How compassionate leadership supports the learning and well-being of pupils and the wider school community
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Information about the school
Ysgol Maes y Coed is a maintained special school for pupils aged 3-19 with additional learning needs. It has 121 pupils on roll who travel from across Neath Port Talbot local authority and present with complex needs.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
Ysgol Maes y Coed is a nurturing, happy and hard-working school that places a significant priority on the well-being of its staff and pupils. Leaders have created a strong culture of mutual support when working together and encourage respect and kindness between staff, pupils, and families.
Leaders recognise that the school’s greatest resource is its staff. They acknowledge the importance that all staff feel valued as an important and integral part of the school. The headteacher asserts that leadership is an interactive process involving noticing, feeling, and sense making in situations and in ways that connect with others. This method of leadership results in improved organisational performance, engagement, pupil outcomes, retention, and the well-being of the workforce.
The school’s vision for compassionate leadership comes down to small, everyday habits; the way that you treat people and the attitude you bring to the school every day. Leaders believe they should be kind to people, consider feelings, and listen to what’s happening in your team’s lives. Working in school leadership requires empathy, patience, and kindness. Leaders at the school strive to ensure that all team members share the same values regarding how others are treated.
In addition, leaders at the school recognise the significant impact of parenting a child with additional needs has and the isolation and lack of inclusive opportunities that families may experience. This was further impacted by COVID-19, which isolated many families and reduced their opportunities to access additional essential support.
The headteacher maintains that compassionate leadership is not a ‘soft’ option. Compassionate leaders are not ‘pushovers.’ They consider the feelings and needs of others, but ultimately, they must make the best decisions for their school. It places the emphasis on both people and outcomes, encouraging high performance through empathy, understanding and support.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
The expertise, compassion, and care shown by all staff at the school is ongoing. At Maes y Coed, compassionate leadership entails caring deeply for everyone within the school’s extended family.
A strong sense of identity and belonging at the school is considered vital by school leaders. These conditions are created by the school through investing in community engagement, building trust, and making connections. These networks are shaped by the school’s leaders who model compassion, empathy, and respect for others.
Leaders recognise the vital impact parents and carers have on their children and life at the school. Staff work extremely closely with parents to create a strong, supportive team around the child. The school enables parents and staff to meet and speak about any issues and concerns. Staff communicate daily with parents via an electronic platform as many of the pupils are unable to go home and talk about their school day due to the nature of their needs.
The school’s work with other agencies is pivotal in supporting pupils. As a result of effective multi-agency working the holistic, social, medical, and psychological needs of a pupil are taken into account when formulating any plans.
Where possible the school hosts clinics, appointments, and multi-agency meetings within school. Examples of these are paediatrician appointments, neurology appointments with the consultant neurologist, palliative care clinics, bi-annual dental visits and a hairdresser visits every week. This approach avoids disruption for pupils and supports families effectively.
Support for families doesn’t stop at the end of the school day. The school offers a range of after-school events that include whole families, and there is always an emphasis to include siblings and the wider family. The school organises special events for families such as the Santa light trail, Halloween and Valentine discos, cinema trips and bowling.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
Staff at the school feel valued, supported, and cared for and as a result they go the extra mile for their pupils. Some ways to encourage kindness and show staff they are valued include:
- ‘Marvelous – Mondays’ where every week, a range of staff win a free lunch, an extra 10-minute break, a highly prized car parking space!
- Allowing staff to attend their child’s first Christmas concert or sports day. This means more than you will ever know!
- Staff prizes at the end of the year recognising excellent attendance.
- Supporting staff, providing toiletries in all staff toilet areas.
- Staff team building events.
- A chocolate egg for everyone who completes the staff well-being questionnaire at the end of every spring term.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic the school secured significant grant funding to purchase a slow cooker and other kitchen equipment for all families. The grant also covered food vouchers to purchase ingredients so that families could participate in a ‘Cook ‘n Cuppa’ session. The aim of the project was to show how to feed a family at a lower cost by batch cooking.
Sessions with the family engagement officers have improved parental attendance and engagement at a range of events that the school provides. As a result, parents feel well equipped to meet the diverse needs of their children and feel able to implement strategies at home that pupils use at school. This improved consistency and collaboration has led to a reduction of behaviours that challenge at home. This evidence has been collected via care and support meetings, person-centered review meetings and from questionnaire responses. Parents also report feeling empowered to undertake activities that focus on themselves.
How have you shared your good practice?
The school celebrates staff, family, and pupil successes in the school’s regular newsletters, via its digital platforms, social media posts as well as in governor meetings.
The school has shared its leadership ethos within the local authority.