A SWINDON primary school has received a national award of quality for its work in improving the well-being of its pupils.

Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Park North, has been given the Quality Mark Award in recognition of the work being done by the school to improve progress in reading, writing and maths for all pupils, particularly those with special educational needs or disabilities.

Karen Bathe, head teacher at Holy Family, said: “We are extremely proud to have achieved this award. It is a symbol of the hard work and dedication of all the parents, children and staff to enable every child at Holy Family to be the best they can be.”

The award has been developed by leading education charity Achievement for All (AfA), which offers support programmes to schools to help them improve outcomes in the lowest achieving 20 per cent.

Holy Family has been working in partnership with Achievement for All since September 2013 and has seen a marked improvement in parental engagement and academic outcomes for the families involved in the programme.

Sharon Clift, AfA school champion at Holy Family, said: “Working with AFA has had a great impact on how we support our families at Holy Family. Teachers have grown in confidence in supporting parents through the in-depth Structured Conversations.

“Many families have told us how they feel ‘listened to’ and more a part of the school community and their child’s education than they did previous to being on the programme.

“We are also thrilled to have seen a big impact on children’s academic achievements due to the additional support from both home and school. We are very proud to have been awarded the Quality Mark.”

Achievement for All works closely with parents, carers, teachers and the individual child to secure the best outcome and attainment for their students through personalised and specific targets.

The unique programmes are delivered directly to schools and settings via a highly skilled and trained team of expert coaches and specialist online support tool called The Bubble.

The award focuses on a variety of categories such as strategic planning, quality of teaching and learning, effective use of interventions, pupil progress and community relationships.

Kris Wodehouse, regional director at Achievement for All, said: “We are thrilled to present Holy Family with this much deserved award.

“They have shown a high quality of leadership and teamwork and the target groups have made more than expected progress.” and are closing the gap with their peers.

“Our programmes are designed to be a whole school improvement tool and Holy Family has shown a continued commitment and success in improving outcomes for their children.

“Achievement for All believes that every child can progress, and through our programmes we hope to enable every child to be the best that they can be regardless of background, challenge, or need. A huge congratulations to teachers, parents, carers and children at Holy Family for all their hard work.”