St Luke’s C of E Primary School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Purposeful Buzz in the Air
On arriving at St Luke’s, you are warmly welcomed by all. There is a purposeful buzz in the air and pupils and staff start their day in a positive way. The holistic approach at St Luke’s was evident upon arrival with the Headteacher greeting a late pupil by ensuring they had eaten breakfast.
Leaders at St Luke’s face difficult decisions in order to best meet the needs of their pupils due to financial pressures. Pupils are always central to the decisions made and as a result their needs are met well. An example of this is leaders not waiting for finalised paperwork and funding before putting appropriate support in place, ensuring that early intervention is in place for pupils, leading to better outcomes.
St Luke’s is pupil-centred and staff work tirelessly to overcome barriers pupils may face. Leaders pride themselves on starting with a problem and working out what needs to happen to overcome, regardless of resources, and then working out how to make it work for the school.
Holistic Support
Parents speak passionately about St Luke’s and the holistic support leaders offer pupils and their families. All parents our Assessor spoke with referred to the school as a family who welcome everyone with open arms. One parent quoted that “coming to St Luke’s is the best thing that has ever happened to my family”.
Despite the challenges that being a small school can bring, parents love the family feel of the school. They highlight the rich curriculum offer and speak highly of the different activities and broad range of activities on offer. Parents give credit to the personalised approaches that allow their children to reach their potential. Parents are delighted that their children are supported to be themselves and build their self-confidence. It is clear that parents feel well informed and involved in their children’s education. Constructive relationships were highlighted during the meeting, with parents grateful to have a voice and input into their children’s school life, they described staff as ‘going above and beyond’ for their children and always visible at school events.
Leaders are not afraid to have difficult conversations with parents and professionals if needed and always have the needs of the pupil central to decisions that are made. This extends to a shift in culture in supporting staff to have difficult conversations with parents where needed.
It was a pleasure to meet with a group of Year 5 and Year 6 Wellbeing Ambassadors, they were all very keen to tell our Assessor what they think of their school, and all communicated how happy they are at school and how well supported they feel by staff. It was heart-warming to hear pupils speak of how grateful they are to have teachers that “always put smiles on all our faces” and that they “make sure we know how special and unique we are”. It was inspiring to hear the group speak so highly of each other, they were really championing the successes of their peers. During a meeting with teachers, they described creating “mini leaders” and this was very evident when talking to the pupils.
Beaming Smile
It was overwhelmingly evident during our Assessor’s visit to St Luke’s that children experiencing difficulties with transition, confidence, and anxiety are well supported. Therapeutic interventions have been put in place for children on a regular basis and resulted in one child being able to come and meet our Assessor to talk about their experiences at St Luke’s. Throughout the meeting the child had a beaming smile and was able to answer most questions. When having lunch in the dinner hall the child independently approached our Assessor to say hello and show their PE kit.
Members of the school community were keen to meet with our Assessor as they are all extremely proud of the work they do. All staff spoke with a real passion to support their pupils to be the best they can be. Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) speak enthusiastically about their roles and how proud they are of the progress and achievements that pupils make.
When speaking with a group of teachers, one stated “this job isn’t always easy, but it is always worth it”. Teachers described being responsive to the demographic needs of the pupils, including extra curriculum activities. This includes planning school trips that fill gaps that may be apparent in pupils’ home lives. They speak of the importance of this in preparing pupils for secondary school, ensuring they have an equal start.
Inspirational and Motivators
The respect that pupils, parents, and staff have for leaders shone through during the visit at St Luke’s with them being described as inspirational and motivators to all. This sets the culture of the school and all staff spoke to described how they are supportive of each other and how communication between all team members is very effective. A wholesome quote from an LSA was “leaders regularly ask how we are, but when they ask it’s very sincere, not just a passing comment. They really care about how we are.”
St Luke’s is much more than an academic curriculum, pastoral support offered to all pupils is strong and embedded into school culture. There is a strong sense by all that children will make better progress if they are learning from a place of calm and positive wellbeing.
Therapy provision at St Luke’s is fully integrated into provision and therapists support and equip staff to be able to assist learners to reach their potential. Therapists have an open-door policy for staff to ask advice to best support learners. The set-up and environment of the school has been considered carefully and reflects the learning intent for the pupils.
It was very evident from the visit that St Luke’s has a very talented staff group who support pupils effectively through a variety of embedded strategies. A discussion took place with the Leadership Team on the potential for the school to further develop its provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).
Our Assessor added, “It was an absolute privilege to visit St Luke’s and to see all the good work that staff are engaged in. Thank you for preparing the review day so well and taking the time to share your good practice.”
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.