Southmead Primary School

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Southmead 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 Southmead Primary School is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Blunkett signature Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett
Pickles signature Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.southmead.wandsworth.sch.uk

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
42 | HAIMO PRIMARY SCHOOL
London Mayor’s Office – empowering
them to take control of their own
affairs, their lives and the lives
ofothers. Children have experienced
preparing planning proposals,
budgeting and spending with value for
money in mind: all useful life skills.
All of their work culminates in ‘Haimo
Parliament Meetings’ held at the local
council chambers where children come
together to meet and discuss issues in
school and how best to proceed. After
having a roundtable discussion and
bouncing ideas off one another, they
then report to other members of their
class. The children also elect a mayor
and deputy mayor who represent the
school at events.
Knowing limits, working to
strengths
Some of our children’s parents have
had poor experiences of school
and getting them involved in their
children’s education is not always
an easy task. Nonetheless, we are
breaking down barriers and have come
a long way. Parents are now more
aware that they can come to us for
anything, and we will accommodate
them without judgement. Additionally,
we have developed a lively and
thriving PTA, and we now have
parents competing to be on the
governingbody.
We have addressed the culture of
confrontational behaviour in the
playground by children and their
families through positive behavioural
interventions based on respect and
positive relationships. Our children take
responsibility for their behaviour and
know how to resolve conflict based
on restorative approaches within the
caring ethos of the school.
Despite the progress we have made,
there is still an issue regarding equality
of opportunity. There are still too many
children let down by their background,
poverty and lack of funding. Strategies
have to be implemented to support
these families, as right now they are
lacking the stability necessary to take
full advantage of what our school has
to offer.
Society’s focus on the continual statutory
testing of primary children across the
year groups and the culture which holds
that one test can fully measure academic
excellence is a challenge. We are creative
with our curriculum in order to ensure
our children go out, interact with
the world and encounter meaningful
experiences in balance with ensuring
we achieve the set national standards
measured through the tests.
Although these challenges exist up
and down the country, I believe that
schools like ours will make a significant
contribution to opening opportunities
for children. “The Haimo Way” will
continue long into the future, as it is
deeply embedded in the school culture
and is robust enough to ensure that
our basic ethos will stay alive and well.
This caring and homely environment,
combined with our commitment to
broadening horizons, will help our
children achieve what they want
to achieve. For that reason, I am
profoundly optimistic.
We are creative
with our
curriculum in
order to ensure
our children go
out, interact
with the world
and encounter
meaningful
experiences
“
“
Always striving higher
43SOUTHMEAD PRIMARY SCHOOL |
PRIMARY EDUCATION
Headteacher Sarah Parry
Southmead children are
“Proud to Belong”
Southmead Primary School is a two-form entry community
school located in Southfields, an area of high mobility
and deprivation. Historically, it has always had a high
proportion of children with special educational needs, as well
as having a dedicated space for children with autism spectrum
disorder. The school overcame challenges in the recent past
and has pushed on impressively, receiving a “good” grade from
Ofsted in its last inspection. Headteacher Sarah Parry elaborates.
In April 2011 Southmead was under threat of closure as a result of continuing poor
academic standards, falling roll, high-level behaviour problems and an extremely
high staff turnover. More than half the staff employed by the school were recruited
from an agency. In agreement with the local authority, the school went from two-
form entry to one and a half-form entry. As part of the drive to improve standards,
recruitment of high-calibre staff was top of the agenda, as was building a reliable
and experienced senior leadership team. Also at the top of the improvement
schedule was building a feeling of belonging among the school community, pupils,
staff, parents and other stakeholders.
After consultation, a new school uniform and a brand-new logo, “Proud to
Belong”, was unveiled, so that our vision was clear to all. Building and nurturing
a sense of pride and a real feeling of community was a top priority then and is
now clearly embedded. One of the key areas that senior staff needed to tackle
was the huge number of high-level behaviour issues, both within and outside
the classroom. The next 18 months heralded a glut of unprecedented levels of
exclusion as the new behaviour policy came into force. When Ofsted came to visit
in June 2012, we were moved into the “good” category and a growing sense of
REPORT CARD
SOUTHMEAD PRIMARY SCHOOL
»Headteacher: Sarah Parry
»Founded in 1952
»Location in Southfields,
London Borough of
Wandsworth
»Type of school: Two-form entry
community school
»Number of pupils: 408
»The school has a children’s
centre and a 16-place ASD base
»The school has an extremely
mobile and diverse community
»Recently awarded Flagship
School status for the Inclusion
Quality Mark
»Ofsted: “Good”
»www.southmead.wandsworth.
sch.uk
Southmead Primary
School
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
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 |
PRIMARY EDUCATION
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
childdeserves.
We now have
a dedicated
nurture space
where all the
children feel
welcome
“
“
The Fir Room – a
dedicated space for
children’s wellbeing
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 |
PRIMARY EDUCATION
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
childdeserves.
We now have
a dedicated
nurture space
where all the
children feel
welcome
“
“
The Fir Room – a
dedicated space for
children’s wellbeing

www.southmead.wandsworth.sch.uk

This article was sponsored by Southmead 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 Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss.

Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss

Even by the standards of the day –this has been one of the most exciting and unpredictable years in British politics.

The leadership election we’ve just seen marks a huge moment in our country’s history. This government is taking a decisive new direction, embracing the opportunities of Brexit and preparing our country to flourish outside the EU.

As international trade secretary, I’ll be driving forward work on the free trade agreements that are going to be a priority for the government. Free trade isn’t just an abstract concept bandied around by technocrats. It is crucial for a strong economy and for the ability of families to make ends meet. Free trade benefits people in every part of our country, as British firms export to new markets and people doing the weekly shop have access to a wider choice of goods at lower prices.

The essence of free trade is in the title: freedom. It’s about giving people the power to exchange their goods without heavy government taxation or interference. Commerce and free exchange are the engine room of prosperity and social mobility. I’m determined to tackle the forces who want to hold that back.

One of my priorities is agreeing an exciting new free trade deal with the US, building on the great relationship between our two countries and the Prime Minister and US President. But I’ll also be talking to other partners including New Zealand, Australia and fast-growing Asian markets.

And with the EU too, we want a friendly and constructive relationship, as constitutional equals, and as friends and partners in facing the challenges that lie ahead – a relationship based on a deep free trade agreement. Our country produces some of the world’s most successful exports, and the opportunity to bring these to the rest of the world should make us all excited about the future. It is this excitement, optimism and ambition which I believe will come to define this government.

For too long now, we have been told Britain isn’t big or important enough to survive outside the EU – that we have to accept a deal that reflects our reduced circumstances. I say that’s rubbish. With the right policies in place, we can be the most competitive, free-thinking, prosperous nation on Earth exporting to the world and leading in new developments like AI. To do that, we’ll give the brilliant next generation of entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed. Since 2015, there has been a staggering 85 per cent rise in the number of businesses set up by 18 to 24 year olds – twice the level set up by the same age group in France and Germany. We’ll help them flourish by championing enterprise, cutting taxes and making regulation flexible and responsive to their needs.

As we do that, we’ll level up and unite all parts of the UK with great transport links, fibre broadband in every home and proper school funding, so everyone shares in our country’s success.

2019 has been the year of brewing economic and political revolution. 2020 will be the year when a revitalised Conservative government turbo charges the economy, boosts prospects for people across the country, and catapults Britain back to the forefront of the world stage.



Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss
Secretary of State for International Development