3THE DEVONSHIRE HILL NURSERY AND PRIMARY SCHOOL |
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE
support as our pupils move into the
next phase of their learning. This is
developed in year 2 as our children
work towards English and maths
mastery before accessing swimming
lessons and learning the ukulele in
year 3. In year 4, all of our children
learn a second instrument and begin to
prepare for university through working
alongside the Tottenham University
Project, supported by the University
of Oxford. This is supplemented
by working with the IntoUniversity
project. In year 5, the brightest
children from the poorest backgrounds
are given university-style tutorials by a
PhD lecturer from The Brilliant Club.
In year 6, all the children access a
residential trip to Pendarren House in
Wales, performing a variety of outdoor
education activities that many of them
have never experienced before.
A strong emphasis is on ensuring that
transition into secondary school is as
smooth as possible – something that is
particularly pertinent for children in our
local area. Data collected from pupils
in Haringey show that black Caribbean
children often perform very well in
primary school but struggle to replicate
this success in the secondary setting.
Transition is thus crucial, and we hold
a graduation ceremony, complete with
a year 6 prom, for all of our leaving
pupils.
Continuing to develop
We are committed to teacher training
and developing the leaders of the
future. For the past six years, we
have worked closely with Teach First,
developing nine trainee teachers,
many of whom have since gone on
to assume leadership roles in other
schools. We also work with the
Schools Direct programme and are
currently working with our fourth
trainee. We strongly believe in
the importance of our continuing
professional development and
excellent pedagogical programme. In
order to drive our progress, we have
high-quality strategic leadership across
the school, supporting staff to deliver
our key aims. This has also led to high
levels of staff motivation.
With the introduction of the new
Ofsted framework, our main challenge
will likely be equipping pupils with
the knowledge and skills to address
the cultural capital challenges to
enable them to succeed in life. The
introduction of a forest school on site
will be unique for an inner-city school
like ours. We will strive to provide our
pupils with the same experiences that
their more-affluent peers enjoy, but
we are reliant on funding to support
this, something that is consistently
diminishing. We therefore have to
be creative to generate funds. For
example, we currently rent out our car
park and playgrounds on Tottenham
Hotspur event days as we are local to
the stadium.
Our ultimate aim is to gain an
“outstanding” grade at our next
Ofsted inspection; through creating a
more practical curriculum, tailored to
the needs and futures of our children,
we are hopeful we can achieve this.
Our provision
is enriched
through a
wide range of
stimulating
learning
experiences,
which includes
visits to
museums and
theatres
“
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Children experiencing
broadcasting via
Devonshire Hill Radio
Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett
Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles
