WESTFIELD ARTS COLLEGE Broadening Horizons

GOVERNORS’ REPORT FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

2020 - 2021

GOVERNORS’ REPORT FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

2020-2021

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GOVERNORS’ REPORT FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

Contents Page Head Teacher message 2

Chair of Governors message 3

Personal Development Committee 5

Quality of Education Committee 6

Finance and Premises Committee 7

Priorities for School Development in 2020-2021 8 Spending our PE and Sport Premium 11 Spending our Pupil Premium 11

Pupil Premium grant expenditure 2020-2021 12

Financial report 2020-2021 13

Summary of planned income and expenditure for 2021-2022 14

Our provision for pupils 15

Pupil Achievements

School Council members 17

Achievement Awards July 2021 18

Qualifications and Accreditation 19

Fundraising in the school 20

Friends of Westfield events 20

Donations to the school 21

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Welcome to our Governors’ Report for Parents and Carers. You will find information about the school over the last academic year. There were continued challenges this year due to the COVID pandemic but we were very pleased to remain open throughout the academic year and provide for most of our pupils face-to-face. In the national lockdown between January and March 2021 we were able to continue to have almost 70% of pupils in school, whereas the national average for special schools was around 30%. I know that those pupils who continued to attend really benefitted from the structure and routine that is provided by coming to school. This wouldn’t have happened without the dedication of the staff team, who have continued to work through huge challenges and anxiety in the best interests of our pupils. We are grateful to everyone, as I’m sure you are. We have been impressed with how well your children have coped with the pressures and the resilience that many of them have shown. Since March, and a return to a more normal school experience, we have enjoyed seeing our pupils socialise and engage with learning, recovering from some of the trauma from living through the past year. For some it has presented greater challenges, and they have been well supported. As a school we have made sure that we pause and take a breath regularly, enjoying being outside in nature and making time for relationships. We are grateful to you, our families, for your support and understanding in difficult times. Working together and communicating well has never been so important. Although the year has been affected by the pandemic, we have done plenty of the things that we planned to do. I hope you find this report a useful summary of the year. At the back you’ll find a space to give us any feedback if you wish. With best wishes

Seán Kretz Head Teacher

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A message from the Chair of Governors Dear Parents and Carers I am writing to you as the Chair of Governors and on behalf of the Governing Body of Westfield Arts College. I want to share news with you from the past year, talk about the successes that we have had but also some of the challenges. I have 10 years’ experience as a Governor, I am a retired Civil Servant who worked in the Ministry of Defence, where I was the Airworthiness and Safety Engineer for the Sea King and Merlin helicopters. My wife is a retired teacher and we both work as volunteers with Julia’s House Children’s Hospice. Under the leadership of Seán Kretz the school has continued to develop and thrive despite the COVID pandemic. Seán has developed a superb working relationship with staff, pupils, parents and the many outside agencies that support us, including Dorset Council, who he has advised and assisted throughout the pandemic. We have seen many positive changes across the school over the last 12 months, this includes development of the schools’ Personal Development curriculum and improved annual reviews and reports, which are now linked more closely to the EHCP outcomes. I am so proud of the way that the school has dealt with the disruption caused by Coronavirus. The staff have worked tirelessly to support both the pupils and their families over the last twelve months. The school has remained open throughout. For pupils not in school, staff have remained in contact and provided a wide range of lessons and activities to both stimulate and educate pupils. I must also thank the staff and volunteers who worked so hard to develop and run our staff and pupil COVID Test Centre over the Spring Term. At Westfield we have always tried to support pupils and families who may be struggling and this work has never been more needed than it is now. I must praise our Pupil and Parent Support Team (PaPS), who have worked tirelessly to provide assistance to an ever-growing number of families throughout the pandemic. Over the year, and despite the pandemic, staff have been involved in developing a number of new projects. These include the introduction of our new Personal Development curriculum which will be launched in September, based around six key personal qualities: Independence, Creativity, Collaboration, Empathy, Resilience and Focus, and will build on the Independent Skills Ladders we currently use. We are introducing a new assessment tool to track pupil progress, this will provide the greater fidelity needed for children with SEN. In my last report I reported that we faced significant financial pressures which resulted in a 2.5% (£103,000) overspend, however I am pleased to say that with careful budgeting this deficit has been removed and the school is in a much better position moving forward. Whatever our resources are, I can assure you that our focus will always be on providing the best for our pupils. The loss of the Weymouth College site for our Sixth Form remains an issue with the return of pupils to Westfield. However, although the search has been hampered by the pandemic, we continue to work with Dorset Council on the provision of new premises for the Sixth Form, and this may also allow the school to expand pupil numbers.

