Parkside Community Primary School, Canterbury, Kent
A Head Teacher’s and School’s Positive Ethos to support Attendance, Raise Attainment
and Promote Inclusion for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children.
CONTEXT
“Parkside is a smaller than average-sized primary school…the proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support
through the pupil premium is well above average. Most pupils are from White British backgrounds and a much higher
proportion than found nationally is of Romany or Gypsy heritage [During the project the school has had between
10.8% and 7.8% of Gypsy pupils on role]. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is below the
national average” Ofsted 2013
Following an invitation to Kent from the DfE to partake in the Virtual School Headteachers Pilot Project, Kent decided
to set up a Virtual School for GRT pupils consisting of 3 GRT Advisory Teachers and 6 GRT Outreach Officers to
support the GRT Virtual Head to raise the inclusion and achievement of GRT pupils. As part of the pilot our aim was
to establish “Champion schools and settings” which could demonstrate and share good practice with others. Local
Authority data was analysed and Parkside was chosen to be a one of our pilot schools. An initial audit identified
existing good practice and highlighted areas for development; these were incorporated into a robust action plan.
Our decision to select Parkside was verified when in In January 2014 HMI also recognised the school as having good
practice with GRT Inclusion and Parkside was chosen as one of ten schools across the country, to be part of a survey
collating case studies to inform and promote good practice in all schools.
STRENGTHS INDENTIFIED AND ACTIONS TAKEN DURING PROJECT
Leadership and Management
The School Ethos
Parkside, led by the Headteacher and SMT has high expectations for attainment, attendance and inclusion for all
pupils including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children.
”Leadership and Management have very high expectations of all groups of pupils and therefore the whole team is
committed to the vision of ‘community focus’ There are high expectations for all pupils regardless of background, this
supports ‘closing the gap’ of all vulnerable learners. Support is in place and the school are proactively responsive.”
HMI 2014
“The school is securing its place at the heart of the community it serves because more families are supporting its high
aspirations for their children” Ofsted 2013
Parkside has established and emerging links with the local English Gypsy community with a member of the
community employed within the school.
There is a very friendly, welcoming and relaxed feel across the school, with good relationships between staff and
pupils.
“The Head teacher’s passion and drive to do the very best for all pupils is contagious. The vast majority of parents,
carers and staff are very positive about the leadership of the headteacher and hold her in high regard… The school is
a welcoming place where pupils are keen to learn and make good progress. Their positive attitudes to learning
prepare them well for their next schools”. Ofsted 2013
The Head Teacher ensures all staff have the drive and ambition to narrow the gap between vulnerable
underachieving children and others believing children who are achieving and engaged in their learning will be happy,
and want to attend school regularly.
“Pupils enjoy going to school because, as one said, ‘you can learn’ and this is reflected in their attendance, which has
improved significantly since the last inspection”. Ofsted 2013
Teaching and Learning that Raises Achievement
An Inclusive Curriculum
Raising awareness of history and culture, using culturally appropriate resources and EAL strategies in the classroom
alongside exploring identity and celebrating diversity all contribute to an ethos of respect and value for all children
and families. This approach, when used with GRT families, means that children feel they belong, want to go to school
and parents want to send them, this undoubtedly positively affects attendance. The School has an inclusive
environment. Throughout the pilot the GRT Advisory Teacher has met with all class teachers and modelled inclusive
lessons, delivered assemblies around racism and bullying and was invited to be part of Book Week, delivering oral
story telling workshops with follow up activities. Support has also been given with subtlety embedding GRT culturally
appropriate resources leading to recognition, respect and representation. The GRT Advisory Teacher and GRT
Outreach Officer provided focused reading groups to enhance the joy of reading using Gypsy/Roma texts. This has
helped reading attainment, especially with a YR 2 pupil who has achieved one whole level in just a term and is now
taking books home and reading them to her siblings. Intervention began in term 2 and the table below shows results
at the end of term 3,
Starting point – Term 2
Assessment – Term 3
Outcome
Pupil A
3b
4b
+ 1 level
Pupil B
2c
2a
+ 2 sub-levels
Pupil C
1a
2b
+ 2 sub-levels
Pupil D
1c
2b
+ 4 sub levels
The Community Worker within the school offers support for families with literacy, numeracy, ICT and less formal
creative classes, flyers have been delivered to local Traveller sites and there has been some uptake of the courses.
Behaviour and Safety
The school ensures that all staff access local authority training to develop an awareness of Gypsy, Roma and
Traveller history and culture and the barriers these communities often face to accessing and sustaining education.
This covers racism, stereotyping and commonly held pre-conceptions about the community which can lead to low
expectations in all areas including attainment and attendance.
