St Anne’s (Stanley) C of E Primary and Nursery School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence status.
‘Many Hearts Make a School’
‘Many hearts make a school’, is a truly wonderful and accurate way to describe St Anne’s (Stanley) C of E Primary and Nursery School. The message to pupils is that; you just need to be you, the very best version of yourself. If you talk to any member of staff in the school, they know the children. Staff enjoy working at the school, they stay and stay and stay. Staff send their own children to the school, another testament to the quality of the provision and the very special learning environment. Some are ex-pupils themselves.
The school has a physical presence in the local community and goes above and beyond to serve the families. Ex-pupils come back and visit to seek advice and share their news. Children go out and engage with the local community. It has an excellent reputation for serving the same families for generations. The staff cares for and nurtures the children, providing a very good education and a safe, warm social space for children to interact and grow. There is a deep sense of belonging; once a part of the St Anne’s family, you will always be part of the St Anne’s family.
Pride in Their School
Our Assessor’s visit to the school kicked off with a fantastic tour provided by a group of wonderful Year 6 students who exuded confidence and pride in their school. As the group passed each corridor display the pupils spoke about what each represented and how they impacted the daily life in the school. They pointed out the Golden Rules poster; the 3 rules which underpin behaviour in the school; always show respect, use good manners, listen and follow instructions. They explained how staff talk about these in assemblies and discuss their meanings in class. Numerous displays around the school celebrate the learning of each year group. Inspiring quotes on display are, ‘I was told all about choosing love and hope rather than hate and fear’. On stopping by the growth mindset display, the students added, “We always believe in ourselves.”
The school has a strong Christian ethos and within this, all faiths and none are represented in the school. Children have the opportunity to not attend church services or to attend and not participate. The vicar welcomes all faiths and children are able to pray in their own way or simply have a spiritual experience. Pupils are aware and have a high level of respect, consciousness and understanding of different faiths.
Staff Go The Extra Mile
Staff at St Anne’s go the extra mile. The school notices and responds to the needs of the community it serves. Within the area, there are pockets of high deprivation. The school is situated in the area of Old Swan, in the east of Liverpool, with 50% of the ward falling into the most deprived 10% nationally and 26.4% of children living in poverty. St Anne’s is committed to giving the pupils much-needed cultural capital. Some pupils have not left the local area so even a visit to the Albert Dock is widening their horizons. Each area of the curriculum has enrichment activities embedded. This is a clear strength of the school. Sustainable community links result in activities which are integral to the curriculum and designed for learning, bringing classroom concepts to life and creating memorable moments for the children.
Year 1 pupils were falling over themselves to speak about Professor Bubble’s visit to the school and the ‘wow’ moment in science when a Vitamin C tablet, “exploded and shot upwards like a rocket.” The learning this activity afforded has stayed in their long-term memory. Another ‘wow’ moment then followed. Our Assessor was blown away by their explanation as to why a similar tablet would not behave in this way in the stomach as a result of the different conditions in the body.
The pupils explained how much they learned from a farm visit to the school; how the zookeeper had a very tired animal which, after some discussion, they identified as a skunk. A Year 1 pupil said, “I learned that skunks dig to find food and when they get nervous, they release a smell so predators run away.” Just another example of deep learning, high levels of spoken communication and the use of sophisticated vocabulary.
The children at St Anne’s ooze confidence and can express themselves well using sophisticated language. A member of staff explained, “we talk a lot to our children, that’s why they are so confident.” Staff and students enjoy excellent relationships with each other and with their peers. Children pick up that the staff have so much respect for each other.
All Given the Opportunity to Succeed
Inclusion and the development of the whole child are at the heart of the St Anne’s philosophy. All are welcomed and all are given the opportunity to succeed and achieve their potential. This has been supported through staff restructuring to include a non-class based Deputy Headteacher with overall responsibility for safeguarding as well as increased release hours for the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) with responsibility for inclusion.
Inclusivity at St Anne’s is spearheaded from the top. The Headteacher lives out the values of the school. She has a clear vision and is supported in its implementation by a strong senior and middle leadership team. The school works hard to build relationships with parents and families to ensure that all children can succeed. “There is underpinning nurture and support”, the school’s School Improvement Plan (SIP) states.
Inclusion in the school is about the staff as well as the students. The wellbeing of staff is a priority for leaders. The school is outward looking and welcomes external quality assurance as part of the cycle of school improvement. St Anne’s will often be ahead of the game; it is one of the first schools to embrace new national initiatives. Leaders will then go on to fine tune and develop these so that they become a strength of the school. The enthusiasm and passion staff have for teaching shines out for all to see; it is inspiring and infectious. Our Assessor hardly needed to ask questions when they met with a group of class teachers. The teachers were effusive, full of wonderful and inspiring stories of the children at St Anne’s. They showed our Assessor, with heartwarming pride, the amazing progress the children in their classes have made. This was clearly evidenced in their books.
Nurturing and Inclusive Environment
During the IQM visit, staff shared with our Assessor some wonderful case studies of how the nurturing and inclusive environment at St Anne’s has had a dramatic impact on the progress and personal development of some key pupils. In particular, the introduction of the Thrive approach is beginning to have a real impact. A young person on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) register began the year expressing negative language and strong reluctance around reading and writing. Using the Thrive approach staff worked hard to change this language, providing modelling, empathy and choice. The resulting change of mindset has led to the child producing fantastic extended writing and a blossoming enjoyment of learning. As a result of emotional coaching, the child is now able to articulate the help they need.
In Nursery, the change of language using the Thrive approach has had enormous benefits. Children are increasingly able to identify what they need and communicate these to staff. One particular pupil has made 2 years of progress in language development in 6 months as a result of daily, quality conversations with staff.
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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