Page 6 - Athelstan Argus - July 2022

competed for their house. It was one of the first whole school events we held following a long
period of varied precautions. On a beautifully sunny afternoon it was

so nice to see the entire school out together, smiling, competing
and having fun. As the competition came to an end each house

fielded an “All-stars” team and it was such a nice way to end the
term with all of the students cheering on their individual house and
celebrating the overall winners.

Tim Gilson’s Favourite Moment

In amongst many wonderful moments in each of the Trust Schools
– there is one clear moment that stands out; It was the moment
when the Lead Inspector read out the opening line on The Dean Academy’s Ofsted report ‘This is

a school where pupils thrive’ and confirmed that the school was good in all areas. This represents
the start of the next phase of school improvement at TDA and the recognition of the incredible

hard work and dedication of all the staff there, including many long serving staff who have seen the
school through some really tough times. Their unwavering commitment to the students and
community of Lydney is inspirational.

THE ATHELSTAN TRUST THEMATIC REVIEW: EQUALITY,

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION THROUGH THE LENS OF PE.

The third Athelstan review of 2021-2022 explored the theme of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

and in order to consider this from a student perspective, we used the lens of P.E. lessons. Over
two weeks at the start of Term 6, a total of 27 lessons were observed and through a student voice
questionnaire, the views of many students were collated.

Students were overwhelmingly positive about their experiences in P.E; they know what to do and

why they were doing it. Unsurprisingly, this had a direct correlation to their enjoyment of lessons
and their feedback on feeling that lessons are inclusive. The most effective teachers clearly

explained how activities are scaffolded to support progress and made adjustments to ensure that
all students were challenged to have equitable engagement and progression throughout the

lesson. At whole faculty level, it was impressive to hear the willingness of colleagues to continually
reassess the curriculum offer with EDI values at the core of decision making.

Personalised, responsive and positive feedback was impressive across many of the lessons. In
response to a question about how teachers make them feel ‘valued and included’, several