When parents first come to Greenbank, one of the things we often talk about is how well we know our children. That matters because knowing a child properly changes what you are able to do for them.
You notice when they are ready to be pushed further. You notice when something they would normally manage has suddenly become difficult. You know when a little more explanation will help, when working with a smaller group would make a difference, or when they simply need some space and time before trying again.
The Meadow has been created to give us more ways to respond to those moments.
It is our new inclusive learning space, available to children across Greenbank as part of the wider school day. It gives our teachers greater flexibility for individual and small-group learning, targeted support and those occasions when a different environment will help a child get the most from their learning.
Some children may use The Meadow regularly. Others might use it occasionally, perhaps as part of a small group. Some may hardly use it at all.
The important thing is that it is there when it is needed.
And that tells you something quite important about the kind of school we want Greenbank to be.
We are academically ambitious for our children, but we don't believe ambition requires every child to take exactly the same route.
We want children to be challenged when they are ready, supported when they need it and known well enough for us to understand the difference.
The Meadow gives us more opportunity to do exactly that.
Anyone who spends time with children knows that learning isn't neat.
A child can fly through maths and find writing difficult. They can be confident in the classroom but find certain situations overwhelming. They can need additional support for a period of time and then no longer need it. Another child may need more consistent help to access learning successfully.
There are also children who need to be challenged further and sooner because they are ready for it.
We don't think any of those children should have to wait until they fit a particular box before we respond.
Sometimes the right support will happen in the classroom. Sometimes a child will benefit from working with a smaller group or individually with an adult. At other times, having somewhere quieter to work, concentrate or regulate can make all the difference.
The Meadow gives us those options.
It doesn't replace the classroom or the relationships children have with their teachers. It gives us another way to make those relationships and that knowledge of the individual child count.
Being inclusive does not mean expecting less.
We want every Greenbank child to make progress, to be challenged and to experience the satisfaction that comes from achieving something they have worked hard for.
The support needed to get there, however, will not always look the same.
For one child that might mean some focused work before returning to class. Another may benefit from revisiting something in a smaller group. A child who is finding the school day overwhelming may need some time in a calmer environment before they are ready to learn again.
And the child who has grasped something quickly shouldn't spend the rest of the lesson waiting for everybody else.
The question for us is not simply, “Can this child do it?”
It is also, “What does this child need from us next?”
The Meadow gives our teachers greater freedom to answer that question.
We have been very clear from the beginning that The Meadow should not sit on the edge of school life.
Children who receive additional support are Greenbank children first.
They belong to their class. They have friendships. They play sport, perform, go on trips and residentials, take on responsibilities, stand up in assemblies and contribute to the life of the school.
If a child spends some of their time learning differently, we don't believe that should mean missing out on everything else that makes school, school.
That sense of belonging is important for the child receiving support, but there is something else happening too.
Children grow up alongside people who have different strengths, find different things difficult and sometimes need different kinds of help. Difference becomes something understood rather than something unusual.
They learn when to help and when to step back. They learn patience, responsibility and empathy. They also learn that needing help themselves is nothing to be embarrassed about.
We see that already in the way Greenbank children look after one another and in the contribution they make to their school.
Our most recent ISI inspection recognised Pupil Leadership and Contribution as a Significant Strength, placing Greenbank amongst a small proportion of schools nationally to receive such recognition.
The Meadow builds on that culture rather than creating something separate from it.
There isn't one answer, because there isn't one type of child who might use it.
The Meadow gives us a flexible space for individual and small-group learning, targeted academic work, communication and language support, emotional regulation and sensory needs, as well as opportunities to prepare children for learning or help them return to class successfully.
For some children, using The Meadow may form part of a more structured programme of support.
For others, it might simply be somewhere they use occasionally when it would help.
And much of the support children receive at Greenbank will, of course, continue to happen in their classroom with their teacher and classmates.
The Meadow isn't about moving children away from their class.
It is about giving us more choices in how we help them succeed within it.
For families of children with additional needs, choosing a school can bring a different set of questions.
Will they understand my child?
Will they be able to support them?
Will they still expect them to achieve?
And will they really belong?
We want the answer to those questions to be yes.
The Meadow allows us to develop more individualised support within Greenbank while keeping children connected to the wider life of the school.
We will always be open with families about what we can provide and whether Greenbank is the right environment for their child. Where additional or specialist support is required, we work with parents and the professionals involved to understand what that should look like.
What we don't want is for a child's needs to become the only thing anybody sees about them.
They are still the child who loves football, tells brilliant stories, is fascinated by dinosaurs, wants a part in the school play, makes their friends laugh or can't wait for the next residential.
The Meadow is there to help more of school become possible, not to make a child's world at school smaller.
They still benefit from being in a school that has it.
For many children, very little will visibly change. They may occasionally use The Meadow as part of a group or activity, or they may rarely need it at all.
What changes is what the school is able to do around them.
Their teacher has more options when something isn't working.
There is greater flexibility to work with children in different ways.
And they are growing up in a community where children are not expected to be identical in order to belong.
We think that makes Greenbank a better school for everyone.
The Meadow is new.
The thinking behind it isn't.
Greenbank has always been a school built around relationships, individuality and knowing children well.
As we have invested in new classrooms and learning spaces across the school, we have had the opportunity to think about more than buildings. We have thought carefully about what those spaces allow our teachers and children to do.
The Meadow is part of that.
It gives us more flexibility, more opportunities to intervene early and more ways to make sure that children receive the right support or challenge at the point they need it.
It also reflects something we feel strongly about.
Parents shouldn't have to choose between a school that is academically ambitious and a school that understands individual need.
We don't see those things as opposites.
In fact, we think understanding the child is one of the ways you help them achieve more.
A website can explain the thinking behind The Meadow, but the best way to understand how it fits into Greenbank is to come and see us.
Walk around the school. Visit The Meadow and our new learning spaces. Meet our teachers. Talk to our children. Ask us the questions that matter to your family.
And get a feel for the kind of school Greenbank is.
There is a different way to do school.
Come and see it.
Banks Bee is a whole-school reward initiative encouraging children to: Bee Committed; Bee Involved; Bee Loyal; Bee Bold and BE THE BEST THEY CAN BEE!
We are proud to be a school which values community and involvement. Banks Bee is here to keep the Greenbank Family together!
As our children progress through the school, they will be rewarded for their participation and endeavour through Banks Bee’s reward scheme – comprising of bronze, silver, gold and even platinum awards.