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The success of our therapeutic behaviour programme, Dorset Steps, across all of Dorset’s Special Schools, has been recognised as best practice by Dorset Council, who would now like to introduce it across all Dorset schools. We have agreed with them that our Dorset Step Lead, Aisla Maclean-Wood, will be seconded to Dorset Council for 12 months to oversee the introduction and we wish her well in this new role. As is always the case within a school year, some staff have left us. We said goodbye to Sixth Form teacher, Kevin Mundy, and wish him well in the future. The Governing Body meet together every half term, with five meetings across the year and a training day. In addition to this, we have a smaller Personal Development Committee, Quality of Education Committee and a Finance and Premises Committee, which meet each term. This allows Governors a good overview of the work of the school across the year. We are there to support, but also to question and be a ‘critical friend’, as well as undertaking monitoring activities so we are able to see first-hand what the school is doing to maintain the quality of provision for the pupils. This has continued throughout the pandemic thanks to the powers of Zoom. However, we did hold our last Governing Body meeting face to face in June. As a group of Governors, we consist of parents, staff and members of the local community. We hold the school to account and ensure that the large number of statutory duties are being fulfilled. The Head Teacher reports to us at each meeting, and we discuss plans for the future to ensure that Westfield continues to grow and develop and meet the needs of all its students.

I hope you find the information in this report useful. I am thankful to Mr Kretz, his dedicated staff team and the Governors for continuing to lead the school forward. I look forward to more positive change and continued success. Bruce Bonwell

Your school Governors in 2020-21 were:

Mr Bruce Bonwell – Chair of Governors and Quality of Education committee Mr Richard Brind –Vice Chair and Chair of Finance and Premises committee

Mr Seán Kretz – Head Teacher Mr Kristian Rose – Parent Governor (has now left)

Mr Mark Topp – Parent Governor Mrs Sue Lochrie – Parent Governor Mrs Susie Jeffcott – Staff Governor

Mrs Evelyn Donnelly – Co-opted Governor Mrs Shirley Bowley – Co-opted Governor

Mr David Higham – Co-opted Governor (has now left) Mrs Elaine Okopski – Co-opted Governor

We will shortly welcome Mrs Rebecca Watkins as a newly appointed Parent Governor.

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An update from the Personal Development Committee

Kristian Rose stood down as a Westfield Governor earlier this year, following his son’s departure from Westfield last summer. Pastor Mark Topp will take over this role at the start of the next school year. The Personal Development committee oversees the wellbeing and behaviour of pupils, and how Westfield supports their needs and develops them for the future. This has been a particularly challenging year for both staff and pupils, with need to protect the whole school from COVID whilst still ensuring safeguarding is given the highest priority and the wellbeing of both staff and pupils is enhanced. The bubble system introduced at the beginning of the summer term worked extremely well, with very few school days lost due to positive cases. I must thank the staff and volunteers who set up and managed our in-house test centre throughout the Spring term. A huge amount of time was expended by staff in ensuring that contact was maintained with all pupils and their families who were home educating, this insight into the child’s home life has proved invaluable in ensuring a smooth transition back to school for the vast majority of our pupils. Another indicator of the successful transition back to school is that attendance figures are well above the national average and behavioural incidents remain low. This year the staff have been working on a new personal development programme which will be launched in September, based around six key personal qualities: Independence, Creativity, Collaboration, Empathy, Resilience and Focus. The Personal Development committee has direct insight into the support provided by the school for our pupils, and the opportunity to meet with staff and pupils to find out more. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who work so hard to care for our children and give them such a happy and nurturing environment to learn in. Happy, healthy, helpful, independent, curious and polite young people is what we strive for as parents and I believe that the young people at Westfield are positively encouraged to achieve these values through their school journey towards adulthood.

