Lower school awarded for work in achievement for all

A national accolade for quality has been awarded to Shillington Lower School for its work in helping pupils who are vulnerable to underachievement.
Headteacher Juliet Parker and children at Shillington Lower School with their award.Headteacher Juliet Parker and children at Shillington Lower School with their award.
Headteacher Juliet Parker and children at Shillington Lower School with their award.

The Quality Mark Award recognises the work being done by the school to improve progress in reading, writing and maths for all pupils, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities.

The award has been developed by education charity Achievement for All (AfA), which offers support programmes to schools and settings to help them improve outcomes in the lowest achieving 20 per cent.

Shillington Lower has been working in partnership with Achievement for All since 2013 and has seen a marked improvement in many aspects including parent engagement and wider opportunities as part of the AfA framework.

Juliet Parker, headteacher at Shillington Lower, said: “The most significant impact for Shillington Lower was the reflection opportunity for wider outcomes, parental engagement and use of teaching assistants. We now have a strong relationship with parents as a result of Achievement for All and children are given far more enrichment opportunities to support our belief in enjoyment underpinning learning. As part of the project we also reviewed how we deployed and utilised teaching assistants to impact on learning and our results are now above national and vulnerable groups are making expected progress.”

Achievement for All works closely with parents, carers, teachers and the individual child to secure the best outcome and attainment for their students through personalised and specific targets. The unique programmes are delivered directly to schools and settings via a highly skilled and trained team of expert coaches and specialist online support tool called The Bubble.

Schools are assessed for the Quality Mark Award within the second year of the Schools Programme. The award focuses on a variety of categories such as strategic planning, quality of teaching and learning, effective use of interventions, pupil progress and community relationships.

Kris Wodehouse, regional lead at Achievement for All, said: “We are thrilled to present Shillington Lower with this much deserved award. They have shown a high quality of leadership and teamwork, and most importantly, the target groups have made more than expected progress and are closing the gap with their peers. Our programmes are designed to be a whole school improvement tool and Shillington Lower has shown a continued commitment and success in improving outcomes for their children.

“Achievement for All believes that every child can progress, and through our programmes we hope to enable every child to be the best that they can be regardless of background, challenge, or need. Huge congratulations to teachers, parents, carers and children at Shillington Lower for all their hard work.”