Colegrave Primary School

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Colegrave Primary School's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Colegrave Primary School is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.colegrave.newham.sch.uk

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

30 | COLEGRAVE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Tahreem Shaz-Vennus,

headteacher

All senior leaders and outstanding

practitioners lead by example

It was March 25, 2013, and Tahreem Shaz-Vennus was

nearing the end of her head teacher interview. She had

joined Colegrave Primary School, Stratford, as deputy head

teacher 18 months earlier, during which time the school had

been judged as “good” during its February Ofsted inspection.

But now it had all come down to the chair of governors’ final

question: “Where do you see Colegrave in five years?” Tahreem

replied without hesitation: “Colegrave will be an outstanding

school.” Transport yourself forward five years and the proof

lies in the Ofsted report: “This is an outstanding school. The

inspirational leadership of the head teacher is a key factor in the

significant improvements that the school has made since the

previous inspection.”

The word “journey” is overused when discussing how aspirational outcomes are

achieved from a given starting point, but in our case, no word is more apt. To

move the school from “good” to “outstanding” has been a long and oft-difficult

process of change and development. Supported and challenged in equal measure

by a knowledgeable governing body, this journey began by restructuring the senior

leadership team. I needed individuals who shared my ambition, who could lead by

example and who believed that “good” wasn’t good enough for our pupils. Why

shouldn’t our children achieve as highly as those in the best state schools in the

country? Recognising exceptional talent already within the school, I promoted staff

who shared the same blend of qualities – a complete intolerance of mediocrity; the

ability to inspire, lead and support all stakeholders; and the capacity to hold staff

REPORT CARD

COLEGRAVE PRIMARY SCHOOL

»Head teacher: Tahreem Shaz-

Vennus

»Founded in 1890

»Based in Stratford, Newham

»Type of school: Three-form-

entry community school

»No. of pupils: 630

»No. of staff: 100

»Resource provision for children

with profound and multiple

learning disabilities

»Lead school for SCITTELS – an

outstanding teacher-training

provider for east London

schools

»Our pupils performed during

the NHS sequence of the

opening ceremony for the

2012 London Olympics

»www.colegrave.newham.sch.uk

Colegrave Primary

School

31COLEGRAVE PRIMARY SCHOOL |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

accountable. Above all, I now had a

team who would never waver from

their core purpose – to put the children

at the heart of all we do, and to

ensure that our high expectations for

teaching, learning and pupil outcomes

were met daily.

These objectives could never be

realised without the right teaching

and support personnel. Committed

and driven colleagues who shared

my vision for the school stayed

and flourished while talented new

staff were recruited. Teachers with

ambition and leadership qualities were

promoted to middle leader, either as

year lead or subject lead, and support

staff were assigned roles suited to their

specific skill set. In addition, new roles

– such as specialist PE, performing

arts and “English as an additional

language” teachers – were created

by utilising sports and pupil premium

funds. Running parallel to this period

of change was the establishment of an

additional resource provision base – a

“very special environment”, according

to our June 2017 Ofsted report – that

has given our pupils with even the

most complex needs the opportunity

to thrive as a result of first-class

teaching by staff specialising in SEND.

None of this happened overnight,

of course, and I didn’t always get it

right, but identifying and retaining the

right person in the right role has been

fundamental to our success.

Conquering the community

consciousness

Getting it right from within is one

thing – how the school is perceived

by the wider community is another.

Despite our “good” Ofsted grading

in 2012, we were by no means the

first choice for many families living

within our catchment. Newly opened

academies and free schools were

attracting many prospective and

current pupils. Determined to reverse

this trend, I began by revitalising

“Brand Colegrave”. A refreshed logo

and updated vision statement – “At

Colegrave, whatever a child’s mind can

conceive and believe, it can achieve”

– were followed by the introduction

of a smarter, more distinctive uniform.

Although we relied upon some of the

school budget to initially subsidise

the cost of the uniform to parents, At Colegrave, all children

achieve highly, regardless

of disadvantages or

disabilities

UNICEF Rights Respecting

School – a right to play

At Colegrave,

whatever a

child’s mind

can conceive

and believe, it

can achieve

“

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

32 | COLEGRAVE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Iconsidered this money well spent –

we were now immediately identifiable,

and pupils were proud to wear

Colegrave’s colours. Since pride is a

catalyst for high standards, a greater

emphasis was placed on the aesthetics

of our learning environment – phase

by phase, classrooms were remodelled

and high-quality, attractive communal

and class displays showcased the best

of what our pupils could achieve.

Crucially, a relaunched website and a

strong social media presence enabled

us to tell our story in a way that we

hadn’t before – and at the heart of

our story lies a rich and engaging

curriculum.

A creative curriculum

Attainment and progress in the core

subjects have always been a school

priority. For this reason, English, maths

and science are led by members of the

senior leadership team, who, through

effective training, team-teaching and

monitoring, have successfully raised

standards in teaching and learning. A

school’s curriculum is so much more

than the core subjects, however, and

we knew that we could never achieve

outstanding if our “afternoons” –

foundation subjects – did not match

up to our “mornings” – maths and

English. Determined to make the

national curriculum work for us,

rather than us work for it, a thematic,

skills-based curriculum was written

and developed with the interests of

our pupils in mind. Traditional topics

such as “The Great Fire of London”

and “The Egyptians” now sit alongside

unique, specially designed topics

such as “Banksy”

– a year 5 art and

science unit based around the elusive

street artist – and

“The Body Shop”,

which sees year 4 pupils become

young entrepreneurs by designing,

making and selling their own soap.

Outcomes such as these provide

a focus for each topic, and so our

children regularly have the opportunity

to hold assemblies, participate in

debates and showcase their work

through exhibitions. Increased parental

engagement has been a rewarding

outcome of these end-of-term events.

Doing right by our pupils

Interwoven throughout our curriculum

is Unicef’s Rights Respecting Schools

Award, the focus on which was

launched two years ago. Academic

success is important, but schools

also have a duty to educate the

whole child. By promoting the

values of respect, dignity and non-

discrimination, the initiative has guided

our pupils to have a strong moral

compass. They are aware of their

rights, and they speak passionately

about injustice where they see it.

During Children in Need Day earlier

this year, I overheard one of our

year 6 pupils say to another, “If one

child does not have access to their

rights, then we have all failed.” It has

been an eventful journey towards

“outstanding”, with many successes

along the way, but nothing has made

me more proud to be head teacher of

our wonderful school than this.

Retaining the

right person in

the right role

has been

fundamental

to our success

“

We aim for the stars and

nothing less

www.colegrave.newham.sch.uk

This article was sponsored by Colegrave Primary School. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from The Rt Hon Theresa May MP.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

This foreword from the then Prime Minister appeared in the 2018/19 Parliamentary Review.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister