St. Bede’s Catholic Junior School, Widnes in Cheshire, has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship School status for the first time.
Superbly Inclusive School
St. Bede’s Catholic Junior School is a superbly inclusive, outstanding larger than average Catholic Junior school in the Appleton Village area of Widnes. What stands out very clearly is the pride all staff feel in the way that they engage and work with their peers and the children and their families to meet their needs, often going above and beyond what is expected of them. They achieve this in partnership with families and carers, providing excellent levels of advice and support, evidenced by the staff and the governor spoken to and is seen as an absolute imperative to ensure that all children make rapid progress and are successful in school and beyond. There is very much a family feel within the school, where everyone understands their role but where everyone is approachable and work in collaboration to achieve successful outcomes. Support of each other and collaboration are key to everything that happens at the school to ensure all aspects of well-being for their pupil’s lives are met. The school prides itself on superb pastoral care, actively promoting equality and diversity and is therefore an extremely welcoming, inclusive, and caring school. Everyone at the school is fully committed to maximising the achievement of every child no matter their starting point. The school and their community should be justifiably proud of their success in this respect, where no-one is left out or behind.
Constantly Evolving for Best Practice
In terms of inclusion St Bede’s Catholic Junior School is an outstanding school in every sense of the word. A setting where the commitment to superb care, nurture and support are at the very core of its inclusive approach. It is a school that is in a constant state of review, evolving its educational and inclusive practices for the benefit of everyone in the school community. Pupils enjoy participating in school as it is a happy, friendly, stimulating, and vibrant learning environment that focusses on helping everyone to develop their potential, whatever that might be and helping to ensure they will become positive members of their community and society. The school’s actions to care for its pupils is superb, supported by the evidence provided by the school, and from discussions during the review. Everyone involved buys into the superb inclusive ethos and works hard to ensure no one is left out or behind, including families and the community. Inclusion occurs naturally and is ingrained in every aspect of the school due entirely to the efforts of the staff, led by the inspirational and aspirational Headteacher and her Leadership Team.
Commitment to Pupil Success
Pupils are at the heart of an encouraging and challenging environment where everyone recognises and celebrates differences, communicates the importance of learning, and believes that everyone can achieve. What is evident and apparent when visiting St Bede’s is the commitment to helping all children succeed underpinned by extremely positive relationships with parents and the local community. To ensure this happens the school’s Senior Leaders continue to evolve and develop their skills, ensuring the needs of all pupils are met. Everything undertaken with and for their pupils is of the highest quality, so that learning is focused on the individual needs and abilities of pupils. Where every member of staff strives to offer each pupil the chance to achieve their full potential, and give them the foundations for future learning, and for success in life.
School at the Heart of the Community
Discussions with members of staff, parents and the Inclusion Governor proved extremely useful in confirming that the school continues to meet the criteria for all elements of the IQM award. Conversations throughout the day focussed on key aspects of the school allowing an extremely positive and extremely inclusive picture of the school to emerge. The passion of all staff met during the day in both formal and informal settings shone through and was clearly demonstrated in the way that they work with each other, children, and families, in a true partnership with pupils, families, the community and of course with themselves. It is clear from this review that St Bede’s is at the heart of their community and is a true community hub. Superb levels of collaboration are the reason why the school is so successful alongside the fantastic teamwork displayed by the staff who naturally promote equality and diversity and see their educational roles within the school as a vocation. They should be justifiably proud of their success in this respect.
Positive Pupils
Participating in and listening to the whole schools Rejoice in Song assembly it was uplifting to hear all pupils and staff singing together in union. It was a joyous start to the day that set the scene for the rest of the review. Taking part in a Learning walk allowed access to see the pupils being taught and fully engaging in their learning often with a smile on their face. They were able to explain what they were learning and why and were keen to talk about the school. The staff spoken to were also clearly invested in their teaching and spoke positively about their experience in the school. This was echoed at lunchtime when I was able to talk to pupils and staff on the playground.
Parental and Partner Support
The conversation with parents was very useful in confirming the school’s inclusivity. They were extremely appreciative of the way that the staff across the school support their children and themselves and they felt that the relationship and level of trust between them and they way that they work together is superb and is the reason why their children attend the school. A fantastic accolade for the staff and their work with families and the community. Everyone involved with the school should be extremely proud of what they continue to achieve, and the emphasis placed on ensuring everyone is nurtured and included.
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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