A Yeovil special school is celebrating 19 years of ‘Outstanding’ education.
Staff and pupils from Fiveways Special School were joined by guests including the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Mohammed Saddiq, and Leader of Somerset Council, Cllr Bill Revans, to unveil a plaque to honour the achievement.
The Local Authority maintained school was awarded its most recent Outstanding rating following an inspection in June this year.
The achievement has been praised by Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted, in a letter to the school.
Swavek Nowakiewicz, Headteacher, said:
We are incredibly proud to celebrate not only our outstanding rating from the most recent inspection in June 2024, but also the past 19 years of consistent recognition for the high-quality education we provide our pupils. It was a pleasure to share this moment with key representatives from the local authority, and an honour to receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Mr. Mohammed Saddiq.”
Cllr Bill Revans, Leader of Somerset Council who attended the event, said:
It was a privilege to meet the inspirational Headteacher Swavek Nowakiewicz, meet many of the staff and students and look at the amazing work that they do for students with a huge variety of needs. From Reception through to its sixth form it is clearly a school that is embedded in its community. Many congratulations on a truly remarkable achievement.”
Fiveways School has also recently become the first school in the South West to be awarded Centre of Excellence status for their MOVE (Movement Opportunities via Education) programme. Representatives from MOVE will present a plaque in October in recognition of this achievement.
Fiveways Special School is the first LA maintained school to achieve an outstanding rating under the current Ofsted framework.
Under the current Ofsted framework, there have been seven other Outstanding judgements awarded to schools in Somerset – The Castle School, Enmore Church of England Primary School, Huish Primary School, Kingfisher Primary School, Richard Huish College, Preston Primary School and Primrose Lane Primary School.
Pictured: Headteacher, Swavek Nowakiewicz and Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Mohammed Saddiq, hold the new plaque outside the school. Joined by: Cllr Bill Revans – Lead Member for Somerset Council, Duncan Sharkey – Chief Executive of Somerset Council, Claire Winter – Director for Children, Families and Education at Somerset Council, Claire Merchant Jones – Head of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) at Somerset Council, Heather Good – Head of Education Leadership at Somerset Council, Phil Curd – Head of Education Places at Somerset Council, Marie Palmer – Education Relationship Manager at Somerset Council, James Holgate – Assistant Headteacher, Sam Ensor – Deputy Headteacher, Naomi Austin – Assistant Headteacher, Fiona Bunkin – Business Manager, Kirstie Kerr – SENCo, Tracey Richards – Deputy Chair of Governors