Flagship status for city primary

Eldon Primary in Preston already held Excellence status, but after a visit by external examiners was ramped up to top spot and is only the 10th in the North West to hold this title from the Department for Education.

The assessors were impressed with the work at the Plungington school to ensure it not on ly met the needs of all pupils but involved the whole school community in daily life.

This included buying a house across the road to teach pupils life skills from an early age,

Eldon received the Excellence Inclusion Quality Mark status following an external validation in 2015 when inspectors were so impressed they “fast tracked” the usual protocol by three years to enable it to become a centre of excellence straight away.

Headteacher Azra Butt said: “Eldon is extremely proud to have been awarded Flagship status for Inclusion.

“As the only primary school in Lancashire to achieve this accolade, it recognises the creative approaches to learning, and inclusive systems that have been sustained and further developed over a period of three years.”

She added: “We treasure and celebrate Eldon’s very diverse and unique community.

With over 20 different languages being spoken at the school, it showcases how a thriving and harmonious school community can be achieved.”

Azra said the governors, pupils, parents, staff and leaders feel “justifiably proud “as the school lives out its vision to ‘Expect the Best’ and now ‘Be our best selves’!

She said: “Our next steps are to further develop our inclusive ideas with the support of local and regional school clusters.”