Personal Development Committee

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An update from the Quality of Education Committee

My name is Bruce Bonwell and I oversee this committee as well as being the Chair of Governors. I have been on the Governing Body since 2010 and I am in my fourth year as Chair of the Quality of Education committee (previously called the Teaching and Learning committee). In our meetings we have an overview of the school curriculum, how well pupils are taught and the impact this has on their learning and progress. COVID has once again had a major impact on the school over the whole of this school year. The variation in the numbers of children fluctuating between attending school and home learning has been a challenge for both staff and pupils, with staff having to prepare lessons and home education packs simultaneously. The pandemic has also severely curtailed the number of opportunities for our out of school activities. However the staff have risen to this unprecedented challenge and provided the best education possible. The latest data shows that vast majority of our students have continued to make good progress over the last 12 months. One of the benefits of the new online world we have become used to is that the online parents evening and annual reviews have been a real success with an increase in the number of parents able to engage with the school. Hopefully in September many of the restrictions placed on the school by the Government will be lifted and we will once again be able to provide the wide range of activities provided under our Broadening Horizons aims. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who work so hard to educate and care for our children and to the children who have responded so positively to the restrictions we have had to place on them. Bruce Bonwell, Chair of Quality of Education Committee

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An update from the Finance and Premises Committee

My name is Richard Brind. I have been on the Governing Body for 13 years and I am a recently retired scientist working in underwater acoustics. I am the father of George, a former pupil at the school. In my spare time, as well as being a Governor, I am a member of the Poundbury Rotary Club and a trustee of the Dorchester Youth and Community Centre. The Finance and Premises Committee meets twice a term throughout the year. Our job is to monitor the financial position of the school and the state of the premises. We support the Headteacher, the School Business Manager and other members of staff in their financial management functions, providing an external review. We have a duty to challenge and ask questions when needed. We are ultimately responsible for how school finances are spent.

The Finance and Premises committee has been strengthened this year by the recruitment of Shirley Bowley. She brings valuable financial management and accounting expertise, having been the Finance Director of a local technology company before she retired.

We carried forward a £100k deficit from the previous financial year and, with the uncertainties arising from COVID, the challenge was to ensure our financial position did not deteriorate further. During the first COVID wave when at least some pupils were working from home, staff costs turned out to be slightly less than budgeted due to the reduced need for classroom support. This was partly offset by increased expenditure on cleaning and other COVID related expenses, and on cover for teaching staff absence. A government grant to cover some of the COVID related expenses was obtained.

From September onwards when almost all pupils were in school, staff costs increased relative to budget due to the constraints of operating 'bubbles'. There were also extra costs for cleaning and for conducting the COVID testing in the Spring term. The final position was uncertain but at the end of the financial year, in common with other special schools in Dorset, the school received higher than expected pupil top-up funding from County. These are payments for each individual pupil, which depend on their level of need and reflect the different levels of support they require.

This, combined with a lower staff spend, led to a large carry forward into this financial year, putting us in a very strong position. As a result, we will be able to provide extra classroom support over the next year to help recover some of the progress our pupils lost due to COVID. We will also be able to tackle some essential building works we need to do as well as some much anticipated refurbishment projects. Until now the school has been using PS Financials, a different accounting system to FMS used by Dorset Council. This has meant that extra work has been required to produce the financial reports for Dorset Council. For this, and other financial procedures, we decided to move to the County accounting system. This is producing additional work in the changeover period but savings and greater convenience are expected in the longer term.

TADSS, the alliance with other Dorset special schools which Westfield leads, will continue to operate and run the various programmes such as Early Bird, Dorset Steps and the Initial Teacher Training as in recent years. However, Westfield will no longer receive the £40k per

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year for its coordination role. Instead, Westfield joined in the successful bid led by The Quay School in Poole to operate a larger Teaching School Hub. The TADSS activities will continue to be accounted for separately from the school and costs will be supported by the various programmes delivered under the alliance.

