Penwortham Primary School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Vision for Inclusion
Penwortham Primary School is a larger than average, 3 form entry primary school with 658 pupils on role from nursery to Year Six. The school is based in Streatham, South London and comes under the responsibility of the London Borough of Wandsworth. As well as currently holding the IQM Centre of Excellence award, Penwortham Primary School is a Gold Rights Respecting School and has the Silver Coach Mark Award.
It has also been awarded SEND awards in 2020 and are nominated again this year. 
The proportion of pupils at Penwortham Primary School who are entitled to the Pupil Premium Grant is above the national average at 20%. At 18.5%, the number of pupils with Special Educational Needs is also above the national average. Children on the special needs register have a range of additional needs with the most common area of need being speech and language.
It was evident from the first meeting with the Headteacher, Deputy Head for Inclusion and SENCo of Penwortham Primary School that the inclusion of all pupils, regardless of background or need is a fundamental priority of the school.
The school vision for Inclusion – community: everyone is included, unity: united by the school’s values and opportunity: aim for happiness and success was clearly demonstrated by the Headteacher’s commitment to ensuring all children feel supported and prioritising the wellbeing of all staff, pupils and parents/carers as part of the school’s culture.
The SENCo works closely with a range of external support agencies who are able to support within school, these include two Speech and Language Therapists, two Educational Psychologists, access to an Occupational Therapist and a specialist dyslexia teacher. As well as using these experts to diagnose and work with individual pupils they also offer modelling sessions with staff to ensure that all those working with identified children know how best to support the child. This allows children to quickly move to support within the classroom by upskilled staff and allowing the specialists to focus on assessments and intervention for those with the most complex needs. The SENCo is outward looking and continues to build positive relationships in the community by working closely with the children’s centres and early years teams. They have also reached out to local special schools to support them with the increasing number of pupils with complex needs who are attending Penwortham despite EHCPs stating the need for specialist placements.
Support Their Understanding
The leadership team understand the importance of getting transition right for all pupils. For those pupils moving onto secondary school, discussions around transition start in Year Five. Workshops explaining the admissions processes are held for parents to support their understanding and the options available to them in terms of Secondary Schools. Later in the year, staff at Penwortham will send out Google questionnaires to all Year Seven parents asking how prepared their children were for Secondary School and whether there was any further information they feel they would have benefited from before transition. This allows the leadership team to reflect on their transition programme and adapt it as appropriate.
The tour of the school our Assessor was taken on not only highlighted the excellent behaviour for learning demonstrated by all learners but also the range of adaptions and support put in place for pupils who have additional needs. Pupils were engaged in learning alongside their peers with appropriate adaptions in place so that they can access their lessons.
Opportunities to use manipulatives, take brain breaks or visits to the sensory room are available for those pupils who may need it. Visuals are used across the school from nursery to support pupils in following instructions and understanding their school day. Examples of rich wider curriculum opportunities were seen with pupils taking part in pottery, MFL and PE lessons; taught by specialist teachers. The nurturing schools’ approach that the school takes ensures that classrooms are a safe space to learn – where children feel empowered to take risks in their learning. The Deputy Head responsible for behaviour explained how adverse behaviour is reduced by having children at the centre of the curriculum; “if the curriculum is right then all pupils have the opportunity to succeed and therefore, they want to behave well.”
As well as supporting those children with additional needs the school looks to challenge and encourage those pupils who are ‘High Potential Learners’. Once identified, the children are put on a register and their progress is tracked and monitored; this may be done through questioning in class and live marking.
‘High Potential Learners’ are identified from across the curriculum with every subject being valued; success is celebrated in Star of the Week assembly and on a ‘High Potential Learners’ (HPL) celebration board. Potential barriers to further success are quickly identified and addressed – thus demonstrating the school’s commitment to ensuring all pupils aim high to achieve their full potential.
Experiences beyond the school day are put in place such as theatre trips, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) days for girls, maths challenge days, digital leaders visited the Royal Institute for maths and joined a master class and interschool quiz participation to name but a few to further embed pupil’s experience of the subject. Staff are aware that HPL children often struggle with failure and resilience so work has been done with the children to explain how we learn and that it may not always be easy, this is known as the learning PIT. Pupil voice has shown that children are beginning to understand that it is good to have challenge.
Friendships, Kindness and Transition
Pupil wellbeing at Penwortham School is supported by a tiered system of Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA) and Place 2 Be counsellors. Each year group has an allocated ELSA as well as access to four Place 2 Be counsellors who can offer one to one counselling sessions. The Place 2 Be counsellor our Assessor spoke to explained how pupils can take part in a range of support activities including self-referring for Place 2 Talk – a 15-minute lunch time session where children can share their worries and counsellors will suggest coping skills. The counsellor also shared how they support with whole class activities such as circle time or in delivering lessons on specific topics such as friendships, kindness and transition.
