John Bunyan Achieves The Inclusive School Award Again

Inclusion Is Evident

John Bunyan Primary School and Nursery is an excellent example of inclusive practice. Inclusion is evident in all aspects of the school’s work and there are good links with the community to offer support for families. The Headteacher works effectively with her leadership team, the Governing Body and the Local Teaching School Alliance to ensure that all staff have similar aspirations for children at the school. This is a large primary school that serves a mixed community. Most pupils live close to the school in an area of mainly local authority or housing association accommodation, some of which is owner occupied.

The School Vision

The school encourages all children to “Be Fair, Be Caring and Be Respectful and Make Great Choices.”? Their vision and values are dedicated to doing things consistently well and believing that children can succeed and that staff can determine children’s life chances. Consistently good quality teaching is focused on learning objectives, high expectations of everyone and effective feedback and assessment to ensure maximum progress. The school pays meticulous attention to systematically implementing policies and practices which ensure that all of the children are kept safe with all staff trained to implement these practices. The school provides a challenging, stimulating and aspirational curriculum delivered in a calm, supportive learning environment where all pupils are encouraged and enabled to achieve their best and to become independent resilient learners. Pupils have made good progress from low starting points and all staff in the school are committed to ensuring individual progress continues to reflect the hard work that has been devoted to developing a well thought through curriculum which offers opportunities for every child to progress.

Leadership is Strong

The Headteacher demonstrates strong, caring leadership and she is visible and accessible to the parents, staff and children and takes a lead in ensuring the ethos and climate in the school is calm and purposeful. The SENDCO also supports teachers well in providing advice, support and resources to ensure all children have the learning they need. The school uses the Trauma Perceptive Practice approach which offers support for the whole child in understanding their needs. Good performance management systems have been effective in focusing teachers and TAs on pupil progress and moving the school forward. The system ensures there are common themes related to the school development plan and personal development opportunities that relate to whole school improvement. The SLT is committed to raising standards and providing staff and pupils with the best possible environment and opportunities. They recognise that more still needs to be achieved to ensure more able children reach their full potential to attain greater depth.

The School’s Resources

There are many visitors to the school and visits connected to topic work that make the curriculum more relevant to the children. Technology, art, music and outdoor learning are well supported. The Wilderness Project, ‘making the great outdoors accessible to all,’ has been beneficial to 6 disillusioned boys using the Forest School’s area over an 8-week period. The EYFS and KS1 children use the area for risk-taking and problem-solving. There are plans in place to improve the Forest School area to make it even more accessible to more children in the school. The cooking area is used effectively by all children and the Art room provides a space for groups to work creatively in a dedicated room. The studio offers a bespoke environment for dance and music and a peripatetic musician was taking a small group of children in the room during the assessment. The sensory room supports individuals and small groups of children who need a specialised and calming space. The school library has been upgraded and children are able to use the library systems to withdraw books and to find the books that they need. It was being well used during the lunch break with Year 5 children supporting children in KS1 and the school’s librarian was in great demand to help children and to guide them to the correct sections that pupils requested.

Communication is Great

Excellent work is carried out with families, pupils and the community generally to ensure that children are cared for and valued. There are good communication systems that give parents and carers confidence in the school and in its support for their child’s needs. Email, texting, newsletters and parent consultations as well as one-to-one conversations keep parents regularly informed about their child’s education and needs. Parents can see their child’s progress through the online portal Tapestry from Nursery to Year 2.?Good use has also been made of Twitter recently to communicate with parents and it is hoped that this can be extended in the future.?Parents are welcomed into Early Years and KS1 on Monday mornings for Stay and Play sessions, and in KS2 every Friday. Foundation Stage parents are also able to join a scheduled reading session in the school library with their class each week.

Positive Relationships

John Bunyan Primary School and Nursery is an example of a school committed to meet the needs of its children and is outstanding in its commitment to and implementation of inclusive practice. The school is dedicated to being present and available for children, colleagues and parents. It seeks considerate, professional and respectful behaviours with all members of the school community and it ensures a safe school environment by maintaining positive relationships. The school provides a challenging, stimulating and aspirational curriculum delivered in a calm, supportive learning environment where all pupils are encouraged and enabled to achieve their best and to become independent resilient learners. High expectations have a huge impact on attainment, progress and wellbeing. ?

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.