Worle Community School wins National Award

It was an extremely proud moment when Trevor Bailey (Headteacher), Peter Binding (Director of Specialism), Jane Dickson (Director of Community and Extended Schools) and Jackie Foster (Community Arts Officer) accepted the Chief Executive's Award from Elizabeth Reid on behalf of Worle Community School.

In her speech Elizabeth Reid explained that a key feature of the specialist schools programme is the

"partnership that's structured between the secondary schools, primary schools and special schools, but partnerships that are always unique to their own localities and to their own contexts".

On presenting the award she explained to the international audience of conference delegates that

"Worle Community School use specialism. They use specialism brilliantly to support primary schools and other secondary schools. Support is inclusive and the model is now being shared nationally in the networks. The planning is careful, but most importantly, the impact of all of the activities are assessed."

Having received the award Mr Bailey expressed the school's reaction to receiving the award:

“Worle Community School has a tradition of working closely with its community. It is a core belief of the school that community engagement supports learning outcomes for current students, supports the learning and preparation of those due to transfer to the school and promotes community development and cohesion. Becoming a specialist school in 2000 made a step-change in this work possible and the leadership of the Community Arts Officer, who is now the Director of Community and Extended Schools on the Leadership Team, has been pivotal in driving developments forward. A key aspect of the school’s work has been the forging of strong and varied partnerships to support community learning and development opportunities.

The whole school community is delighted to have received this award which recognizes and validates the work that has been undertaken. It will spur us on to still greater things!”