
3BOWMANSGREEN PRIMARY SCHOOL |
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE
to assist children with emotional
difficulties and undiagnosed special
educational needs. Our curriculum
is tailored to supplement this, with
outdoor learning, school animals, a
nurture room and forest school.
As with all schools, it is essential
to get our harder-to-reach families
through the door. We have an open-
door policy, meaning that even if
people drop in, we remain accessible.
Regular meetings with parents help
them to support their children with
their academic work as well as their
emotional and mental health needs.
We have also run a programme of
parent workshops that focus on
different parts of the curriculum.
This year, we launched our new
school website and app, designed to
easily and frequently signpost and
disseminate information and news.
Many of our parents are worried about
online safety, so we have instigated a
workshop on this too. This dialogue
promotes a sense of community and
means that everyone is involved.
The challenges of our local
area
One of the main challenges we face,
much like many schools in our area,
is our status as a fringe school. As
we are classed as outer London, we
do not receive the additional funding
that is given to inner-city schools.
Our proximity to this area, as we are
only about three kilometres away
from being classified as inner city,
means that teachers can earn higher
salaries by moving just down the
road. Thismakes the recruitment and
retention of the best staff a particular
challenge.
More generally, the demographics of
our area have changed significantly.
Whereas once there was very little
movement of residents, the area has
become much more transient, with an
influx of working professionals coming
into the area and longer-established
families moving out. This has led to a
change in expectations from parents,
as they have become more discerning.
Much like with our teachers, parents
have a range of schools they can
choose from, so it is essential that
we demonstrate our benefits. When
I first arrived at the school, one of my
priorities was to stabilise staff turnover
and to demonstrate clearly, to both
parents and staff, what our school
could offer.
To ensure we maintain our progress,
we have designed a two-year school
improvement plan. Our priorities are
not likely to change significantly,
and we are focusing on continuing
to improve the quality of teaching
and learning. We have managed to
improve student outcomes significantly
over the last two years, and it is great
for both the pupils and their parents to
see these results. We are also looking
to develop our middle and senior
leaders to fortify this improvement and
ensure that we can continue to grow
and improve.
As with all
schools, it is
essential to
get our
harder-to-
reach families
through the
door
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All pupils benefit from
weekly music lessons,
including EYFS