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The Park School presentation photo |
Champion status for outstanding school
Valuing its staff, pupils and parents has helped a Woking school achieve Champion status in a national awards scheme.
The Park School, in Onslow Crescent, has 50 staff and caters for 100 pupils with learning difficulties. It has recently been awarded Investors in People Gold status, meaning that the school has gone beyond the nationally recognised Standard and achieved the highest award possible. It was then invited to become an Investors in People Champion to act as an ambassador for other organisations and schools.
Assistant head teacher Paul Walsh said: “Sometimes as an organisation you can often see where the gaps are but having someone from outside come in and look at what you do and the way you do things stimulates discussion and thinking that generates novel solutions.
“The Investors in People framework provides a very useful structure for evaluating how we are doing. It was really useful to have a review before an Ofsted inspection. The framework fitted in with a lot of the areas we focus on in our self evaluation processes, particularly in the areas of leadership and management. Investors in People’s focus on social responsibility also linked in well with the Ofsted focus on community cohesion.”
He added that as the school is involved in a wide range of networks at a county and national level it will provide opportunities to recommend Investors in People to other organisations. The school has already made a presentation at a county professional development network meeting about its experiences of the new approach.
The Ofsted report, carried out in November, stated: “The school has maintained unwavering improvement since the previous inspection and has excellent capacity for further improvement. This is highlighted through its exciting building, environmental and faith projects and the recent Gold award for its Investors in People review.”
The Park School celebrated attaining its Champion status with the formal presentation of the Investors in People Champion plaque to the school.
Commenting on the school’s achievement, Trish Fraser, Managing Director of Quality South East, the Investors in People Centre for Surrey said: “This is a fantastic achievement. Congratulations are due to all the staff at The Park School, not only for achieving Champion status but also for their recent outstanding Ofsted report.”
To find out more about the benefits of Investors in People visit www.qse.org.uk, www.investorsinpeople.co.uk or call 01329 822077.
ENDS
PICTURE: Trish Fraser, Managing Director of Quality South East, presents the Investors in People Champions plaque to Park School headteacher Karen Eastwood and students Hannah McAlister and Max Townsend
For more media information, please contact: Rachel Knight or Georgette McCready, Maxim, 01892 513033 or email: first name@maxim-pr.co.uk
Notes to editors
Quality South East is licensed by Investors in People UK to provide Investors in People assessment and support services. Quality South East covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex.
Investors in People is a prestigious, national framework for improving business performance. It helps organisations achieve improved performance and sustained growth through the development of their people.
Organisations of all sizes and from all sectors find that using Investors in People improves productivity and profitability, improves employee engagement and enhances customer satisfaction.
Addleton, Josie on 11/02/10