Woodhill Primary School in Woolwich, London achieves the Inclusion Quality Mark’s Inclusive School Award with Flagship status.
Context
Woodhill Primary School is quite a large primary school of about 525 pupils on roll. It is part of the Inspire Partnership Trust. They officially became part of the trust in 2017. There have been some changes in the last academic year with the Deputy Head on leave and a new Assistant Headteacher appointment. Since 2018, Woodhill has played a key role in supporting new schools joining the Trust and continues to do so. The school has been recognised as having IQM Centre of Excellence status since 2018. The percentage of free school meals and in receipt of Pupil Premium is larger than average (56.5%). The percentage of pupils for whom English is not their first language is above the national average. The school serves a community of high deprivation, diversity, and mobility. Mobility is high with approximately 150+ pupils starting/leaving each year.
The School is Very Inclusive
The school have worked hard to ensure that they keep going from strength to strength and are very inclusive. This particularly came across when speaking to the Junior Leadership Team and the parents. The parents said that there was real shared support for those who were struggling, not only during lockdown but also those who are still struggling whether this is with their mental health or financially. They were given extra food; a foodbank was set up and delivered to those struggling parents and some basic medical supplies too. The school has set up a ‘Magic Breakfast’ so that everyone can access a decent breakfast in the morning. One of the parents commented that:
‘this school is a safe and caring place to be.’
Another parent said, ‘they treat you as a family here’ and that ‘safety is a priority here’.
The parents said that the school is very inclusive and that there are lots of activities for all the pupils to do and plenty for those pupils with SEND needs too. This school advocates inclusion at its best.
There is Diversity Across the School
The school has made a real effort to ensure that the school community is equipped and feel confident in discussing issues around race, gender, and sexuality. When speaking to the Junior Leadership Team, they discussed how the curriculum has been looked at in terms of the texts that are used in their classes to reflect the diversity across the school. They gave examples of texts that were used and how diversity and stereotypes were challenged. They also said that there were posters around the school on equality and diversity for everyone to see.
The Curriculum
The school invited the Inclusion Leader across the Trust to come and give a presentation to all staff about Inclusion and the role played by all in supporting this. They also invited an external Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Leader who delivered training around the issues. They looked at the texts to be used in school, the curriculum, and the development of the EDI Working Party across the Trust. The DHT explained how the school has been looking at the school’s Anti-Racist Policy and curriculum in a non-biased way. There are now 5 themes in the curriculum which underpin the curriculum.
These are:
• Human Rights
• Peace and Conflict
• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
• Sustainability and development
• Social Justice.
Everyone’s Voice is Heard
They are using different texts for each theme which come from the CLPE. The ideas of the texts to use are shared and discussed with the School Council – many of whom are on the Junior Leadership Team. There is a clear sense of a strong inclusive ethic in the school where everyone’s voice is heard and valued. This is something the school has really worked hard on and should be extremely proud of. There have been discussions with the pupils as to what is racism. Any racism incidents are logged and challenge is done in workshops to address the issues ensuring equality and diversity is at the forefront of what the school does. To focus on diversity and inclusion even further, the school invited an author into school as part of the ‘We are Woodhill event’. At this event, different music, different cultural costumes, and food were experienced and appreciated. It is at this event works are shared from different backgrounds such as poetry readings in different languages to show the real cultural mix and appreciation in the school community. To ensure that the school is equipped and confident to discuss race, gender, and sexuality, they make sure that there are links shared in their assemblies. For example, around diversity and equality, they did a large assembly on Marcus Rashford and what he has done for the community.
The New Behaviour System
When meeting the Junior Leadership Team, they spoke confidently about the new behaviour system and how they feel that it has transformed the ethos of the school. They said it is ‘very inclusive and no matter whatever the pupils’ needs are they are responsible for their own self-regulation and so the class teacher can get on and teach.’ I must say, I was blown away when someone from the Junior Leadership Team spoke so positively and this way about a behaviour system in the school. There is now a focus on the positive language around the behaviour system where the pupils are taking ownership of their own behaviour which was not the case before. There are now mindfulness sessions at lunchtime, draw and talk interventions and two fully trained Mental Health First Aiders and two young people are Mental Health First Aiders to ensure inclusivity.
Wellbeing for All
Two AHT’s in the school delivered an excellent presentation on the ‘Wellbeing for all members of the school community.’ They have looked at the wellbeing part of the curriculum, for example, a book called ‘The Goldfish Boy’ and how to deal with different mental health issues. They also invited Kooth to come into the school to train and speak to the Year 6’s about their services. The school have introduced targeted interventions, such as a social skills group Friends for Life, an Australian based therapeutic intervention. They are also prioritising wellbeing in the school by making sure that the ‘Relational Wellness Charter’ is used and is a ‘live’ document. They have compliment slips in the staff room where staff can fill them out about colleagues, and one is picked out weekly to compliment the staff member which boosts one’s wellbeing. There are robust procedures to support staff with absences and sickness and there is coaching to reduce anxiety, any further absences and support for staff well-being.
Parents are Included
There have been CAMHS sessions set up for parents on a weekly basis and parent workshops on attachment theories, Anxiety, Anger, Family Mental Health and Wellbeing. To ensure inclusivity, for those parents who are unable to attend, video clips are sent out to support the positive parenting around those issues. This has proved to be a great success.
The School’s Journey
The school has come on leaps and bounds and have taken staff, governors, parents, and pupils together on this journey to ensure that Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion is high on the agenda. There has been a lot of intense work done by all where innovative strategies such as the new behaviour system has now become embedded and that the Relational Wellness Charter is a live working document. The staff have worked exceptionally hard on what it means to be inclusive and have achieved some great successes around these targets. The notion of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is not lost to this school.
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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