Thomas Telford School
Values & Ethos
We have very high expectations for the whole school community and offer a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum. Our aim is to ensure outstanding examination outcomes within a respectful, kind and ambitious community.
Background
Thomas Telford School teaching day has two teaching sessions running from 8:30am until 3:15pm, with an additional third session from 3.30pm until 4.50pm Monday to Thursday. This enables our students to access a flexible provision of academic study, alongside sporting and recreational activities. Almost 100% of students remain in school for at least one Session 3 per week and a significant majority participate more than twice per week. The formal taught week is 28 hours 45 minutes with an additional 6 hours per week available for session 3.
Curriculum Philosophy & Vision
Thomas Telford School works hard and with skill to develop student resilience, so that students can establish themselves in a rapidly changing and globalised society. Recognition and acceptance of difference, in a world where personal and international conflicts unfold daily, is key to preparing our students for adult life. We promote E-Safety and recognise the tremendous benefits that technology can bring, when used as a force for good.
High standards and expectations ensures that Thomas Telford School maintains a calm working environment, for students and staff. Outstanding behaviour should be, and is, the norm. Positive working relationships engender a culture of mutual respect. We are proud of the ethos in our school and aim to ensure that every child feels safe and valued. We promote a healthy lifestyle and positive relationships. We are vigilant in our monitoring and dealing with the rare occasions of racist, homophobic and sexist incidents, and use these occasions to educate those students to reflect on their behaviour and to be more respectful and kind.
Safeguarding is a high priority, and all students have access to Relationship and Sex Education. We have a Designated Safeguard Lead (DSL) and 8 deputies, to support our students. Vertical tutor group system ensures that our students are in contact with a personal tutor and older students, as role models and mentors, every day.
The expectation is that staff will provide excellent teaching, which is engaging for all learners and fulfilling for teachers. We aim to ensure that both employees and students feel valued, through ongoing recognition of the students’ achievements and the part played by teachers in achieving outstanding outcomes. The Headmaster is always available to meet with students and employees, with his ‘open door’ policy.
Thomas Telford School recognises that some members of our school community will require additional support in accessing the curriculum and in managing emotional challenges. We have a lead teacher responsible for SEND, who works closely with all staff to support our students. Teachers are able to identify SEND and disadvantaged students and adapt their lessons accordingly.
The School provides both emotional and behavioural support for students utilising our supportive nurture unit. We recognise the importance and our responsibility to ensure all students have the opportunity to build up ‘cultural capital’ so that disadvantaged students have the same opportunities as non-disadvantaged peers. For this reason, all students follow the Ebacc suite of subjects and all teachers promote social and cultural knowledge during lessons. We encourage enrichment activities beyond the classroom with visits, trips, activities and guest speakers, across the curriculum
We have 4 non-negotiable pillars to our curriculum based on Rosenshein’s principles. These are:
- Establishing the right classroom culture
- Planning for learning
- Making learning memorable
- Checking for understanding
Teachers focus on not only ‘what’ but also ‘how’ students learn; subject curriculum plans are organised and delivered to aid recall and retention and to ensure sufficient levels of challenge and support. Staff regularly recap and revisit work so that students can build on previous knowledge and skills, this means our students will grow in confidence in their abilities, supported by regular key assessments and reports to parents to ensure they are able to recognise their strengths and act on areas for development. The online curriculum ensures access to high quality remote learning materials is the norm. The impact of the Covid pandemic is still a concern for all schools and we are identifying gaps in learning and developing strategies and monitoring processes to ‘catch up’ for any student who needs it.
Our vision is to prepare students to cope with the demands of modern society and twenty first century employment. Careers guidance is an entitlement for all students and nil NEET’s (Not in Education Employment or Training) is a priority target, with a near 100% success over the years.
Supporting staff well being is also a high priority to our ethos as a learning community. Our teachers have access to high quality professional development opportunities that focus on effective research based teaching and learning. Subject leaders and senior leaders carry out regular lesson observations and offer developmental feedback and training to staff. In addition, to promote and develop outstanding practice, learning walks, book trawls and conversations with students, through ‘Student Voice’, provides staff with information to evaluate student progress and standards.
