St Matthew’s CE Primary School in Hillingdon has achieved the Inclusive School Award for the fourth time.
Committed to Improving Outcomes
St Matthew’s has had a challenging two years following some instability in the Senior Leadership Team in July 2018. The school had an Ofsted inspection in October 2018 which resulted in an RI outcome. The Ofsted team recognised the significant work the recently appointed Acting Head had undertaken to stabilise the school following a turbulence in leadership. A new leadership team has been established following a restructuring process. The restructuring and filling of posts took some time to complete which led to the inclusion team only being fully established in January 2020. It was evident from the meetings organised during the day that the new team are passionate about inclusion and are committed to improving the outcomes for the children.
Discussing Good Practice
The school is a member of The Frays Academy Trust and it was evident from the review that the school benefits from “the interaction and experience of a large body of inclusion professionals from across our local area.” The Trust has established the Inclusion Partnership Board which is made up of the Trust’s SENCOs, Inclusion Leads and Heads. The board meets twice a term to discuss good practice, recent guidance and next steps for improvement to ensure all schools across the Trust provide high-quality inclusive provision. The Trust Inclusion Strategy Manager for the MAT contributed to the review and commented that St Matthew’s has “developed its inclusive practice” and is “very keen to support other schools’ provision….open to visitors……looking at training staff and improving skills.” The school is clearly committed to being part of a partnership and supporting others. The importance of “transparency and working with parents” was also identified as an important element of the new school team’s focus by the Inclusion Strategy Manager.
A Clear Vision
The new leadership team at St Matthew’s has established a clear vision and understands the importance of the values that reflect the Christian element of the school. Staff are committed to the vision of the school and have valued the opportunity to develop their skills through training and coaching. The school has benefitted from the range of expertise across the Trust that leaders have accessed. The new systems that the Inclusion Lead has established has led to early identification of need and the implementation of appropriate responses. As staff commented, St Matthew’s is a “wonderful bubble of calm” off the local high street.
Commitment to their Community
The school team has responded to the COVID-19 closure with a range of actions that reflect the commitment to their community. The office team has focused on supporting families with accessing food hampers and then emailing FSM vouchers once the system was established. The Family Support Worker has visited families to ensure they were feeling supported. The school has worked closely with the church community to access food banks and provide food parcels where necessary. The teaching team has focused on developing online learning for the children using the DB Primary Platform. Parents have been offered extra support to help them understand the proposed learning activities. There has been a “worship for the whole family every day and on a Wednesday led by the minister.” The school team has consistently considered how it could include all members of its community at this challenging time.
A Journey of Improvement
Governors have begun to improve their skills of accountability and are developing confidence in their own abilities to offer challenge and support to the team. St Matthew’s is a school on a journey of improvement. It was evident from the Review meetings that inclusion is at the heart of that journey and that it still reflects the ideals of IQM.
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.