You are here: News Thurston Community College receives UK’s first ever Families First Award for secondary schools
Thurston Community College is the first secondary school in the UK to complete the Families First Quality Award which recognises schools’ excellence in providing information, advice and assistance to local families.
The Families First Quality Award, coordinated by UK charity, the Family and Childcare Trust and the National Association of Families Information Services (NAFIS), aims to help schools exceed the requirements set out in the Childcare Act 2006 which places a duty on local authorities to provide parents with information and advice about family services and childcare, including for children with additional needs.
Thurston Community College Principal, Helen Wilson, said:
"We are delighted to have become the first secondary school in the UK to be recognised under the Families First Quality Award. We cannot overemphasise the importance of effective communication with families. The challenge of the rural environment has served as an increased incentive for Thurston Community College to ensure that our parents, cares and wider families are fully involved in their children’s education.
"It is vital that families are aware of the support available to them; receiving that support can improve the quality of family life and the educational outcomes for their children."
Krystyna Pinches, Head of Consultancy at the Family and Childcare Trust said:
"For many schools, it is a challenging time as they are being asked to work more efficiently while still delivering excellent outcomes. The award gives schools the recognition they deserve and functions as an effective quality improvement tool, giving staff the confidence they need to provide an excellent service to families in their local area."
Cllr Gordon Jones, Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education & Skills at Suffolk County Council, said:
"Suffolk County Council was part of the partnership that helped to develop the Families First Quality Award, and it is great that a Suffolk school is the first secondary school to receive this award.
"As part of our Raising the Bar programme, we encourage families and communities to be actively involved in children’s education. Families First Awards are good way for schools to demonstrate how they keep families at the heart of their practice and engage parents with their child’s learning, and we encourage as many schools as possible to complete these awards."
Families First assessors evaluate schools against a set of standards that demonstrate excellence in information provision for parents and children, especially disadvantaged or hard-to-reach families. Particular attention is paid to how well the school interacts with other local services such as the local authority Family Information Service.
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Contact: Mark Bou Mansour, Communications and Campaigns Manager. Telephone: 0207 940 7535, mobile: 07538 334 772, email: mark@familyandchildcaretrust.org.
Notes to Editor:
The Families First quality standards were originally developed in 2008 by the Family and Childcare Trust with the Department for Education and Suffolk County Council. Standards have been developed for local authority Family Information Services, Sure Start children’s centres, schools, nurseries and to cover special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and Welsh language requirements in Wales. For more information visit http://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/families-first-set-standards
About the Family and Childcare Trust
The Family and Childcare Trust aims to make the UK a better place for families. We are a leading national family charity in the field of policy, research and advocacy on childcare and family issues, with over 40 years’ experience. Our on-the-ground work with parents and providers informs our research and campaigns. We focus on the early years and childcare because they are crucial to boosting children’s outcomes throughout life and supporting parents to work.
About Thurston Community College
Thurston Community College is a thriving mixed comprehensive school which boasts a strong sense of community, a supportive, caring ethos and a positive, friendly atmosphere. Staff morale is high (recognised by Ofsted in all recent inspections) because Thurston Community College is an exciting, dynamic learning environment where staff work collaboratively, share a common sense of purpose and are relentless in our pursuit of outcomes of the highest quality for every student. Our guiding principles are “inspire; empower; achieve”. Our ambition is that every student will be inspired by learning, empowered to seize life’s opportunities and leave Thurston Community College as a happy, confident and well-rounded young person, having achieved their full potential.
In our most recent Ofsted inspection (May 2013), the College was graded as ‘a good school which is well led and managed’. Ofsted recognised that ‘the behaviour of students is outstanding; that they are mature, polite and courteous in their dealings with adults and other students and they are eager to learn.’ Since then, we have celebrated two years of outstanding student achievement at GCSE and Advanced Level, where outcomes have been well above National averages and placed Thurston Community College as one of the top performing schools in Suffolk.
For more info, visit http://www.thurstoncollege.org/