So the context of our school is that we're Connor downs Academy, and we are part of a spire Academy Trust, which has 28 schools in total because formal conodonts Academy is a good school as judged by Ofsted four consecutive reports. So we are consistently a good, good, we are consistently good school, in terms of our attainment and our progress, what makes us special accommodations, is that we are a trauma informed school, and that means that we have a national service I take this off. So we are very much about supporting the children not only in terms of that academic attainment and their progress but we're also very, very focused on supporting children as individuals, and in supporting their positive relationships with one another with adults with society and also supporting their mental health. So we have a national conversation, which is called the trauma informed schools and UK accreditation, which very much fits in with the duction says support work that she does with Mentally Healthy Schools. So, all of our staff are trained to support our children and school staff, with another. Understanding that children can have adverse childhood experiences which can have a negative impact on their ability to access education. And here we're very much about nurturing the child as a person. So we use our trauma informed approach to validate to acknowledge. And to wrap language around the children's animation so that they feel able to assess their learning. The other thing that makes canadense unique is that if you've had an opportunity to tour the site, we've got an area in our school field called cultivating futures, cultivating futures. So it was funded by Millennium grant back in 2013. And it very much underpinning the ethos and culture of our school, in that we want children to have outdoor experience because we know the research shows us that the more access that children have to the outdoor environment, the better equipped they are to that incredibly simple set of words, socially, so called facing futures is literally that it's an area which cultivates their future in terms of their personality. It includes raised flower beds where the children can plant flowers and vegetables we have a polytunnel, we have an outside classroom and children can have outdoor lessons, we have a pond. We have an unprepared, fire pits, we've got a fantastic outdoor area that the children can access, and particularly what makes it special is that we have animals. And again those animals are very much about supporting the children just to be in touch with the animals to understand empathy, to learn to care to them to nurture the animals in developing their skills for nurturing as adults, and fitting in with our culture here at corner, all of the animals on rescue animals. So we've got two families of rescued rabbits, and that children care for all children have access to, to the rabbits, and we also have X battery hens. So hens that were in confined spaces that are now here, really be with us. So all of those things make us really unique. So we're oversubscribed in terms of our numbers we have a high input mobility we have waiting lists for children wanting to come to corner. We are happy school but in terms of our children, our relationships with the community. So you'll see here the display which has come down, as our family. We are very much a family, and as a family not just between the children and staff who work here but between the parents and the community are massively supported by the community so lots of the things that we have here in terms of like our outdoor play area, or rainwater harvesting on solar panels have all been funded by the Grinia, Caribbean, sustainable community values. And again, that shows the link between us and the community but equally, again it shows the link between us and the environment, because we're very keen here to encourage children to reduce their carbon footprint. So everything that we do is about not having plastics in school, making sure that we, we teach the children about using rainwater to irrigate conservation features and using solar panels to, to get that solar energy. Good use absolutely same Mrs. Janice J and ice, Eddie. The WB y finger. So I'm going to head of school, school,
because the children that the doctors in the first ad will make your own reception yes
so that's ages 415 Yes.
Do any of those will any of those students themselves have, have, have had early years intervention that the doctors has worked on. Yes, right. Yes.
Yeah, so, so without sharing information with children who have childhood experiences. And so we've been able to use that nurturing approach the Duchess really advocates, and the importance of talk, so particularly number of emotions was talked about mostly healthy schools. So we know that scientifically if we talk to one another adults talking to adults, adults talking to children, children's children's children, by talking, it repairs, when you say repairs the damage that's happened was due to those childhood experiences. So talk for a sustained period and number three it has a beneficial impact. And what we do with the children in year, particularly if because their language acquisition overseas their age development is more extensive. We wrap around for words, which again fits in with the Duchess's approach so we say we use sentence openers, I wonder, I imagine, I notice. I wonder if we're feeling sad today because I noticed that when you came into class, I imagine that could be because the adults really helped facilitate that dialogue between the child,
asking just because I don't know how it works here is the tuition paid for by the families or are you taxpayer funded or a mainstream state school.
