At St John Rigby, the belief that all students should benefit from a collaborative, community-based education and that no child should be isolated or excluded drives our educational philosophy.
As Catholic educators our belief in the value of every child highlights the importance of creating a sense of belonging in our schools and ensuring each child feels secure, connected and loved. Giving children messages of respect, love, approval, and encouragement enables them to develop a positive sense of who they are and a feeling that they have an important contribution to make wherever they are. Positive messages about their families, backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, and languages help children to develop pride in who they are. These messages also give them confidence to voice their views and opinions, to make choices, and to help shape their own learning.
Our primary aim is to keep our children safe.
Our secondary aim is to support children in making academic and social progress.
We work to ensure that any provision of support is to facilitate these two aims.
The two most important factors which influence inclusivity are children’s sense of belonging to that school and the building of solid, real attachment between teaching staff and children.
We work to ensure that our teaching staff are equipped, our ethos is inclusive and that our children are supported in fostering positive social relationships and feel like they belong.
The priorities of our inclusion provision are:
1. To have systems in place to secure the inclusion of all children so teachers can teach and learners can learn.
2. To enable leaders to be able to focus their attention on curriculum and leading learning across the school
3. To establish excellent provision to ensure readiness to learn and achieve for children and families for whom inclusion is a challenge.
At St John Rigby, we work as a whole school team in support of inclusion, with leads overseeing:
Safeguarding and child protection
Lead: Mrs M McGettigan (Headteacher)
Attendance
Senior Attendance Officer: Miss C Ward
Attendance Officer: Mrs M Zafar
Behaviour (including anti-bullying)
Lead: Miss C Ward
Special Education Needs and Disabilities
Lead: Mrs H Ball
Pupil Premium & EAL
Lead: Miss C Ward
Sports Premium
Lead: Mrs C Harnett
Inclusion and Family Support
Lead: Mrs M McLoughlin
Buddies' Club
Lead: Mrs Sharon Burgoygne
At inclusion team meetings, children's needs are triaged to ensure that the support and interventions offered and given are responsive to each child's overall needs.
Inclusion Directory of Support
This directory provides a comprehensive list of inclusion services for school-age children in Bedford, including early support services. Please note that contact details and service descriptions may change over time, so it's advisable to verify the information directly with the providers.
Inclusion Lead: Miss C Ward (Assistant Headteacher)
Contactable via the School Office.