Tanbridge House School, Horsham in West Sussex has achieved the Inclusion Quality Mark’s Inclusive School Award.
The School Ethos
The ethos of the school is exceptional everyday care – care, kindness and achievement. Staff and students talk about the importance of the Tanbridge House community where each student can thrive and develop. Students are happy and confident communicators and are all extremely proud of their school. They spoke highly of school staff and all said that the school was very much about ensuring equality for all.
Fully Inclusive
Provision for pupils with SEND is a strength of the school. The Inclusion Lead and Assistant Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO) ensure that the offer for pupils with SEND is fully inclusive. This is an outward facing team who have great links and partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Sensory Support Team. The Inclusion Team is involved in supporting families, often from Years 4 or 5 and certainly from Year 6. They meet with families and discuss how they will support both the student and the family. Year 6 school visits are a high priority, as is attending EHCP reviews. Transitions both into and out of Tanbridge House School are carefully planned and considered. Year 7’s have an induction day before starting school and when they start the transition support continues with an activity day. All students have careers input right from the time they start in Year 7 through the online programme Unifrog, through to Key Stage 4 when they take part in Careers talks, mock interviews and visits from college providers. SEND students receive a bespoke transition package prior to the whole school transition day. This results in students with SEND being able to successfully access all that Tanbridge House School has to offer from the outset. A focus for this team is on developing training around girls with Autism – this is a growing area within the school population and Leaders have recognised the need to ensure that appropriate training is in place.
Above And Beyond
Teaching Assistants (TA’s) are an essential part of the school’s inclusive offer. They receive training to support pupils with occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and physiotherapy. TA’s have different areas of responsibilities including in areas such as Dyslexia and Dyscalculia – they focus on developing their skills in their areas and they then share it weekly with the Inclusion Team so that everyone is upskilled. The two Higher Level Teaching Assistants spoke passionately about the importance of inclusivity for all schools. TA’s go above and beyond here at Tanbridge House School. They offer a series of clubs throughout the day and after school to help develop students’ confidence, independence and social communication.
A Diversified Curriculum
Equality and diversity have been a focus within the School Development Plan for the past academic year. The Deputy Headteacher and the Assistant Headteacher in charge of promoting equality, have done a lot to diversify the curriculum and ensure that it is right for the school’s context. The curriculum is inclusive – the school believes that outstanding teaching and learning helps to ensure an inclusive curriculum. Leaders have encouraged all departments to look at their curriculum offer and ensure it is inclusive and diverse. The updated curriculum seeks to challenge discrimination and stereotypes. Students learn about the Black Lives Matter movement. The Art Department for example has challenged the Examination Board on its curriculum content and its lack of diversity. Film Studies look at a wide range of representations including teenagers. There is a cultural shift of awareness across the school. Staff have had a variety of training sessions this year on diversifying the curriculum. The school has also introduced Equalities Ambassadors. These are 25 students from Years 7 to 10 all interested in promoting equality – pupils meet fortnightly as a group and meet with SLT termly. They have training with West Sussex County Council and through the PSHE Association and they will be doing an assembly in October for the school community. There is a whole school Cultural Awareness week taking place in July.
Promoting LGBTQ+
Additionally, the Alliance Student Group which is a group of students who meet on a weekly basis to discuss LGBTQ+ issues. The group promotes LGBTQ+ across the school and are preparing to do a whole school assembly in the autumn term. This group had a real focus and students were very engaged in this week’s meeting focus which was on the London Pride parade and the protestors who attended.
Student Voice
Students have a voice at Tanbridge House School. There are various groups through which pupils can voice their feelings and opinions including the Student Voice Group, the Teaching and Learning Focus Group, The Alliance Group and the Eco-Committee. Students complete surveys annually. Results of the student surveys are analysed and followed up through a series of learning walks. The school’s Extended Leadership and Senior Leadership Teams included the views of pupils in the work that was done on differentiation and curriculum development. A new lesson observation sheet was created for this academic year which encourages teachers to focus on how the content of their teaching links into what students can actually do. Lesson observations, learning walks and book scrutiny have a strong focus on student achievement.
Wellbeing Culture
There is a strong culture of wellbeing at THS. Staff feel valued. There is a Wellbeing Committee for staff, which is comprised of staff members from across all areas of the school. Staff say they are very well supported and are aware of whom they can go to if they require wellbeing support. Staff workload is a key priority and staff receive more planning and preparation time than the recommended allowance for teachers. Students told me that their wellbeing is considered. To support student wellbeing, staff run a variety of clubs to support student’s which students greatly appreciate. Students like the rewards programme – the highlight of which is breakfast with the Headteacher and if the students try their very best, they will be rewarded.
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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