A West Midlands secondary academy which progressed from an Ofsted rating of 'Requires Improvement' to 'Good' in just two years has won a national award for its approach to teaching.
North Birmingham Academy, based in Perry Common, won the Alex Timpson ARC Attachment Award for secondary schools for its work around attachment and trauma awareness. This approach means that teachers emphasise the importance of understanding the emotional and learning needs of their pupils and provide support in these areas, rather than focusing on the curriculum alone. The award was presented during this year's Attachment Research Community Conference, a gathering of leading academics and practitioners in this area.
"Winning this award is fantastic recognition for the team and what they have achieved over the last few years. This is an academy with a great team of people where children can come and feel safe and included. We are at the heart of our community," said Headteacher Philip Lloyd.
The academy, part of E-ACT multi-academy trust, received a rating of 'Requires Improvement' from Ofsted in 2016, and the proportion of disadvantaged pupils for whom the academy receives pupil premium is in the highest 20 per cent of state-funded schools nationally. However, after making a number of changes, North Birmingham Academy was rated 'Good' by Ofsted in 2018 with inspectors praising a number of areas, including its leadership, quality of teaching and improvements in attendance rates.
A key element of the academy's transformation has been its introduction of the Thrive Approach®, which promotes children and young people's positive mental health by helping adults to respond effectively to the students' differing and sometimes distressed behaviour as well as measuring their progress as they move forward.
Kay Hamilton, Thrive's Relationship Manager for Central England, has worked with North Birmingham Academy throughout its transformation. "The academy always wanted to be a beacon for social and emotional wellbeing and they are a shining example of an attachment aware school. They have worked hard to win this award and it's something they really deserve," she said.
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