Government calls on outstanding school to share secrets of its success
A special school has received so much praise in recent years the Government wants to use its success as a blueprint for other institutions.
The Brier, in Kingswinford, has been rated 'outstanding' on four successive occasions by Ofsted.
The school, which caters for 154 children, aged four to 19, has also been named an Inclusion Quality Mark centre of excellence and also obtained a Wellbeing Award.
Proud headteacher David Stanton has been tasked with writing a four-page editorial for the Government, which will be used to inspire more schools to follow their lead.
The report forms part of the Government's Initiatives IQ, on education excellence in 2020, which is being published in March.
Mr Stanton said: "We are one of the most successful in the country, especially getting four 'outstanding' ratings on the trot.
"Ofsted recently changed its criteria too but we still managed to achieve the highest mark.
"We're one of the only schools in the country to have done it.
"Because we're a special school it means we have to be compulsorily checked every three to four years, so it dates back to 2008.
"We were selected by the Government as being one of the top schools in the country and asked to publish our work in the Government's report.
"The Government wants us to help other schools achieve the same standards."
The Brier has also become a centre of excellence, a rating that will stay in place for the next three years.
"After the Inclusion Quality Mark results were published we were then asked to become a centre of excellence," said Mr Stanton.
"It's so we can share best practice and with other schools and it's a bit of a badge of honour, really.
"We also achieved the Wellbeing Award, which means we make everyone, all the staff and children, feel looked after."
Mr Stanton, who took over as headteacher in September, said the entire school felt very proud of its past and present achievements, and vowed to maintain the high levels of performance.
"It's been hard work going for all three awards, and the staff and team have felt it, but we held a staff meeting recently to praise everyone involved," he said.
"We work with children who have complex needs and some who have reduced life expectancy, and they all need education healthcare plans in place.
"But the reason we achieve so much is because everyone here is caring and dedicated.
"They are all prepared to go above and beyond for the children, going the extra mile.
"We want to make their experiences enjoyable the whole time they are here."
