education, a place where professionals understand the academy ethos and ensure all ‘achieve what they are capable of.’ Clear visions of the academy are to be a caring school, one that is imaginative in their approach, pioneering in ambitions, inspirational to people, effective in their outcomes and challenging in aspirations. The strong commitment to this vision promotes inclusion for all learners and it was clear that the people make Lord Derby special.
Throughout the assessment they talked passionately about the inclusion journey they have been on. It is an academy that quickly shares with you how they see everyone in their school as one of their huge inclusive family. The academy operates in the second most deprived area of England, this being so the team are recognised as innovative in their practice, insisting to all that Lord Derby is a place where ‘deprivation is left at the door and where pupils are supported to believe in themselves and achieve’. With this strong commitment to improvement and delivering quality education, it is enjoying being the ‘school of choice in the area.’
Strength of the Academy
A considerable strength of the academy is the strong leadership that cascades down to all levels. It begins with the highly competent, well-respected Headteacher, who is passionate about inclusion and committed to ensuring there is a balance between high standards and how this needs support and understanding. They effectively encourage strategic thinking, innovation, and action from all the professionals in the team. This leads to senior leaders recognising that they have the permission to be creative in how they approach and lead their areas of responsibility. The headteacher quote their team as being, ‘Strong, efficient and working in tandem.’
Taking responsibility for the Inclusion department the Inclusion Lead has ensured that there was an attention to detail within the Inclusion Quality Mark action plan and has modelled a strong ‘capacity to listen’ to both colleagues and pupils when actioning the targets during the past year. With the support of a well-established and informed team, they have shown a strong determination to direct the IQM action plan making it fun, interesting and successful for all involved.
Staff showed how they are relentless in setting clear success indicators from the outset, the whole team were able to share the way that they have co-operated to ensure that inclusion is ‘just what they do’, it was clear that they share the goal of achieving IQM Flagship status this year. The evidence presented and willingness of all to discuss their continuing learning and share their work with the assessor, showed a consistent approach to the ethos of being an academy where all are valued for their individuality and how they continue to respond to the growing complexity of their community.
They demonstrate a strong commitment and desire to continue the journey with IQM to ensure all needs of their children are supported. Lord Derby Academy is spoken of a ‘special place to work, where a rich variety of opportunities are provided, for both pupils and staff, ensuring enjoyment and achievement for each person, as they walk hand in hand learning together.’
Effective Inclusive School
This collaborative approach to driving improvement has resulted in them being identified by both the local authority and other external professionals, as having inclusive practice which is worthy of being disseminated to other schools. Recently NASEN, working on a national level visited, alongside the local authority to see the academy’s inclusive education practice Evidence presented shows that a robust continuous process, with strong monitoring is transforming practice to support all learners. If necessary, pupils access well planned bespoke packages, accessing external alternative provision if applicable for a period, while retaining the vision that this support will allow the pupil to be reintegrated successfully back to Lord Derby.
Pupils and parents spoke how they had accessed this provision but did not feel disengaged from the academy, they were still part of the family being regularly contacted and supported. Knowsley authority recognises the success of this practice and Lord Derby Academy has been chosen to work alongside them, supporting others to become innovative in their practice as an effective inclusive school.
The Inclusion Lead recognises how their success has been in part due to engaging with an active and reflective ‘Inclusion Quality Mark’ action plan. The involvement of all professionals has created strong partnerships with staff, building trust between each other and departments and sharing practice with the schools in the IQM cluster. Their work has been successfully replicated in another school provision and an advisor within the authority spoke with the assessor quoting, ‘Lord Derby has a school culture which is open minded and puts pupils at the centre of learning, their work is innovative, they effectively support a diverse range of needs successfully. We work closely with them and see them as an integral part of the future development of inclusive practice within our authority.’
Strive to Ensure all Have Equal Opportunities
Governors and senior leaders understand how critical it is to create an inclusive environment and they understand and demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the unique community they serve. There are many barriers to learning to address within this academy, their belief in inclusion means they strive to ensure all have equal opportunities and this has led to them creating a bespoke learning environment that supports all their pupils and the diverse range of abilities they have. They are justly proud of the work they have done on their rich and engaging curriculum that has been modernised. High quality curriculum planning allows all pupils to study a rich breadth of subjects, which provides both choice and challenge to all.
Pupils spoke of how this is adapted to provide provision for them to have memorable experiences, enabling them to acquire a multitude of skills and allowing them to succeed as individuals. On the day of the assessment a pupil spoke about how their provision had been personalised for them. This was allowing them to gain a deeper understand of their own learning style and therefore achieve success. It is evident staff were ensuring individuals were first and foremost at the front of everything they do, supporting them to grow. They fully supported their aspirations for the future, working with them to ensure pathways were known and open to them to achieve their dreams.
There is a strong ‘Pupil Parliament’, where pupils are encouraged to have their voices heard. They can take this opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas and feed into the school development. This ensures that they are involved in decisions that impact upon them. Through this approach behaviour is exemplary and children work positively with each other and school management. One teacher commented ‘I like that everyone can get their opinions in and as an academy we listen to make improvements.’ Pupil parliament members spoke about how they were actively involved in the development of the academy’s ‘Equality Charter.’ They showed a proudness of how their contributions had been instrumental in the promotion of equality and diversity within day-to-day life and how the charter is now recognised and followed by all. They also spoke how they this had also supported the academy in recently being recognised with a Global School Award at bronze level. (August 2022)
Learning is Well Planned
Support professionals within the school are highly valued and they are being developed to become a strong supportive team who work to ensure children have access to resources that support their learning. They provide pupils with explicit strategies, with examples to scaffold their learning and to integrate related concepts to aid their understanding. The assessor was fortunate to observe how pupils who face barriers to learning benefit from this growing team of excellent support professionals who tailor provision, ensuring pupils can achieve their potential. This safe and welcoming environment supports the development of a life-long love of learning, the pupils develop curiosity and inquisitiveness while being guided and encouraged to reflect and take the next steps in their learning.
Learning is well planned, and time is never wasted. The academy curriculum has been carefully designed to match the abilities, interests and aspiration of pupils and to meet with the requirement of further education providers and employers. It is taught through active participation as equal members of the community and the results are well recorded through data that shows excellent improvement in academic standards over time.
Pupils have access to appropriate materials and practitioners that model energy of creative thinking, drawing everyone on board. They encourage pupils to think and discover answers together. They have a skill in connecting learning to real live cultural experiences and this is a driving force as to why the academy enjoys an excellent reputation within the local community. They regularly encourage visitors into school to enhance the curriculum. There is an impressive and extensive offer of extra curriculum clubs and pupils have a choice about what they participate in. The focus is one of enjoyment and opportunity, which will allow pupils to excel, and with this in mind they have named it as ‘LDA Curriculum Pathway.’ The pathway development has ensured that that it is a curriculum that has been developed ‘through a SEND lens,’ and therefore a curriculum that all their pupils can access.
Another important aspect of an inclusive environment is providing opportunities for parents, carers and guardians to be fully involved. A parent willing shared how ‘Lord Derby Academy is outstanding. They have worked with myself and my child to create an exciting learning pathway that encourages them to learn.’ There was a discussion on the kind and helpfulness of staff and how they work to connect with every child and adult. Nothing is too much trouble for them, they realise that pupils learn in different ways, some needing a small, exclusive environment and therefore go above and beyond to provide this. The inclusion support is ambitious for every pupil and is provided short to long-term depending on needs of individuals.
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.
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