Regarding the premises, we continue to maintain the buildings and site to a high standard. Our Site Manager, Dave Damen, reduced the number of days a week he works and we recruited Shane Churchill for two days per week. During the year work on the drains and temporary repairs to the roof have been required. Improvements have been made to the toilets and changing facilities in the Fleet block. The crack in the retaining wall behind the Gould building has continued to be monitored over the year. Exploratory work to investigate the problem, and potentially more major repairs if needed, will start this summer. New doors will be fitted to the Gould building to improve access for wheelchair users. Refurbishment of the reception area and the primary and secondary kitchens will be carried out. These works will benefit the provision for pupils as we enter the new academic year. Richard Brind, Chair of Finance and Premises Committee

Priorities for School Development in 2020-21

Each year the school produces a College Improvement Plan, which includes the main priorities for development over the year. Parents, pupils, staff and governors are all consulted on their views, and the plan is collated taking these into account.

The priorities for development in the last year were:

Curriculum

Continue to develop our Broadening Horizons curriculum to ensure focus on the most important learning for our pupils. Review and refine Broadening Horizons statements.

Implement new national changes to Relationship and Sex Education and ensure suitability for our pupils.

Develop a timetable that is responsive to individual needs of students and provides further opportunities for development of personal skills and Alternative Provision for identified pupils to support their access to the curriculum.

Monitor the procedures for tracking pupil targets from EHCP, IEP and through the year to ensure that these are robust and appropriate and meaningful for pupils and families.

Continue to develop the monitoring role of subject leaders to ensure targets are identified, tracked and monitored, and that feedback is provided to class teachers to improve the quality of targets.

Personal Development and Environment

Embed our work on Personal Development and independence skills to be more meaningful and focussed on skills for future life. Publish a new programme for tracking these.

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Continue to develop emotional literacy and supporting communication through linking with Dorset Steps approaches.

To further develop Dorset Steps to provide therapeutic support to pupils.

Consider ways to support pupils, staff and families with their mental health following the Covid crisis.

Partnership

Work with Dorset Council to identify a suitable new site for our Sixth Form provision.

Introduce a Family One Page Profile to better understand our families and support them as their child moves through the school.

Consider how best to use new skills in working virtually to support pupils, families, staff and governors.

Staff and governor development

To maximise online training opportunities and consider alternative approaches to the way we work.

Consider further measures to support staff wellbeing, including peer supervision.

Despite the pandemic affecting our work, we made good progress in most of these areas, some of which you will recognise from the information you have received through the year by newsletter or other updates. We have developed our curriculum and resources to support pupils who need a more personalised approach and have made significant progress in a programme to support all pupils with their Personal Development skills. The work we have done towards this is really fantastic and will be launched in September 2021.

College Improvement Plan 2021-22

We are in the process of finalising our College Improvement Plan for the next academic year. Thank you to those of you who contributed your ideas. We also had lots of ideas from pupils and will include a set of actions specifically for them as part of the new plan.

Some of the identified areas for the new plan are:

Curriculum

Extend our range of interventions, including Forest Schools and Beach Schools training

Developing our Outdoor Education curriculum and further opportunities for outdoor learning

Implement a new assessment tool for tracking pupil progress

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Consider meaningful ways to monitor and assess the progress of Personal Development Skills

Develop our understanding of The Engagement Model and pre-Key Stage standards

Develop our range of Kaleidoscope activities and other additional activities to incorporate mindfulness, mental health and wellbeing; student first aid accredited course

Implementation and embedding of the Prince’s Trust Achieve programme

Ongoing development of Topic grids

Personal Development and Environment

Secure new Sixth Form accommodation with Dorset Council

Embed our new Personal Development skills programme

Develop Careers and Work Experience in Sixth Form.

