St Felix Catholic Primary School has achieved the Inclusive School Award.
Welcoming, Warm and Supportive
St Felix is a Roman Catholic Primary School in Haverhill, Suffolk and is one of five faith schools in a Multi-Academy Trust (Our Lady of Walsingham) within a wide geographical area. Our Assessor found it to be a welcoming, warm and supportive setting with a big heart. Inclusion is articulated in alignment with the Christian values of respect and tolerance which are central to all areas of school life. The school ethos is one where individuals are valued and nurtured and all pupils are encouraged to recognise, value and celebrate each other’s individual talents and achievements, whatever the starting point.
The leadership team recognise the unique characteristics of the community it serves and this is reflected in the ‘family’ values and the school’s vision of supporting everyone “to have a role to play and a story to tell which is worth hearing.” A high percentage of children in the school have English as an Additional Language (EAL) and the different nationalities and languages of community members are valued and celebrated.
Encourage Children to be Resilient
Leaders believe that all pupils can make progress and encourage children to be resilient and engage with learning without fear of mistakes. This helps them gain in confidence through becoming independent learners. Recent Continuous Development (CPD) has focused on adaptive teaching, designed to reduce barriers to learning. This training has included support staff and a cribsheet of the Teaching Assistant (TA) role within lessons has been developed as a result. The Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher are currently involved in training in Maximising the Impact of TAs (MITA project). This will ultimately result in a more highly skilled team of support staff who are effectively deployed to support teaching and learning. Staff are increasingly encouraged to identify their strengths and work with these in school.
Children on the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) register have Individual Pupil Plans and access to external agencies who can offer advice to supporting adults. The leadership team are confident that by utilising the services of Specialist Educational Support, identification of needs is accurate and individual needs are met.
Happy, Supportive and Safe Place
St Felix is a happy, supportive and safe place where adults’ wellbeing is prioritised and pupils are nurtured. As a Church school, collective worship allows for discussion about morals and ethics and pupils play an active part in cultural festivals and holidays. The Parish Priest is the school’s Wellbeing Governor and visits the site most days. All the children spoken to said they liked their school and were happy here. They were also able to explain that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility. Staff model and promote behaviour and attitudes which support understanding of the importance of positive relationships.
The school place a high value on the development of reading – children are encouraged to engage with high quality texts and discover the joy of stories and dramatisations. This is supported by specific work on phonics (using Little Wandle), opportunities to enjoy time in classroom book corners and library areas and involvement with “Get Suffolk Reading”. The school have also worked with the Travelling Shakespeare Company and Bury Theatre Royal to bring text to life, enabling access to all. Our Assessor heard evidence from staff and pupils that this has fuelled an interest in books, drama and reading in general and is having a positive impact.
Transition for all new children coming into Early Years is a particular strength of the school. As well as general good practice examples of visits to previous settings, parents’ evening, new intake mornings, induction pack and so on, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Lead demonstrated a nuanced understanding of a robust core offer, recognising the need for support and modelling in transitioning from one part of the school to another and from one activity to another. Transition between classes, key stages and schools is also well-managed to ensure that pupils are aware of and prepared for the next stage of their learning.
Strengths Focus
In November 2022, OFSTED judged the school as having serious weaknesses and requiring significant improvement. This has left its mark on staff and a residue of fragility was apparent during this visit. However, an extract from the OFSTED letter of 15/9/23 following a monitoring visit states “leaders have ensured that staff are getting better at adapting learning activities in general. This means that pupils with SEND are able to complete work given to them with more independence. Leaders accept that there is more to do though to ensure that pupils with SEND have adapted activities which are sufficiently aspirational and specifically matched to their precise needs. This needs to happen for them to achieve as well as they could. This is an area that leaders have rightly identified as a priority.”
In discussion it was acknowledged by leaders that turning towards a strengths focus, maintaining ongoing professional dialogue/reflection and understanding inclusion as a journey and a process, rather than a destination, offers a platform for successful next steps. The Headteacher is aware that there are a number of IQM Centres of Excellence in Suffolk with significant areas of expertise from which to learn.
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.
• Our inaugural National Inclusion Conference will take place on the 27th November, for further details click here.