Yes, this area, certainly just on the roads and all mining area. Yes. Can you say something about the level of deprivation in this area.
So contextually we're village setting, obviously we're in for more which is rural and coastal. So our children come in from the vicinity around our village. And we do have a reasonably high premium deprivation, so we've currently got 26% of our homeschool population who are eligible for free school meals and Pupil Premium funding. So, over, just over a quarter of our school population or Pupil Premium. And on a lighter note, do you have the names of the rabbits. Absolutely, so the rabbit that you will see the most this afternoon is called Storm, Storm, she's a great one or the Browns storm is, is a male, but he's the oldest of all rabbits, and he's six years old, and he's storm sto R M. And then which one is the other great one, is to basically buy them a sticker. And then, and then you'll see in the first panels you go in with. There's a solidly gray rabbit, one, one panel Wi Fi or a MPI, a MP a one. Um, so, what are the what are their traumatic background. Rescue storm is the daddy if you like of the family that you see as you go into the first pan so storm is related to Cindy. So Cindy is his daughter whimper, is an addition that's come into the family because one of storms daughters died, and we wanted to make sure that Cindy sorry has covered me so, so we use an animal rescue center in Cornwall, to contact as many brothers and two of our other rabbits have been given to us because unfortunately, the family that we're living in the children have grown up in they've gone to university they no longer want to grab it. So we've, we've obviously got them there Brian and George but you went to
kind of move importantly from rabbit to chicken for chickens as Harry and Megan told Oprah Winfrey there's a while ago, they were former band three hens, yeah that have been rescued so they share some similarities with California rabbit. Kate's brother in law.
Yes. rescued rabbit battery hens form of African hands again that underpins our ethos here in teaching the children about, you know, animal welfare animal welfare rapsi category to the judges is theory. If you mentioned it earlier just for the sake of the kind of education today. Absolutely, I mean this is something you would call it. Yeah, I mean we're just so, so excited and thrilled and honored today that would actually stand up to Biden coming to visit. And, you know, both passionate educators both massively involved in education, and from the Duchess's perspective her focus on early years, and the Early Years Foundation curriculum is really significant here for us, because we know as we all know that the early years, form the foundation, and it's so important that we get it right. If we get it right and the children settled we provide quality supervision and for the rest of their primary education and secondary. It's really important that you FS is valued and acknowledged, and given the time and the funding that it absolutely deserves. And we're so fortunate here because the staff that we have here on Earth, you've had the pleasure to meet them are really high quality staff and Mr David masters, he is the lead for Keystone Keystone is an absolutely questionnaire practitioner, but he's been recognized as being a really quality practitioner as well. So within our academy trust he sits on a board, within the trust which is a core group of the wife is practitioners and he leads, both sessions he supports other schools within the trust because his practice is deemed to be so exciting. So he's do that he delivers training to the wife s core group and beyond, into the other 28 Academy. So having the right people in place and having the right people who are absolutely passionate about getting it right for children is something that we really value and recognize as support here at Connor. When did the children find out they were getting this visit today.
Young four and five. What do they understand on having a visit from the First Lady of the United States and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Well, originally, when I shared the visit with staff, and that's the position now is that the children and staff know that Vanessa Bragg, our CEO is visiting, and it's not until lots of people have arrived today on site. So they still don't know that the children in Iran have been briefed and they, and they know and they're massively excited.
Do they know who the First Lady was this
was one of the units that Mr masters has been working on with the children before continuing to dig in to look at important landmarks around the world. So he had been looking at for instance the Eiffel Tower people have turned, and he's looking at the White House before half turn. So actually when our visitors came last Thursday we opened with the White House this week is the Kensington Palace to fit in with the Duchess, and to support the buildings they had photographs to look out of the visitors who are coming today. So they are quite aware of who's coming. And obviously incredibly excited in the way that a four or five year old with me. Perhaps not completely understanding
massively. Are they are we okay to film your children. Yes, no problem, and chat to them afterwards that will obviously be guided by you, which was that you're happy with that. We need to not
know everybody that we thought so far is in the room, everybody who doesn't have consent has been located elsewhere. So, sanctifying. Thank you so much.