Our Awards

Learning Outside the Classroom

We are proud to celebrate that in December, St Giles Spencer Academy were awarded LOtC Mark (Gold) by the registered charity 'Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.' This great achievement was awarded to St Giles in recognition of our 'commitment to ensuring all learners have access to good quality educational experiences beyond the classroom walls' (LOtC). The report highlighted that 'There is strong evidence to show that Learning Beyond the Classroom is fully embedded into the school’s ethos, curriculum and training. The links demonstrate that LOtC is valued by all areas of the school and demonstrates excellence in this area' (St Giles LOtC Award report).

The Balanced System

Inclusion Quality Mark - Flagship Status

St Giles was first awarded Flagship Status in July 2018. St. Giles has been awarded ‘Flagship Status’ for its high quality work in inclusion. In order to achieve Flagship Status a school must have held 'Centre of Excellence' status for at least three years prior to attaining Flagship status for the first time.

An assessor came to re-visit the school in October 2024 as part of the on-going review process, their report concluded that:

• The children are happy to be in school. It is noticeable that they have clear routines throughout the day and that these are shared with them at key points of the daily programme of learning activities. Staff will use various forms of communication and groups of communication, e.g., widget pictures with sign language, calm and soothing music for preparation for the next learning phase, e.g., the afternoon’s learning experiences, and preparing the children for home time (coats, bags, buses, tea, play, reading, sleep, etc.).

• The quick conversations between staff in the corridor or more formally in meetings demonstrate the ‘professional love’ that they have for each other and their children/families. This is interwoven with high aspirations for each child and suitable challenges from line managers in the ‘done with, not done to’ ethos of this school, enabling a bit of magic to spread over the school. It is a special place to work in and be a visitor to as you are quickly included in the high-performing staff team, who remain positive even when under immense pressure to help each child to remain calm, happy, engaging and positive with each other while weaving in learning in different ways for each child; a marvel to watch.

• The parents were very clear that without St Giles, their child or children would not have developed so quickly in being able to communicate with others and with increased independence. These quotes fully speak for themselves.

“St Giles is the most supported place since the boys were diagnosed; they share great communication with me, giving me the heads-up on their day with messages and phone calls, but most of all pictures on the Class DoJo for me to see and share with my boys when they return home.”

“My child loves going to school now. I was worried about him going to school, but the staff helped me settle too, and we have a good relationship. the staff are at hand to help me at any time.”

Autism Accreditation

On the 5^th July 2019 St Giles Spencer Academy were awarded the Autism Accreditation by The National Autistic Society, the UK’s leading charity for people on the autism spectrum and their families. The award was given in recognition of the school’s good autism practice. The report highlights that ‘the school provides personal centred support based on a thorough understanding of each autistic pupil’s strengths and challenges.  Structured teaching approaches are embedded throughout the school and autistic pupils are well supported in their communication, sensory regulation and emotional well-being. There is a strong commitment to empowering them to become more independent and confident in their abilities. Feedback from parents is overwhelmingly positive’. 

Shine a Light - SEN School of the Year

Shine a Light Award – 2019 SEN School of the Year Award

St Giles Spencer Academy was awarded the SEN School of the Year Award for the work that they do in supporting pupils’ communication and independence skills at the UK-wide 2019 Shine a Light Awards, organised by learning company Pearson, in partnership with The Communication Trust. The award celebrates innovative work and excellent practice in supporting children and young people’s speech, language and communication development. They also recognise the hard work and determination of children and young people who have some form of long-term and persistent speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

International School's Award

Re-accredited by the British Council St Giles Achieved the International School's Award in December 2022.  They said "It is clear to see that St Giles Spencer Academy continues to build and embed a real global learning ethos supported by a range of interesting on-going international activities and by the school's involvement in the Right Respecting Schools Award. The school links with India and Thailand have been used as a vehicle with which to enable increased awareness of ways of life, cultures and experiences in the world, carried out through some interesting activities such as A day in the life of..., Value of Money, Traditional Songs, Every Picture Tells a Story etc."