Enhance opportunities for the School Council and pupil voice

Speech, language and communication – secure SALT to continue development of our communication approach, identify a communication lead and training for identified staff (ELKLAN)

Partnership

Annual review process and person centred reviews – giving families options around how they attend, including virtual reviews

Build on improved closer relationships during COVID to maximise community involvement

Consider parent support groups and curriculum workshops to aid their understanding of their child’s learning

Continued focus on mental health support for pupils, staff and families

Staff and governor development

Training for additional interventions and support – Forest School, Beach School, Play Therapy

Identify and train new and existing first aiders

Implementation of new finance system and training for identified staff

Staff training in new assessment systems

Identifying teachers to lead curriculum areas for own professional development

Develop understanding of outcomes and targets to enhance EHCP, ALPS and Annual Review process

We will be working on these areas over the next year.

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Spending our PE and Sport Premium

The PE and Sport Premium is an annual grant provided by the government to schools with Primary pupils, who may not benefit from specialist PE teaching. At Westfield we are fortunate to employ a specialist PE teacher, so we use our grant creatively to fund additional activities and resources which will support pupils in their PE curriculum.

Our PE and Sport Premium grant for 2020-21 was £16,655. A statement of our plan can be found on the school website. Over the past year, we have continued to provide an outdoor education programme, despite the restriction of COVID, and ran weekly sessions for identified pupils. We continue to run The Daily Mile to encourage regular exercise for pupils and staff.

Spending our Pupil Premium

The Pupil Premium is Government allocated funding to provide additional support for pupils who are in receipt of free school meals, are looked after or children in care (LAC/CiC) or are from a forces family. The school receives funding for each of these pupils to spend on meeting their needs in a personalised way, so that each pupil will have a slightly different offer. Some of this money allows us to identify support staff to work directly with these pupils. This is mostly done through our interventions team who deliver tailored and personalised interventions to pupils across the school. These interventions include Speech and Language Therapy, Literacy, Rebound Therapy (using a trampoline to encourage mobility) and access to our interventions TAs for specific work. We have also trained Teachers and Teaching Assistants in delivering a Literacy intervention programme called ‘Read, Write Inc.’ which has resulted in very good outcomes for pupils. Pupils who receive Pupil Premium can also have money spent on specific resources which help to support their learning. These may include computer equipment or sensory resources to help access to the curriculum. Below is a statement on the funding we received for Pupil Premium in the last year. A more detailed report on our Pupil Premium expenditure is published on our school website.

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Pupil Premium grant expenditure 2020-21

Number of pupils and pupil premium grant (PPG) received

Total number of pupils on roll 210

Total number of pupils eligible for PPG 78

Amount of PPG received per pupil

Post LAC

Service family pupils

£1,345 primary

£955 secondary

£2,345

£310

Total amount of PPG received

£83705

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Financial reporting

You will find our financial information from 2020-21 below, and also our new budget summary for the current financial year 2021-22.

Financial Report 2020-2021

Income

CFR Detail 2020 - 21

I01 Funds Delegated by the LA 2,241,290

I03 SEN Funding 1,857,696

I05 Pupil Premium 83,705

I06 Other Government Grants 15,000

I07 Other Grants and Payments 33,612

I08a Income from Lettings 4,200

I08b Other income from facilities and services 223,025

I09 Income from Catering 15,000

I18d Additional Grant for Schools 21,108

Income Revenue Total 4,494,636

Expenditure

CFR Detail 2020 - 21

E01 Teaching Staff 1,992,441

E02 Supply Teaching Staff 30,000

E03 Education Support Staff 1,595,173

E04 Premises Staff 88,315

E05 Administrative and Clerical Staff 162,369

E06 Catering Staff 59,493

E07 Other Staff 45,247

E09 Development and Training 12,250

E12 Building Maintenance and Improvement 38,983

E13 Grounds Maintenance and Improvement 5,200

E14 Cleaning and Caretaking 9,672

E15 Water and Sewerage 7,000

E16 Energy 38,000

E18 Other Occupation Costs 8,925

E19 Learning Resources (not ICT) 87,420

E20 ICT Learning Resources 57,500

E22 Administrative Supplies 26,650

E23 Other Insurance Costs 9,242

E24 Special Facilities 84,500

E25 Catering Supplies 32,000

E27 Bought in Prof Services - Curric 16,960

E28a Bought in professional services – other (except PFI) 20,550

Expenditure Revenue Total 4,427,890

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Westfield Arts College Budget Summary report for 2021 - 2022

