At Oak Learning Partnership inclusion is at the heart of everything we do and we are privileged to be in a position where we can transform young people’s lives through education. Our impact can be seen in the classroom and beyond, with a small selection of case studies listed below.
Whole school transformation at Hazel Wood High School
Hazel Wood High School has undertaken a radical transformation since joining the trust and is one of our biggest success stories to date. In terms of impact the school has seen:
- Outcomes move from the bottom 10% of schools nationally to above average
- 10% increase in students achieving 4 and 5
- Student numbers almost double due to the improved quality of education and reputation
- A move from an Ofsted ‘special measures’ rating to ‘good
- Outcomes move from the bottom of the local league table to the top five
How did we achieve this?
With the support of the entire community, we successfully rebranded the school, fostering a sense of ownership and pride amongst students, staff and families. This included renaming the school, introducing a new uniform and making significant investments in the school buildings and classrooms. We ran workshops where staff, students and families co-developed key policies and practices, including those focused on anti-bullying and behaviour.
We implemented a robust behaviour policy to ensure classrooms remained focused on learning. Alongside this, we aligned whole-school routines and classroom practices to provide daily routines and structure to the school day. To this day, these routines are still consistently reinforced to embed them deeply within the school culture.
Curriculum overhaul
We completely rewrote and restructured the curriculum, developing long, medium and short term plans to form a well-sequenced and high quality curriculum.
We completely rewrote and restructured the curriculum, developing long, medium and short term plans to form a well-sequenced and high quality curriculum.
We maintained a strong insistence on non-negotiables and key consistent practices in the classroom with a semi-structured lesson, supported by robust professional development and a rigorous quality assurance framework. We also ensured that behaviour expectations were explicitly taught to students and continually reinforced.
We actively engaged with other schools and trusts, took inspiration from great ideas and adapted them to suit our context. We believe in learning from others while maintaining authenticity.
The senior leadership team maintained a strong and visible presence throughout school. They prioritised simple, clear systems that were applied consistently, and they leveraged technology to support work and streamline processes.
Community impact for post 16 students
Crosshill School’s post 16 provision places a strong emphasis on providing students with work and social experiences in the local community. Staff feel very strongly that giving students these life experiences helps equip them for life after post 16, but also gives them a sense of belonging in their local communities. The impact on students is far reaching and for some of them, gives them an opportunity to experience things that they may not normally be able to access. A small selection of some of the activities students are taking part in this year are detailed below:
- Working on a pop-up stall at Blackburn Market – this supports students to develop an understanding of working in retail and money transactions. It also gives them lots of opportunities to communicate with members of the public and develop their confidence.
- Regularly accessing a number of sport and fitness sessions within the community. Not only does this help students from a health perspective, but it also allows them to explore the different services that will be available to them after post 16 and meet new people who may be part of their next steps into adult life.
- Students travel into town on the bus on a regular basis to support them to travel as independently as possible in the future. They develop skills of being able to use a bus pass, identifying correct buses and knowing where to get off at.
- During the visits to town, students complete activities such as shopping for food or personal items, accessing cafes and leisure services and getting to know their way around.
- Volunteering opportunities – in order for students to gain a greater understanding of the world of work, we arrange a number of opportunities for them to volunteer. For instance, we work with the charity Benefit Mankind to help them pack food parcels and winter care packages, we participate in the Keeping Blackburn Tidy initiative by litter picking in the Audley area and we clean at Height Nook, the residential activity centre owned by Girlguiding.
“Our aim at Post 16 is twofold. As well as ensuring that our students receive the correct level of education for their needs, we also want to make their transition into adulthood as seamless as possible.
“By developing important life skills within the local community, our impact on students can be immense. Our community work helps them to foster a sense of belonging within their local community and I am always immensely proud of the confident, young adults that leave us at the end of their time at Post 16.”
Mrs Kelly Smith, Head of Post 16