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Pupils reap rewards in troubled Wolverhampton school turnaround

There's a lot to be said for a treat at the end of the week.

Published

When Nicola Davis was brought in to turn around Wolverhampton's New Park School as executive headteacher, there was nothing to reward the children for good work.

Now, every Friday afternoon, they get to use points they earn through the week for treats or to decide what they want to do – be it trampolining, pedal go karts or an art club.

New Park, in Cromer Gardens, is still a school trying to turn itself around. It is in special measures, meaning the education watchdog Ofsted is demanding improvements and keeping a very close watch.

And as a school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties it is a complicated task.

It is one of three schools in Wolverhampton currently overseen by an interim executive board (IEB), instead of a typical governing body. Next month it is set to become an academy. The other two are Dunstall Hill Primary School and Palmers Cross Primary School.

New Park School, Wolverhampton

The IEB meets with all its members, including the city council's managing director, Keith Ireland, every three weeks instead of once a term in the way many other schools' governing boards do.

Mrs Davis is also principal at Aldersley High School, but was asked to step in last year when the school fell into special measures and the previous head, Sharon Humphreyson, stepped aside.

Since then, Mrs Davis says attendance has risen from 74 per cent, meaning pupils were on average absent more than a quarter of the time, to 86 per cent. This is now above the average for the type of school New Park is.

Part of the task, Mrs Davis says, has been about getting the pupils to believe in themselves.

Incoming headteacher Fran Pass, behaviour boss Stacie Cooper, and executive headteacher Nicola Davis

"When we came in only five per cent of pupils were making the expected progress. Now it's closer to 50 per cent," she says.

"They needed to know they can succeed. So we've been making sure they see a clear path for themselves and what they want to do, as well as understanding that school is just a small part of their lives."

Self-esteem has been one of the first things that had to be turned around.

Stacie Cooper, who has worked at the school for six years, is now in charge of behaviour and attendance. She says: "Some of the children had such low self-esteem they didn't believe what they were doing was proper school work.

"They thought their GCSEs were fake.

"What we do is show them the rewards of their work as soon as possible. It encourages them believe they can do it."

The school now has two people whose job it is to make sure the pupils are there and learning. There are 76 on the register, aged eight to 16, with 60 staff.

Mrs Davis says every child who left in July last year went on to college or an apprenticeship.

The school hit the headlines last year after it emerged it spent thousands of pounds of Pupil Premium money, given to schools by the government to raise standards in the classroom, to buy all 107 students new uniforms and footwear. Each student was bought a blazer, two shirts, a tie, smart shoes and two pairs of trousers. It then emerged some pupils had still come in wearing trainers.

Mrs Davis, however, says it was only two youngsters, something she believes is no different to any other school.

"Every school will have children who try to push the boundaries," she says. "Some will wear black trainers that they say look like shoes. The shops don't help because they market trainers as school shoes.

"The Pupil Premium money was used because if you're changing the uniform policy part way through a year you can't expect parents to pay for a whole new uniform."

Another big change is the introduction of a library. The school did not even have one a year ago and now it is full of books and staff are constantly seeking donations of more. They also try to get iPads and Amazon Kindle e-readers wherever they can. Mr Ireland even bought the school a Kindle out of his own pocket, as well as handing over six iPads from the council.

A lot of work has been done to improve behaviour, including an £80,000 fence put up around the school, while a police officer was stationed on site.

Another report by Ofsted, dated December 4, noted improvements had been made.

Next month Mrs Davis hands over her role at New Park to Fran Pass, currently overseeing the Kingston Centre Pupil Referral Unit next door.

Mrs Davis says: "I think we've seen a huge improvement. There is more support and one-to-one tuition.

"We have our challenges. But we are going in the right direction."

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