One-to-one therapeutic support is available for identified pupils who would benefit from weekly support. Parent sessions are run by a parent practitioner. It is felt that the success of the parent sessions is due to the fact that the Place 2 Be counsellors are familiar to parents and therefore parents are comfortable to work with them. 
Wellbeing for staff is also a priority at Penwortham School. For school staff there is access to Place 2 Think. The Deputy Head responsible for behaviour explained how staff wellbeing is highly important and that the leadership team are very aware of teacher workload. Coaching sessions, solution circles and support to manage the pressures of work are just some of the ways that staff are supported. If teachers need further support with their wellbeing, they can attend Place 2 Think to talk through how they are feeling or can be referred to the Employee Assistant Programme.
Good Attendance is a Priority
Good attendance is a priority at Penwortham Primary School. The attendance motto of HERO – Here, Every Day, Ready, On Time is used to encourage pupils to meet the school’s attendance target of 96.4%. The welfare officer our Assessor spoke with shared that he works closely with school staff to monitor punctuality and attendance. Weekly meetings are held with the leadership team to identify issues relating to attendance and to meet with parents to explore any support they may need in improving their child’s attendance. A tailored approach to parental needs is a priority as is ensuring parents understand the importance of good attendance and the impact that poor attendance can have on their children’s outcomes.
Teachers confirmed that the mastery approach to learning is embedded across the curriculum with all children learning alongside their peers, with support, for as much of the curriculum as possible. Adaptions are made in terms of resources and recording methods to allow all pupils to feel included. Teachers learn scripts when teaching phonics so that cognitive overload is reduced, and pupils have consistency in the approach; meaning that new sounds are learnt quickly. Visuals and widget symbols are used across the school to support pupils with EAL and additional needs. Teachers shared that the SENCo is readily available to support teachers with early identification of needs and carries out year group SEND reviews to reflect with teaching staff on the provision that is in place and the impact that it is having. Communication amongst all staff across year and subject groups is good according to teachers and Early Career Teacher’s (ECT’s) felt well supported. Teachers expressed that the Leadership Team were very open and that their wellbeing is considered carefully in terms of workload and pinch points in the school diary.
Wellbeing of Children and Parents is a Priority
Teaching Assistants (TA) are included in weekly briefing sessions and staff training. TAs are included in the staff CPD programme and have received specific intervention training on speaking and listening and Zones of Regulation. TAs are also supported to develop their own CPD with one TA learning Makaton to use across the nursery setting. All TAs are part of the subject teams allowing them to positively contribute to the school curriculum. The Teaching Assistants our Assessor spoke with described Penwortham Primary School as a caring, friendly and inclusive school where staff work hard to support all children. They also felt that staff were supportive of each other.
The parents our Assessor met with on the review day spoke positively about the school and how it communicates with parents. The Tapestry app, emails, open door policy and extra meetings were appreciated by parents and allowed them to have a good understanding of their child’s progress and needs at school. Coffee mornings aimed at connecting parents and workshops to improve parent understanding of speech and language were also discussed positively.
Parents spoke about the success of the parent showcases where they had the opportunity to learn alongside their children and experience a range of subjects such as drama, pottery, music, geography and maths. They felt that this gave them a real insight into how these lessons are taught and to the experience their children have in school.
One parent stated how the school ensures that pupils are included and that the expectation is that all children will be given the same opportunities as their peers but with whatever support they need to be successful – whether that be academic or emotional support. Parents shared how the wellbeing of children and parents is a priority of the school. The implementation of a wellbeing club and the availability of Place 2 Be counsellors for both parents and children to access additional support if needed were examples of this.
Parents wanted to highlight how staff go out of their way to support the children at Penwortham Primary School. They shared that the SENCo is always available and goes above and beyond what they would expect and is always available before and after school. One parent stated, “Staff genuinely care about our children – the whole child is loved and cared for.” Another shared that “Wellbeing and nurturing are at the forefront of the school vision.”
Safe Space to Play
Pupils spoke enthusiastically about their school and the wider curriculum opportunities that are in place for them such as Pottery, French, Computing and the ‘JCA’ Residential Trip. Pupils are encouraged to take on additional responsibilities through roles such as Subject Leader, Senior Student and Wellbeing Leads.
Wellbeing Leads are responsible for ensuring the playground equipment is used sensibly and that the playground is a safe space to play. “We make rules for good reasons on the playground to make sure everyone is happy.”
Subject Leads may share information about their subjects in assembly and work with teachers to plan lessons. Senior Students are from Year Six and wear a different uniform so that they can be identified by other pupils. Senior Students show new pupils round the school and help staff.
When asked to describe their school the pupils made the following comments:
“This is a good school; teachers help whenever you need help.”
“The learning curriculum is great and teachers notice if you are upset and will help you.”
“This school is double extra fun and has loads of fun things!”
Our Assessor concluded it was a pleasure to visit Penwortham School and to meet their welcoming, committed staff. The school is an excellent model of an inclusive school and IQM Centre of Excellence, with inclusion being high on the agenda.
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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