Worcester MP visits city's 'exemplary' Perryfields PRU amidst its work received national recognition - The Worcester Observer

Worcester MP visits city's 'exemplary' Perryfields PRU amidst its work received national recognition

Worcester Editorial 8th Feb, 2022   0

WORCESTER MP and Minister for School Standards Robin Walker visited Perryfields Primary’s Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) to see its pioneering work on behaviour and helping excluded children back into mainstream education.

Mr Walker visited the PRU after his election victory in 2010 but this was in his ministerial role, following a recommendation from Department For Education (DFE) officials that the school was an exemplar of positive behaviour culture.

The visit came prior to the DFE’s consultation on how schools can create a culture of good behaviour and how exclusions can be used fairly which is due to be launched shortly.

The DFE is also expanding the number of lead schools on the behaviour hubs programme to support more schools to create a positive culture of good behaviours.




Mr Foster was joined by DFE officials, including Marie Gentles, one of the key behaviour advisers who works with Perryfields to ensure findings and experience from their good work with Worcestershire schools can be used to support others further afield.


They met headteacher Pete Hines and deputy Sarah Vaughan and took a tour of the unit, which supports up to 22 pupils at a time and has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted four times in a row.

It was also named as the county’s Primary School of the Year in the 2019 Worcestershire Education Awards.

They saw how pupils at the unit were supported and encouraged, motivated in their studies and taught about the learning ‘superpowers’ to allow them to succeed.

They visited the inspiring and colourful classrooms and saw how pupils and staff shared breaktime activities and worked closely together on a rich and demanding curriculum including literacy, numeracy, history, outdoor activities and languages.

Last April the Government launched its ‘Behaviour Hubs’ scheme, investing £10million to enable leading schools in the field of behaviour to lend their expertise and knowledge to others which wanted and needed to turn round their behaviour.

Perryfields was one the first 22 lead schools across the country to provide that targeted support, is one of only two ‘alternative provision settings’ and the first PRU anywhere in the country to be named as a behaviour hub.

Mr Walker said: “It is hard to express the sheer delight of seeing how brilliantly Perryfields supports their children and just how impressive their work on behaviour is.

“To be asked by my department to visit this school as a national beacon of excellence in behaviour work was fantastic and everything I saw on my visit reinforced what an excellent choice this was.”

He added Perryfields being picked out as the first and so far only PRU in the country to be part of the Government’s behaviour hub was a huge achievement and it was brilliant to see its great work reaching a wider audience.

During his visit he met the school dogs – a key part of the team which helps ensure a warm, nurturing and supportive environment, putting pupils at their ease and fostering a culture of respect. The dogs also provide both a focus for attention and a source of comfort for the pupils at the unit.

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