Income/Expenditure Description 2021-22

Income

Individual School Budget 4,220,827

Pupil Premium 122,170

Other Grants 57,332

Other Income 259,639

Total Income: 4,659,968

Expenditure

Staff Costs - Teaching 2,090,614

Staff Costs - Support 2,150,841

Other Employment Costs 10,895

Occupancy Costs 96,374

Learning Resources 142,614

Other costs 299,847

Total Expenditure: 4,791,185

In Year Surp/(Def); -131,217

Surp/(Def) B/Fwds: 469,482

Cumulative C/Fwds: 338,265

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Our provision for pupils

We believe that all our pupils should enjoy coming to school and should have fun whilst learning. We aim to broaden their horizons through offering an exciting and stimulating curriculum which gives them opportunities to take part in a wide range of activities. We offer the National Curriculum but make sure that this is modified and adapted to meet the individual needs of our pupils. It is delivered at the pace and level appropriate to our pupils, depending on their level of need and the appropriate curriculum. The curriculum that we actually offer is so much broader than the confines of the National Curriculum and we are very proud to be able to do this. Some parent carers have queried whether our curriculum focusses too much on academic learning. It’s a fine balance and we are always making small adjustments to meet the needs of pupils. We have a duty to offer a wide curriculum which gives experience and opportunities to all pupils, ensuring that they make as much progress as possible in their literacy and numeracy, core skills for life. However, we also recognise the importance and value of creativity, physical and mental wellbeing and skills for life, and these are woven through our curriculum. Our pupils have a wide range of strengths and challenges, but each class team try to personalise the offer for the individual whilst ensuring they are receiving a high quality education. Many of our pupils require support for their communication, regulation and emotional and mental health and we have a range of activities and interventions which can meet these needs. We offer swimming sessions for many of our pupils although there is no requirement to do so. We continue to offer horse riding for some classes, particularly for those with more complex needs who benefit from this as they get older. We run a wide range of sporting activities and events across the year. We run a large number of off-site educational visits. In the past year our residential visits for pupils in Primary, Secondary and Sixth Form were again affected by the pandemic. We hope to have these fantastic opportunities available again in the future. Learning for life and preparation for adulthood are key themes for us in our work with all pupils, particularly as they get older. This year we have worked hard to build a programme that recognises pupils’ personal development and the skills they will need in adult life. We are really excited about this and will launch it in September. We continue to develop careers activities which provide pupils with a broader range of experiences related to employment opportunities. Outdoor learning is another important feature of what we do, and we make good use of the wonderful environment around us. This year we have run a full Outdoor Education programme which has benefitted many pupils. Key Stage 4 and Sixth Form pupils have taken part in the Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award programme and we have recently introduced the Prince’s Trust programme to support the curriculum.

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We are a specialist Arts college and the creative arts are a valuable part of the curriculum for our pupils. We offer pupils a full and rich programme of Arts events throughout the year which gives them the opportunity to work with professional artists, theatre directors and musicians. We enter pupils for the national Arts Award so that they can receive accreditation for their work. Our annual Art Exhibition was once again online, celebrating our pupil’s artwork

with a wider audience. Thank you to everyone who visited and for leaving your comments. If you haven’t yet seen this wonderful exhibition you can visit it here: Summer Art Exhibition 2021 You can also see some other work in the creative arts using our drama studio by visiting their website: The Studio website Our provision during the COVID pandemic Whilst the return to school in September was fairly normal, the year has been marked by disruption and challenges for everyone. We remained open throughout the year, and were able to continue to provide on-site learning for the majority of pupils during the second national lockdown between January and March 2021. In this period we also introduced weekly COVID lateral flow testing for all staff and for Secondary aged pupils. Our Testing centre opened on 6th January and closed on 29th March due to the introduction of home testing for all staff and Secondary aged pupils. In this time we undertook 2313 tests. This was a remarkable endeavour and we are very grateful to the team of staff and volunteers who made this possible. It was led by Aisla Maclean-Wood and Jen Coomer in school and supported by teachers, TAs, admin staff and 5 volunteers. Our thanks to all of them for their support.

