Double Marks: Joseph Clarke School Achieves Quality Mark

~ School recognised for the quality of its English and maths provision ~

Joseph Clarke School is celebrating after receiving the Quality Mark Standard in both its Primary and Secondary phases.

The Quality Mark Standard is a national accreditation recognising the quality of a school’s English and maths provision.  To achieve the Quality Mark, Joseph Clarke School underwent a comprehensive assessment carried out by an external assessor who examined the school against the ten elements of the Quality Mark framework.  These cover the quality of teaching and learning resources, intervention strategies for pupils requiring extra support, staff development as well as engagement with families.

During the assessment, the assessor was impressed with a number of aspects of the school’s English and maths provision including:

• The Baseline assessments and initial Pupil-Centred Reviews which are completed for new pupils within their first six weeks; this ensures that pupils benefit from bespoke teaching tailored to their particular needs;
• The school’s small class sizes which allow teachers to give pupils individual attention;
• The use of assistive technology to support learning including BrailleNotes, magnifiers, screen readers as well as interactive learning boards;
• Multidisciplinary working with other professionals including Occupational Therapy, Habilitation and Speech specialists which ensures pupils receive a holistic package of support and can make the progress that is right for them;
• The quality of the school’s professional development programme which gives staff an opportunity to learn the latest best practice in teaching and learning and share ideas with colleagues across Whitefield Academy Trust;
• The school’s broad and varied curriculum which is planned around real-life activities and situations (including educational visits and workshops) in order to maximise and deepen learning for each pupil; these include work experience placements for older pupils;
• The way in which the school seeks to encourage parents to be actively involved in their child’s education; for example, by inviting them to Pupil-Centred Reviews and by running parent training sessions so that they are well-equipped to support their child’s learning at home.

Within their report, the assessor highlighted the way in which the school uses different teaching methods and educational resources depending on the needs of each pupil.  For example, for pupils with vision impairment, a Braille reading programme is used whilst those with low levels of understanding are introduced to reading and story telling through a sensory experience.

The assessor was highly complimentary about the school leaders and staff they met.  They described them as ‘knowledgeable and well-informed’ and reported that ‘they spoke with passion about the provision for their young people and demonstrated a continued drive for improvement, setting no limits on what they believe their students can achieve.’

Chadia Filali-Moutei, Principal of Joseph Clarke School, said:

“We’re delighted to have achieved the Quality Mark in both phases of our school.  We strive for academic excellence across everything we do and believe it is vital for our pupils to have firm foundations in English and maths so that they can access our rich and varied curriculum.  Throughout our school, staff work tirelessly to provide each pupil with an education which accurately meets their needs and so I am pleased that the assessor noticed the ways in which we adapt our provision for each one of our pupils.  Likewise, it is heartening that the assessor noticed the ways in which we seek to engage parents.  Our most important partnership is the one we have with parents and we are fortunate to work with some fantastic families who share our ambitions for their children.”

Kirstie Fulthorpe, Chief Executive Officer of Whitefield Academy Trust, said:

“Congratulations to the team at Joseph Clarke School on this excellent achievement.  Like all schools across the country, the past year has presented huge challenges and so it is even more impressive that Joseph Clarke School has been able to achieve both Quality Marks whilst overcoming the obstacles presented by Covid.  Anyone that knows Joseph Clarke School well, cannot fail to notice its high academic standards as well as its focus on meeting individual needs.  This Award is testament to Chadia and the entire team at Joseph Clarke who, as the assessor said, do go “above and beyond” for their pupils.’