Foxdenton School &
Integrated Nursery
25 Years of Service to Pupils with Special Needs
Champion Children! Champion School!
"Foxdenton is a very good school with a very good and distinctive ethos. The relationships it fosters with parents and the community are outstanding and a major strength of the school" Ofsted 1996
Our 1994 & 1997 Charter Marks and the above opening paragraph from our Ofsted report are the independent and external validation of our work of the past twenty-five years. Together they confirm that, though we want to continue improving, our values and our efforts to date have been very much along the right lines. We have always aimed for excellence, seeking to provide the best possible service to children and to parents, and no-where is that better measured than through the prestigious Charter Mark Scheme.
Our winning formula has a number of important elements:
High expectations to raise achievement in children.
evidenced in 1997 through their academic successes, their progress towards independence and especially
Partnership with parents
Our Home/School books and monthly newsletters keep parents well informed and our Annual Survey (now twelve years old) helps us to test parental perceptions of our services and communications. From these and our many other contacts (we have a designated Parents’ Room) we look to improve year on year in line with their wishes and children’s needs. Recent advances are - Photographic record books tracking the children through the year, I-Can books, summer holiday family outings, better review procedures, and Booster programmes. The long-established summer Play Scheme and free taxi service are particularly appreciated.
Staff Development.
Recognising staff as our greatest resource we have sought to develop their talents to the full and involve them in all our planning and review activities.
An emphasis on success and an Inclusive Approach.
We have sought ways to structure success for all our children within the classroom and beyond it. Our programme of extra curricular activities gained us a distinction
Links with the community.
We have strong links with mainstream schools and this has ensured a valid integration experience for every pupil. Our work with colleges, with Young Compact and businesses ensure our pupils have access to a wide range of opportunities and resources (Last year Sainsbury’s Oldham Customers spent £1M to provide vouchers for a new range of computers). In April 1997
A Passion for excellence.
The early ideas of Tom Peters and the principles of Charter Mark, the highest accolade for public service, have guided our search for excellence but we have also sought to test and develop ourselves against the more comprehensive framework EFQM Excellence model. In 1995 gained the first ever
This year we are aiming for a British Quality Award and the site visit is today.
Our formula which includes the involvement of all our stakeholders in planning, an evaluative culture with effective review procedures, strong communications and a drive for continuous improvement is nothing to do with Foxdenton being a special school. It is a formula drawing on principles and systems which, enthusiastically applied, would make any school, indeed any organisation, special. Ours is very much a team effort - a team including parents, staff, governors, volunteers, the authorities, and the community. To all those who have helped in our success over the years with encouragement, skill, time or funding we are immensely grateful.
Back in September 1996 when we faced our Ofsted inspection and many other challenges we said "We become a Champion School by making Champions of our children." That philosophy has paid off brilliantly. It is their achievements, their determination, and their sheer joy in living which drive the whole enterprise. The adjudicator at the Royal Festival Hall could not have put it better. They, the children, have been
"An inspiration to us all"
Sid Jacobs Mel Farrar Kevin Fennelly
Chairman of Governors Head Teacher Acting Head (1997/98)
If you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to ring us on:
0161 284 5335 or Fax us on 0161 284 5338
Foxdenton School & Integrated Nursery, Foxdenton Lane, Chadderton, Oldham. LANCS. OL9 9QR