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Our staff continued to make good use of the technologies available by having online activities and meetings for those working from home. We were able to continue with our Annual Review meetings for families and professionals thanks to the technology, and some of you found this very useful. We recognise the continuing impact of the pandemic on every family and pupil, but some in particular. Our PaPS team are working with and supporting a growing number of families. Mental Health and Wellbeing We have always recognised that some students need support around their anxiety and any changes they face and the pandemic has made it clear how important it is to look after everyone’s wellbeing. No one can do it alone but we all have a part to play for ourselves and for others. We have a wide range of strategies for supporting pupils with their emotional and mental health. These include:

Specific support in class identified by the class teacher and TAs

Intensive support from our Pupil and Parent Support Team (PaPS)

Interventions including Drawing and Talking, Lego Therapy, Rebound Therapy and other programmes

Individual interventions and programmes to support pupils with significant anxieties

Regular sensory breaks or programmes for identified pupils

Outdoor Education opportunities

A school Mental Health Lead (Aisla Maclean-Wood) and regular training and support for staff

Visiting professionals including the SWIFTS team (CAMHS service), social workers and therapists

We have made a conscious effort to focus on the benefits of exercise, being outdoors and generally having a healthy lifestyle. Our PE teacher, Mr Dailey, made a series of video challenges which you can view here: Dailey's Daily Challenges This year we changed the way we ran weekly assemblies and it has been a success. Instead of meeting together in the hall, we have run these online using Teams, and classes have joined from their classrooms. This has reduced transitions and enabled pupils to be comfortable in their safe classroom environment. Some pupils who previously struggled to engage with assemblies are now present and actively listening. Part of our assembly every week is a time for mindfulness and relaxation, and this has become a feature of our focus on personal wellbeing. Transition for pupils Our usual transition arrangements were again affected by the pandemic. Our new pupils joining in September were able to visit individually, but we were not able to include them in the regular transition sessions in the summer term. We held a Zoom meeting for new parent carers and the pupils were able to join in virtually with transition to new class groups. We remade the video to support transition for new pupils and included more staff and information to give a really good flavour of what to expect when you join Westfield. Transition video for new pupils

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School website We redesigned our school website in Summer 2020 and it is regularly updated and reviewed to include the information you will find most helpful. Visit our website https://westfield.dorset.sch.uk/

@westfield_arts_college Our school therapy dog, Luna, has been with us for two years. The pandemic has affected how much she could interact around the school, but she continues to support pupils with their social, emotional and mental health, and you can follow her adventures on Instagram

@schooldogluna

@westfieldartscollege @WestfieldArts

Pupil Achievements

School Council members 2020-2021 The School Council are involved in monthly meetings and making suggestions and decisions about how we do things in school. The Council includes pupils from Primary and Secondary phases. It is an important role and we are thankful to the following pupils for putting their energies into it and affecting change across the school. Mrs Helen Collinson leads our School Council. Chesil – Tyler Upwey – Seb Preston – Aaron/ Clark Nothe – Lucas Moreton – Oakley Bowleaze – Jack Wyke – Ashton Lulworth – Harris & Isla Sandbanks – Kage-Dean Newton – Cruz Ringstead – Chloe The School Council includes pupils from Primary and Secondary along with our Rights Respecting School Representatives. This means that we are one big voice that stands for all we believe in at Westfield!

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Prior to the Summer term we tried hard to get students involved remotely through organising online votes for fundraisers and charity ideas. School Council were finally able to meet properly for the first time this academic year in May. As always, the students have fantastic ideas and have all come up with some really excellent and achievable suggestions. This Summer term they have:

Met three times already - six meetings due to keeping Primary and Secondary students in bubbles

Shared ideas about what they want the role of the School Council to be and how they want it to work

Worked with Helen to write an action plan that will help keep them moving forwards on issues they have raised

Listened to and commented on feedback from Mr Cameron’s RSHE survey

Identified charities they would like to support in the next academic year Worked with Helen to come up with a fundraising plan for next year

Coming up early in the Autumn term they will be:

Inviting a governor to talk at a meeting to get a better understanding of their role in running the school.