‘Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is strong and, as a result, they are polite and behave well
around the school and in lessons’ Ofsted 2013
The school has a no-tolerance approach to bullying and the GRT Advisory Teacher supported this agenda by
delivering whole school assemblies around racism and bullying. Addressing, recording and endeavouring to prevent
bullying effectively ensures that all children feel safe and want to remain in school. During a visit from the Virtual
Head teacher the Community Worker was observed dealing with a racist incident which had been bought to her
attention by a child who had witnessed racist language being used against a classmate, she reported this as she
found this offensive even though it was not against herself. This clearly indicates that the children understand the
school’s stance of non-acceptance of discriminatory behaviour. All parties were involved in the resolution to this
issue, resulting in positive outcomes for all. The school uses Restorative approaches effectively.
“Pupils feel safe in school and say that ‘the school works hard to keep us safe’. Incidents of any form of bullying are
very rare and pupils themselves confirm that, should they occur, they are dealt with swiftly and effectively. All pupils
spoken to knew who they would turn to for help should they need it… Staff actively promote equality of opportunity
and tackle discrimination, and this is seen in the good progress now being made by all groups of pupils”. Ofsted 2013
Overal Effectiveness and SMSC:
Out of School Hours
Parkside have a daily breakfast where the children are able to feel welcome and valued by homely touches such as
good china and fresh flowers. It is well-understood that children are better able to learn having had breakfast and if
they are on time for breakfast they won’t be late for school.
“The breakfast and after-school clubs offer a wide choice of activities within a warm and caring environment and, as
a result, the pupils flourish”. Ofsted 2013
Children can feel particularly vulnerable during break times. The school monitors all aspects of pupil involvement in
school life including playground integration, friendship groups, participation in out of school activities and trips. Their
inclusive ethos has resulted in the Gypsy children being very much part of the school community engaging in all the
school has to offer including attendance at out of school clubs and school trips.
An Understanding and Respect for Community Needs
The school is responsive to cultural needs, The Head teacher exercises careful professional judgement in considering
any set of circumstances in which term time leave is requested for example authorising slightly longer than average
absences to allow children to attend funerals of extended family members should these involve travelling long
distances and there is an expectation that families ‘sit up’ with departed loved ones prior to burial.
The school has successfully established dual registration for families who need to travel over the year by proactively
engaging with their counterpart school and continuing to liaise with the parents.
The GRT Advisory Teacher is also a representative on ‘Team around the School’ (TAS) to ensure that they have GRT
inclusion high on the agenda.
Effective Communication
A hands-on approach by the Head Teacher with parents including meetings and home visits results in shared
knowledge and builds trusting positive relationships. The school addresses issues concerning attendance as soon as
slippage occurs; phoning parents on the first day of absence. This indicates concern for the well-being of all pupils.
The Inclusion Lead has been known to go round to particularly vulnerable families’ homes in the morning if they do
not turn up to school to see why not! There is continual proactive engagement with the GRT Virtual School and other
professionals to inform and develop good practice. The Community worker also contacts the GRT Virtual School
Outreach Officers if there are ongoing attendance issues, and liaison with families about time keeping for example
has improved attendance. As a result, the current average attendance is 93.05%, this is over 20% more than the
Kent average of 72%. With Local Authority intervention and the support of the school this attendance figure has also
improved since the academic year of 2012-2013, where it was 92.06%.
Communication with all parents is excellent and the GRT Virtual School has supported the school to ensure all
communication is relevant to all communities; understanding is enhanced by sensitive and appropriate follow up
when necessary. This has resulted in improved attendance, with no need to involve EWOs.
“The quality of communication between all staff, and indeed the Local Authority supporting the school is excellent.
Communication with parents is sensitive and meaningful with mutual respect” HMI 2014
IMPACT
The Pilot has helped raise awareness of the GRT Culture by way of resources, displays and training. This in turn has
helped improve self-esteem and attainment with focused intervention, for example the GRT reading group. There
has been a reduction in racist incidents by supporting Anti-bullying Week/Friendship week. The Outreach Officers
have proved to be invaluable by working proactively when GRT families who require support, for example, attending
parent evenings and reading letters.
In the recent visit from the HMI inspector to look at good practice with GRT pupils the Inspector highlighted how the
Virtual Head teacher Pilot Project for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils had worked well, was well co-ordinated and
has responded to the greatest need. It was also highlighted that this was a testament to the partnership and it was
decided that this [the HMI] particular case study would highlight ‘good partnership working’.
NEXT STEPS
Lateness can still be an issue with a few families but this is being addressed by staff being available at the door when
parents do arrive to discuss the implications of lateness on their children’s learning. Improvements can already be
seen.
The staff at Parkside and GRT Virtual School are endeavouring to find suitable volunteers who are able to sustain the
successful reading groups.
A working group devising plans to improve the support given to GRT and other vulnerable learners with transition to
secondary school has been established ”… the school and Virtual school is continually looking longer term, especially
with supporting secondary transition” HMI 2014.
The GRT Virtual School will be signposting other schools to Parkside to share established good practice.