Outwood Academy City in Sheffield, South Yorkshire has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
A Culture Of Success
Outwood Academy City continues to be an inclusive, high-performing school that very much lives up to its mission statement of “Students first: raising standards and transforming lives.“ The Academy became part of the Outwood Family of Schools in 2014 and through outstanding leadership has transformed itself into a welcoming and supportive Academy, with a relentless determination to provide the very best education for every child. They aim to place students at the centre of everything they do, with a focus on creating a culture of success and a positive climate for learning.
Positive Relationships
Praise features strongly throughout this Academy. Whilst rules and consequences give students a clear and consistent message of expectations, they are balanced in equal measure with messages of celebration. The Academy Principal has recently introduced a new Positive Discipline for Learning Policy. Its key aspects are to build positive relationships, promote harmony and focus on positive framing and using praise. The Academy has also recently introduced four ‘Safe Space’ rooms around the Academy for students in crisis to take a time out and calm down and reflect. They are encouraged to ‘stop, think and share,’ with the aim being to stop the outburst from escalating to a level requiring a sanction rather than an intervention or support.
A Mutual Respect
The fabric of the Academy is in excellent condition. Staff and students clearly take great pride in their environment. Words of encouragement, messages of success and celebratory images of student achievement adorn the walls. The Academy exterior is welcoming and gives students calm and relaxing areas to play and interact socially in between academic lessons. There are a number of indoor food outlets and seating areas to ensure students have access to a comfortable place to eat. Staff manages the unstructured times very well. I consistently saw staff and students showing mutual respect for each other which created a calm, purposeful and inclusive feel within the Academy. The dress code and pride with which students wear their uniform was also evident at all times.
Support Is Evident
There is a student information desk centrally in the Academy, where any pupil can receive care, support or guidance. This was well utilised for students in their first week back at school requiring a timetable reminder or any general wellbeing support. A ‘Hall of Fame’ is also currently under construction opposite the main entrance to showcase the very best student work to every visitor and student upon arrival. The students are quite rightly proud to show the work they do and celebrating their work in this manner will be something that all pupils can aspire to.
Students Love School
A student panel of four pupils expressed their love of the school. One student had received support lessons in the Bridge in Year 7 and has since gone from strength to strength, gaining a gold Hallmark Curriculum badge. The intervention has given her support and confidence to fully engage with her learning. When asked, the students all felt that the Learning Managers were a real strength in the Academy. They appreciated their accessibility due to a nonteaching role and all felt that they had a member of staff that they could turn to if they required support.
A Hive Of Activity
The operation of the reception was a hive of activity. The receptionist managed a constant flow of parental visits very capably, directing messages to Learning Managers quickly and efficiently. Banners outside the Academy promote the importance of every school day and this is clearly an Academy where adjustments (such as the granting of a temporary toilet pass) are made to encourage students to attend, make progress and prosper. A Community food bank runs all year. If a family needs additional support, then this can be provided. Text Messages are regularly sent out and parents can respond with requests for support.
The Key To Achievements
The Leadership recognise that the key to high achievement is the delivery of quality first teaching and for that to be a success, it requires the very highest levels of attendance. Currently a target for improvement, they have a live advert for an additional Pastoral Support Worker tasked with ‘door knocking’ and early morning home visits with the aim to target hard to engage families to improve attendance.
Strive For Their Best
Building resilience is seen as one of the areas hindering the academic progress of students coming out of the pandemic. A robust plan is in place and this can be seen in lessons through the use of exam clocks, walk-and-talk questioning and digitalisation of exam paper walkthroughs. Students are encouraged to give their answers verbally and then again to improve on their initial efforts. In this Academy, it is clear that ‘good enough’ is not and each must strive for their best.
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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