'An atmosphere full of love and very deep respect' - Inside the Walsall primary school which has been on 'journey of significant improvement'

"The school has an atmosphere full of love and very deep respect for each other. I feel that there is not a child in this school who would not come and speak to one member of staff about a problem that they had and I don't think there are many children in our school that wouldn't talk to me about a problem that they had," Mr Wakeman said.

"Every child has at least one member of staff they will confide in deeply, trust to act on their behalf and see them right and love the bones off them."

Goldsmith Primary Academy is part of the Windsor Academy Trust - which runs a number of other schools in the region such as Great Wyrley Academy - and is attended by around 500 pupils.

Dad-of-one Mr Wakeman joined the Goldsmith Road school five years ago in a temporary position as assistant headteacher but stayed on permanently, eventually becoming headteacher in September.

He said: "The school has been on a journey of significant improvement with really innovative practice which in my opinion should be shared across the sector.

"We have just completed a staff workload survey and 95 per cent of my staff reported that they are very satisfied with their job, with the other five per cent reporting that they are satisfied with their jobs. I think that is what has changed.

"The people here all know each other very well, we have been here a long time. We know the families, we know each other and we are all on a common journey together to make this school outstanding or as near outstanding as it possibly can be."

Another way the school has made improvements is with its attendance, which has increased overall by 2 per cent year-on-year.

It finished last year with 92.7 per cent attendance which is just below the national average - but the school is on track to be finishing with a higher result this year and hopes to meet the national figure.

Goldsmith Primary Academy became an 'Apple Distinguished School' in 2024 following a successful application to the tech giant and now makes use of devices including iPads in lessons.

Children use the tablets to complete work on digital exercise books and record their feelings twice a day, with the information sent to the school's emotional literacy support assistants who then respond in a way that meets the pupils' needs.

Mr Wakeman told the Express & Star: "Children also still maintain exercise books as well because we firmly believe it is not just about them turning into a digital citizen - we need them to write, we need them to do set out maths correctly, so as much as we are a digitally pioneering school, we are very committed to teaching children to write, read and how to lay out maths correctly.

"In terms of the benefits, the accessibility features that are both on the Apple iPad and within our digital exercise book platform enable our pupils with special educational needs and disabilities to really succeed.

"There are lots of ways we can manipulate work to make it more accessible for those pupils, give them different ways without making them feel different or targeted in some ways - it has just been a really useful way of levelling the playing field for everybody."

The school is on hand to offer support not just to its pupils but also to the wider community. One of the ways it does this is through its 'Sustainability Swap Shop'.

Here, families can source second-hand uniform free-of-charge, with a request made on one day of the year for a small donation if they are able.

"We are now just about Net Zero but not quite - we have a little bit of work to do there but we think we are going to be able to off-set that with some of the activities we have planned for next year with composting," Mr Wakeman said.

The 35-year-old headteacher described a feeling of family among the staff at Goldsmith Primary Academy.

He explained: "It is the most incredible privilege in the world [to be headteacher at Goldsmith]. I get to get up every morning and come and see 500 children who need me and I need them too.

"I don't think there are many jobs or professions that could give you that sort of satisfaction on a daily basis. If ever there is a 'down day', you just go and visit Nursery because they will sort you right out.

"Our teachers - we love each other very much. My teachers will tell you I would go to the ends of the world with them.

"It sounds cliché but genuinely I class these people as my brothers and sisters and our collective children we are all bringing up together. There is the phrase 'it takes a village to raise a child' and that is certainly true of this place."