Thurrock Trailblazer Evaluation 2015/16

Kenningtons Primary Academy
“We are teaching others through the things that we see and do”
Liam, Year 5 student
School details
Kenningtons Primary Academy is a larger than average 3-11 primary school. The
school was judged ‘Good’ by Ofsted in 2014. The Cultural Champion is Bianca
Brand.
Why did Kenningtons Primary Academy join Trailblazer?
The school is committed to the principle of cultural entitlement for all of its
pupils. Trailblazer offers them the resources and support to achieve this.
What whole school priority was linked to Trailblazer?
● Continue to develop the curriculum so that the pupils are inspired to learn.
● Improve learning so that all pupils have a love of learning and are resilient to
failure.
● Increase pupil aspiration so they have an understanding of the working
world
What was their action research question?
How can Trailblazer raise students’ aspirations through increasing their
understanding of arts and culture, broadening their understanding and building
resilience?
What did they do?
The Historical Royal Palaces: Time Explorers Challenge project exploring ‘The
Young Victoria’ was a whole school focus for a week with core learning aims set
for each class (eg specific requirements for writing). Each class chose an arts
based focus to drive their learning and produced an outcome to be shared with
the school community, including parents.
Who took part?
All staff and pupils took part in this project.
The difference that has been made
● As a result of their research the school has a much clearer insight into where
and how arts and culture needs to be developed and are basing forward
planning on this data.
● The pupils now recognise a greater variety of art forms - eg singing (before
20% after up to 73%),
● Children are inspired to participate more in different art forms (92%).
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