
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
44 | SOUTHMEAD PRIMARY SCHOOL
optimism was felt throughout the
school community about the direction
in which we were travelling.
Achieving IQM status
It was at this time that we began the
process of achieving the Inclusion
Quality Mark. We have a high
percentage of SEN students and also
an ASD base and there was a strong
feeling that we were providing an
inclusive curriculum for our pupils that
could be channelled into a formal
inspection process. For the next year
our staff worked extremely hard to
develop and instil this curriculum, and
we were awarded the IQM.
Inclusion is at the heart of all that we
do here at Southmead, both in the
sense of ensuring that all pupils with
SEND are able to access our curriculum
and fulfil their potential, but also in
the wider sense, that all pupils are able
to have an inclusive experience during
their time at school. Over the next
three years, our work with inclusion
developed into a strategy where the
majority of our ASD students were
accessing mainstream education some
of the time during the school day,
and in 2015 the school was awarded
“Centre of Excellence” by the IQM
panel for the work that we had
completed around the school.
Transforming behaviour
Fast-forward 18 months, another
Ofsted inspection later and inclusion
practice was clearly embedded in our
school and underpins all our policies,
procedures and teaching and learning.
Our site is now a very different kind
of place to how it was back in 2011.
Developing our behaviour policy has
been a pivotal part of that change, as
has the creation and development of a
learning mentor role that has segued
into an ELSA role. Back in 2012-13, the
school had a huge number of exclusions
with many learning days lost as a result.
Reading for pleasure:
inspirational spaces
enable our readers to
embark on journeys of
the imagination
Our pond and wildflower
meadow inspires
inquisitive learners
Inclusion is at
the heart of all
that we do
here at
Southmead
“
“
45SOUTHMEAD PRIMARY SCHOOL |
This had been a necessary part of
the school’s journey, however, and
by 2017 that had dropped to single
figures. By working with our extremely
vulnerable children, SEND and SEMH
children, we have been able to ensure
that we acknowledge the issues and
problems that they are facing and
that we tackle these together. Our
ELSA checks in with children as they
come into school, ensuring a smooth
transition from home to the classroom.
She works with our vulnerable children
throughout the day, supporting and
signposting where necessary. We now
have a dedicated nurture space where
all the children feel welcome; that
provides the necessary calm for our
children, a space to which they can
retreat, to talk, to play and to learn.
Our Fir Room is a place of pride for our
children and an integral part of their
wellbeing in school.
Revamping our behaviour policy was
a high priority and we initially focused
on reducing the amount of leeway the
children had in terms of both high-level
and low-level disruption. We wanted
to ensure that all our children would
take responsibility for their behaviour
and that instead of being a punitive
structure, it would be a reflective
and redeeming process. Slowly this
vision has begun to be borne out in
reality, with children becoming more
reflective and taking ownership of their
own actions. We have used external
training, as well as borough-led
sessions on behaviour management, to
empower and upskill our staff so that
they are confident to tackle any issues
that arise; as standards rise it is clear
that the school is moving on.
When we had our IQM inspection
in September 2017, the inspector
felt that the work we were doing
warranted us applying for Flagship
School status. Our latest inspection
took place last month and to our great
delight and pride, we were awarded
the Flagship School status for inclusion.
Our work with inclusion continues, but
we find ourselves in a place where we
have the foundations to ensure that
no matter what, we now have in place
the necessary structures and skills to
ensure that we can give our children
the inclusive curriculum that every
childdeserves.
We now have
a dedicated
nurture space
where all the
children feel
welcome
“
“
The Fir Room – a
dedicated space for
children’s wellbeing