Meeting with the School Cook and Business Manager about making it easier to make healthy choices at lunch and recycling the food waste that is produced over lunch times.

Supporting Jeans for Genes with a non-uniform day.

Starting our efforts to support a local food bank. Helen Collinson Achievement Awards July 2021 Despite the disruption to the year it is important to recognise special achievements from our pupils. We celebrated these at our online end of year assembly. We also stressed the fact that every one of our pupils has done their best in this very difficult time and we are proud of them all. Kath Gould Award for outstanding contribution to school life – Zak and Sacha Primary Achievement and Progress - Clark Secondary Achievement and Progress - Cleo Sixth Form Achievement and Progress - Leon Flying Start Award for a new pupil - Isla Personal Development Award – Issac Overcoming the Odds Award – Charlie Thomas Puttock cup for Performing Arts - Jessica Sports Award for outstanding contribution - Leon Arts Award – Robbie School Council – Archie

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Qualifications and Accreditations for 2020-21

Despite the national lockdown during the Spring Term of 2021 many of our students have still

been able to successfully follow their accreditation pathway. The organisation and

administration of the exams has looked different again this year and much time has been

spent organising policies and procedures to fulfil the legal requirements set by the JCQ (Joint

Council for Qualifications). During the Spring and Summer Terms we worked daily on exam

administration and organisation to support our students and enable them to be awarded the

accreditations they have worked hard towards achieving in Key Stage 4 and Sixth Form.

This year we have worked students through the following qualifications:

Arts Award Bronze Level 1

AQA Entry Level in Science, Maths and English

OCR Entry Level in PE

AQA Functional Skills in Mathematics, Level 1

In addition to this we have run AQA unit awards in Design and Technology, Food Technology,

Computing and Art.

After much deliberation we decided not to use teacher assessment grades for GSCE’s in Maths

and English. We felt that our students had not completed enough of the necessary

Programme of Study to submit grades. Our priority is for our students to gain their Entry Level

accreditations and every student in Year 11 has achieved these in the core subjects.

We also withdrew some Sixth Form students from sitting their Functional Skills Level 1 and 2

in English and Maths due to low attendance in the Spring Term where a large chunk of the

learning was missed. Two students were able to sit an examination in Maths as they attended

school through the pandemic.

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Fundraising in the school

Not only do we raise money to support our own pupils, but we also support a number of charities throughout the year, who are very grateful for the donations they receive. Thank you to our parents and carers for helping to support these charities.

Charity support and funding in 2020-21 During the year we supported the following charities: November 2020 Children in Need £380.20 December 2020 Save the Children (Christmas Jumper Day) £162.18 January 2021 Hanger Heroes (Highland Fling) £198.00 March 2021 Red Nose Day £324.05 April 2021 Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance £50.00 May 2021 Smile Train UK £157.50 June 2021 British Heart Foundation £20.50

Total £1,292.43

Friends of Westfield events

We are grateful to the small but dedicated group of parents and staff who work hard across the year to raise funds for the school. Unfortunately they haven’t been able to organise many of their usual events over the last year due to COVID. They did organise a Christmas raffle, which raised over £940.

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Donations to the school

We are very grateful to everyone who makes donations to Westfield across the year, no matter how large or small. We spend donations carefully to improve provision and opportunities for all our pupils. Hangers Heroes - £500 Rotary Club - £1000 NEU - £100 FC Douch & Sons - £80 Lions Club - £100 Through these donations we have been able to buy additional iPads, a new shed and bench and put money towards home learning equipment and Christmas grotto gifts. We are also very grateful to Patrick Craddock from Cloverclean Ltd who offered their de-fogging services to us to support our COVID safety measures. Total donations received £1,780

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We hope you have found this report informative, and that is has answered questions that

you may have had, or may not have known you had!

Is there anything else you would like to know about the work of the Governors? Is there anything you would like to ask? If so, please complete your comments below and send them back to the school office marked for the attention of the Governors. If you’d rather do this electronically you can email the school office at office@westfield.dorset.sch.uk or complete the contact form on our school website here: https://westfield.dorset.sch.uk/contact-us/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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