Archbishop Sumner Achieves Centre of Excellence Again

Easy as ‘ABC’

The schools overarching vision and mission is expressed by their strap line “Achieve, Believe, Serve” (ABC). This is a on display throughout the school and on school newsletters and documents and is something that is well known and understood and owned by pupils, staff and parents who describe the school as a family.

Meeting Covid Challenge Head On

The Head has been working at Archbishop Sumner Primary School for five years – three as Deputy and two as Head. She followed a long serving, popular and successful Headteacher who had left the school in good condition and handed over an outstanding (Ofsted 2014) school that was moving forward at a pace. The new Head took over and then the Covid pandemic hit! This was not the ideal way to start a new Headship, but it played to the new Head’s strengths. She said it was very hard but with her team she was able to get things in order to meet the pandemic head on.

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Inspiring and Dynamic

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She told me about the way the school operated during the two lockdowns and the intervening issue of running a school of bubbles and staff shortages as many were hit by Covid. It has been a whirlwind and like nothing that any Headteacher should or could have had to deal with. However, her staff and governors, supported by the Local Authority and Diocese pulled together and not only kept the school open and working but also managed to move forward with their priorities. She has a lot to be proud of.

Outward Facing

The Headteacher is not someone who will ‘suffer in silence’ and is confident to seek advice and support from a wide network of people including the Brixton Learning Collaborative Cluster. She has good relationships with the Local Authority and Diocese and other Headteachers across the Borough and beyond. Governors are also very supportive and are very good at their jobs. They did support her throughout Covid and were mindful of her wellbeing. The Head is very proud of the fact that the school is outward facing and is willing to learn and collaborate with others.

Empowering Pupils

The school have many different Pupil Voice groups, these groups that included: the Faith, School Council, Mental Health Ambassadors, School Council to name but a few. The Mental Health Ambassadors had prepared a short presentation, and this was followed by an opportunity for me to question them on their role. The groups presentation was all about how they learn to release their emotions and they had lots of techniques they learned that can help children and adults. These are positive ways of releasing emotions and include a worry box and mediation assemblies and noticing the wonders of nature and by talking things through with trusted adults. They spoke about the assemblies led by the Chaplin on meditation which they found useful.

Parental Praise

Parents shared how fantastic the school is, and how they are extremely proud of the fact that it is multi-cultural, multifaith and multilingual. They told me that great efforts were made to include everyone. The PFSA (Parents and Friends of the School) Group is important, not only for supporting the school by raising much needed funds but even more importantly because it encapsulates community support. The PFSA is very inclusive and diverse and crosses all social classes. New members are warmly welcomed, and the group have considered succession planning for when their children leave for secondary school.

Effective Communication

The parents said that communication with the class teacher is very good. They have teachers email addresses but try to use these sparingly as they are aware of the teacher’s wellbeing. However, the school makes great efforts to get in touch with parents who have asked to speak to the Head or SLT or the class teacher as quickly as possible. Concerns are quickly dealt with. There is a Parent Forum that was set up and they discuss specific issues and consult parents on proposals the school may want to gather feedback on. It is a discussion forum and is well attended by parents who want to be involved in the detail of the workings of the school.

Cultural Capital

The parents went on to tell me that the school provides a huge range of extra-curricular clubs and activities. Music, sport, and arts are important parts of the curriculum and pupils have an opportunity to participate in so many additional experiences. Parents also told me that the school values are ones they can all sign up to even though they are not all practising Christians. The school communicates these really well and the school newsletter is very good at sharing these. They also value the kindness and community support that is part and parcel of the school inclusive ethos.

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 feel free to telephone: 028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm) or email: [email protected] for further details.