Pioneer House High School has achieved the Inclusive School Award.
Rapid Development
Since opening in 2016, Pioneer House High School has been on a journey of rapid development and improvement as part of the Prospere Learning Trust.
Ofsted assessed Pioneer House High School as Outstanding in all areas in May 2019.
Pioneer House was given Flagship Status with the Skills Builder programme in Summer 2022. They are one of the first schools in the country to earn this level of award.
Pioneer House is also working towards the Rights Respecting Schools Award and becoming an Artsmark accredited school.
It is clear from the evidence submitted that the school has a deeply embedded commitment throughout the school to inclusive values and practice. The school’s core values of Community, Diversity, Learning, Wellbeing, Work and Independence really come to life as you spend time looking through the school website and speaking to all sections of the school community from pupils and parents through to teachers and Governors. Strong leadership reinforces inclusion as a priority at Pioneer House.
A range of policies including a very detailed SEND Information Report and SEND Policy backed up by interviews with a range of staff indicate that there is a collective responsibility for inclusion in all its forms across the school. Teaching staff are aware of their responsibilities in this regard.
Cared for as Individuals
Parents spoken to as part of the IQM assessment clearly felt that their children were cared for as individuals and that the school would also support them as parents through difficult times and beyond. Parents were unanimous in their praise for the way the school communicated with parents and had supported them during the Covid-19 pandemic in particular with technology, food parcels, phone calls, online tutorials and support visits.
Transition arrangements are carefully planned and parents feel their children are given lots of personalised support when they join the school. The school is keenly focused on the long-term destinations for their students and preparations begin years in advance to ensure that students can successfully transition into further education, employment or training when they leave.
Students spoke with maturity about how they were able to influence change and suggest improvements at school through the School Council, but also about their responsibilities to others in their local community. Pioneer House social media accounts demonstrate just how much the school engages with the local community and enables students to make a difference to causes outside their school such as animal welfare.
Pupil Voice is strong at Pioneer House; students confidently spoke about their school, their friends and school events (such as the Student Voice conference). They were also able to articulate what they enjoy most and were particularly animated about the residential trip away. For some, this will have been the first time they stayed away from home and the significance of this was clear for the young people concerned.
Pupils throughout the school are enthusiastic about learning. The Skills for Success curriculum and other Personal Development strategies have made a huge impact on students’ resilience levels and understanding of how to become independent and successful members of their community.
Great efforts are made by the school to provide a diverse range of role models and engaging programmes of study which is representative of students from every background.
For example, pupils learn about the authors, David Walliams, Benjamin Zephaniah alongside Gillian Cross and Shakespeare in their programme of study for English.
Celebrations of Achievement
Celebrations of Achievement take place across school for character as well as academic ability. Students are praised for their independence, for their resilience and for their teamwork, as well as for high performance in more traditional tests or assessments.
Pupils are also supported to take up leadership roles whether through becoming Sports Leaders or completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
A strong community of belonging ethos permeates every aspect of the school’s development – the passion of the staff came across strongly in their interviews – both their desire to enable every young person to succeed and their commitment to self-improvement.
Teaching staff spoke about recent training they had received on the Blank Levels of Questioning which had given them knowledge of how to use a diverse range of questions in the classrooms to include all children, challenge all children at an appropriate level and promote higher order thinking skills.
They recalled how the training had supported their understanding of four levels of questioning which move from simple, concrete questions to more difficult, abstract questions. Any strategy that supports development of general language and vocabulary will help students access all other curriculum areas, so the impact of this staff training is directly linked to inclusion for all.
School leaders are keenly aware of areas for improvement as identified in their data analysis, School Improvement Priorities and Governing Body discussions. Their determination to engage with staff, embed improvement strategies and make a difference in these areas is evident at all levels.
Leadership Development
Leadership development has been a priority at Pioneer House and this commitment to distributed responsibility has proved very successful in driving improvements.
Staff feel a sense of ownership within their areas of responsibility as well as accountability, as one member of staff told me, “We are encouraged to try new things, pushed out of our comfort zones, but also supported when things go wrong”. I have no doubt that this supportive, collegial work environment where responsibility and authority is shared equally by staff colleagues encourages new ideas to flourish and progress to be made.
Teaching staff discussed the importance of language in encouraging honest and open professional conversations. Lesson Observations have become lesson visits and an opportunity to share good practice.
Teaching Assistants report a close working relationship with teachers. They feel valued as professionals and there is strong partnership working in place. Support staff are given access to lesson plans beforehand so that they can prepare children by pre-teaching vocabulary for instance which increases their ability to access the learning. This might be particularly relevant for pupils with limited experiences and a deprived background.
Teaching Assistants report that they work mainly within the classroom and the school has an ethos of including pupils wherever possible through targeted support that might be given by the teacher themselves rather than the support assistant. In line with recognised good practice, interventions are targeted, personalised to pupil needs, and their impact is regularly monitored. In this way withdrawal from the classroom is limited and different pupil needs are supported within the classroom.
Strong Pastoral Support
One of the changes at Pioneer House in recent years has been the development of Accessing the Community and Preparation for Adulthood curriculums in KS4/5. The evidence given demonstrated that this approach, together with associated teaching strategies, have supported students to be more confident, be able to solve their own problems, engage with their community and environment, welcome new experiences, build social skills, express themselves with confidence and enjoy learning.
There is evidence of very strong pastoral support at Pioneer House including rigorous safeguarding arrangements.
Strong partnerships exist between Pioneer House and a range of external specialist agencies and organisations to support and advise teaching staff on strategies for e.g., Autism or Social & Emotional difficulties.
A detailed Accessibility Plan is available on the school website and indicates a clear vision for improvement.
Our Assessor added, “I was hugely impressed by the commitment of Pioneer House to the wellbeing of the whole school community – pupils, parents and staff. The amount of work they have put into this area is significant. “
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