Arts Mark - Gold

The school have also recently been re-awarded the Artsmark Gold Award, an award which recognises schools’ commitment to creativity. The award is accredited by Arts Council England and is the only award for arts and culture provision in England.

It is awarded following a rigorous assessment process in which schools must demonstrate the impact Artsmark has had, how it has allowed the school’s arts and cultural provision to progress and the objectives and goals they have achieved through following the framework.

Assessors celebrated St Giles for their ‘high quality teaching and learning…infused with an appreciation of how the arts feed into the curriculum, rather than being treated as separate and distinct from it.’

The school were also praised for ‘constantly exploring pathways to broaden pupil's engagement with wider social opportunities’.

Family First

The Families First Quality Award (FFQA) is a national quality assurance process and quality improvement framework designed to help you provide gold standard information to families and keep families at the heart of your work. 

The assessor said "The role of parents/carers in supporting readiness for learning is clearly valued by the school and a range of approaches are used which enable family needs to be identified and met. Parents/carers interviewed reported that family support had changed their lives, for example by enabling them to arrange transport to school for their child, to be able to consolidate the school’s development of their child’s behaviour and communication skills by mirroring fun learning activities at home, or by enabling them to access the support from other professionals needed for safeguarding, family health and wellbeing, including personal counselling."

By achieving the award, St Giles has demonstrated a level of quality in relation to its work with families; successfully engaging parents, carer and children.

Sports Mark - Bronze award

Achieved in July 2016, The School Games Mark is a Government led awards scheme launched in 2012 to reward schools for their commitment to the development of sports competition across their school and into the community.

As a bronze school we achieved the following criteria:

• A system is in place to track young people’s participation in School Games
• Opportunities that attract less active young people to participate in physical activity
• Held a School Games Day as the culmination of a year-round competition programme
• A calendar of competition is in place that demonstrates opportunities for young people with SEND to take part in competitions;
• A notice board is in school which promotes School Games activity
• Plans are in place to provide all pupils with two hours of physical education and school sport per week inclusive of extra curriculum provision;
• We engage at least 20% of pupils (5% for special schools due to the size of the school) in extracurricular sporting activity every week
• Use the School Games formats to provide the opportunity for both boys and girls to take part in the appropriate level of competition
• Engage at least 5% of pupils in leading, managing and officiating School Games activity

Makaton Friendly Award

Achieved in June 2016, The Makaton Friendly Award recognises local organisations, businesses and educational establishments that strive to make their services accessible to children and adults who use Makaton. We are passionate about communication and firmly believe that all pupils and adults with a learning or communication difficulty should be able to access the same services and facilities as everyone else.

ICan – “Primary Talk” Accreditation

 The "iCan Primary Talk” Accreditation was first achieved in July 2015 and has been re-accredited every year since. We were accredited at Specialist Level, not because we are a Special Needs School but rather because of the high quality provision in place to support children's communication needs which is underpinned by the 'expert' knowledge and skill of our staff.

As a Communication Specialist School we deliver high quality, integrated speech and language therapy and education for children with the most severe and complex speech, language and communication needs. Services at Specialist Level can demonstrate collaborative multi-disciplinary practice that benefits the children and their families.

The external assessor/moderator praised St. Giles Spencer Academy for the following:

• Outstanding strategic lead from senior leaders has resulted in an effective provision for pupils with severe and complex Speech, Language and Communication Needs.
• Communication is integral to the school’s culture and overtly demonstrated through the physical environment and practice of all staff
• The impact of the focus on communication has led to a reduction in behaviour incidents and improvement in pupil attainment
• A wide range of differentiated strategies and specialist approaches were used by the whole staff team to support learning and inclusion
• Pupils were engaged in their lessons due to a high level of multisensory input and all opportunities were used to encourage independence skills
• There is an excellent deployment of staff and classroom teams work effectively together to meet the care and educational needs of each child
• Feedback from parents was extremely positive. In particular:

                     Their involvement in their child’s IEP and sharing the target setting process

                     The support and resources provided by school to address specific difficulties at home

                     The good progress they have observed in their children since joining the school

                     How their own expertise in SEN is recognised and used by the school to develop a ‘tailor made’                                provision for their child