Using school programmes to support equality and diversity

Information about the school

Bassaleg School is a mixed 11-19 school to the north east of Newport.  Currently it has 1,749 pupils on roll, with 405 in the sixth form.  Pupils come mainly from six partner primary schools. Around 6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.  Around 2% live in the 20% most deprived areas in Wales.  One point four per cent (1.4%) of pupils have statements of special educational needs compared with 2.2% for Wales as a whole.  Around 8% of pupils have a special educational need.  Many pupils are from a White British background.  A few pupils come from an ethnic minority background.  A few pupils speak English as an additional language and a very few speak Welsh fluently.  The school is an Innovation School and is working with the Welsh Government and other schools to take forward developments related to the curriculum and professional learning.  The headteacher has been in post since September 2018.  The leadership team is made up of two deputy headteachers, a Director of Business, three assistant headteachers and two associate headteachers.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The school’s vision is centred around providing young people with a breadth of opportunities to develop as ethically informed citizens; to demonstrate a strong sense of social awareness and responsibility and be part of a culture where diversity and equality are celebrated and embraced.  Detailed actions to enable the school to realise this vision sit within all aspects of wellbeing, teaching and learning, care, support and guidance and leadership.  The school’s core values permeate through the school improvement plan, thus ensuring that they never lose sight of their core purpose.

Description of the nature of the strategy or activity

1. Central to realising this vision was the creation of a transformational wellbeing-driven tutor programme, co-constructed by pupils and staff and rooted in current action research.  Driven by pupil voice, it covers an extensive range of topics around mental health, relationships and sexuality education and building resilience.  The bespoke provision tailored for each year group is also grounded in reflection and provides young people with the opportunity to engage in open and honest dialogue about challenging topics in a safe and supportive environment.
2. The school’s overhaul and rebranding of the newly enhanced ‘Religion, Morals and Philosophy’ Programme (RMP,) previously Religious Studies, have been a significant contributing factor in enabling the pupils to explore and understand further spiritual, cultural and moral values and beliefs.  Pupils show confidence, resilience and passion in celebrating difference and identity and transfer such attitudes to all aspects of their school life.
3. One of the school’s exceptional features is the provision to raise awareness of the LGBT community.  All pupils embrace LGBT diversity and have subsequently formed a Queer and Straight Alliance (QSA) group showing the respect the young people have for promoting individual rights.  Ensuring that extensive support is in place for transgender pupils has meant that pupils feel safe, confident and passionate about speaking out about their experiences to help others.
4. Unpicking misconceptions and any potential stigma around mental health issues has been a driver in drawing the school community closer together.  The school’s pupil-led mental health council actively raises awareness and offers strong peer-to-peer support by trained pupils.  The school’s ‘Wellbeing Ambassadors’ also provide extensive support for pupils of all ages in an unthreatening and informal way.  Such coordinated support for pupils and which is led by pupils is key to them developing a strong sense of resilience.
5. Supported by a ‘Health and Happiness’ agenda, which prioritises ‘looking after ourselves and looking after each other by ‘keep looking up’’, the school places the wellbeing of pupils and staff at the core of its philosophy.  The ‘Health and Happiness’ agenda also provides pupils and staff with beneficial opportunities to develop a strong sense of social responsibility through raising significant amounts of money for charities which the pupils have chosen.  During planned monthly events on the school calendar, the school community comes together as one, has time to reflect on all aspects of their own wellbeing and, importantly, have some fun.
6. A notable feature of realising this vision is the way in which the school encourages pupils’ active involvement in all aspects of school life and the community.  The sixth form ‘Giving Back to Bassaleg’ programme models to pupils the extent to which the school values the importance of contributing to one’s community.  Similarly, by closely tracking the involvement of vulnerable pupils and those with protected characteristics in community activities and pupil groups, the school is confident that all pupil groups are reflective of the school population as a whole; an aspect which evidences how the community is also one driven by equity.
7. In terms of pedagogy, the school’s ‘Articulate’ agenda across the curriculum empowers pupils to express themselves and challenge others appropriately on all topics.  The professional learning in active listening and social oracy strategies like ‘Trios’ (which place focus on pupils being trained in actually listening to each other) also very much attribute to enhancing the school’s inclusive culture.
8. The school’s behaviour for learning policy reinforces the extent to which the school community is driven by core values.  Staff, pupils and parents co-constructed a newly-revised policy which places a clear emphasis on understanding their rights and responsibilities.  The policy deploys helpful strategies to enable pupils to reflect successfully on their behaviours and to learn to manage their emotions positively.
9. A nurturing environment has been critical to the realisation of the school’s vision and the bespoke work of the Pastoral Support Officers (PSOs) in particular.  Interventions have provided pupils with the emotional support they often need before considering how to access the curriculum.  The PSOs proactive work in identifying and supporting young carers is further reflection of the attention placed on supporting vulnerable learners.  The coordinated approach of the wider pastoral team, inclusive of every member of staff, is central to the creation of a safe, secure and nurturing environment for all pupils.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

• Pupils show high levels of care and respect for others.  Their active involvement in the extensive range of provision listed demonstrates how engaged the young people are in ensuring high levels of tolerance and support for each other.
• The innovative work of the mental health council and wellbeing ambassadors has generated an increased understanding and acceptance of mental health issues across the school community and pupils/staff are much better placed to think about and prioritise their own wellbeing.
• In addition to playing a significant role in developing an inclusive environment, groups such as the Queer and Straight Alliance have positively impacted on enacting change to school policy to introduce a gender neutral uniform for example.
• In practical terms, the Behaviour for Learning Policy has been successful in reducing the number of exclusions and the number of reported behaviour incidents.  Most importantly this reflects a culture rooted in diversity, equality and respect.
• The way in which this ethos underpins everything the school does has successfully created a community where such core values are celebrated, where pupils’ individual rights are respected and an environment in which all learners can flourish as they ‘can be who they want to be’

How have you shared your good practice?

• Bassaleg is an Innovation School and so has shared, locally, regionally and nationally how its new curriculum is rooted in developing these core values through the four purposes.
• The school supports other schools within the region through their LNS status (Lead Network School) in science, PE, RMP and wellbeing; the latter two agendas giving them bespoke opportunities to cascade some of the provision identified in this case study.
• The school has led conferences locally and regionally on their mental health agenda and is in partnership with other agencies to continue to action research and support their young people.
• Bassaleg works very closely with its partner primary schools.  As such, they have shared good practice in all aspects of how to develop pupils’ moral, cultural and spiritual understanding.
• Key to promoting and celebrating its core values of diversity, equality and respect has been the transformational way in which the school makes use of social media to share its good practice.