Achievements
Artsmark Award
An engaging arts programme scooped Westlands School a national Arts Council England Artsmark Silver Award in 2008. The school celebrated through its 'Street Arts Week' where artists worked with students for the week, culminating in a showcase performance of student talent.
The Artsmark celebrates our range of creative arts including music, drama, dance and art.
Arts activity both engages and motivates our students helping to improve their self esteem and motivation to learn and achieve.
Healthy Schools Award
At Westlands we work hard at encouraging our students to adopt a healthier lifestyle, and we were delighted when our school was awarded the Gold Standard in the local authority's Healthy Schools Awards. This achievement highlighted our commitment to a whole school approach to healthy living including food hygiene, healthy eating, physical activity and social and emotional wellbeing. Related activities include students growing their own vegetables in the school garden.
Sportsmark Award
Westlands School is a founder member of the Durham, Cleveland & Darlington Special Schools Sports Association (DCDSSSA) which over the last 10 years has promoted sport within its network of special schools organising leagues, tournaments & competitions in a variety of sports.
The school has been awarded both the Activemark & Sportsmark for its commitment & delivery of the National School Sports Strategy.
Westlands has also received the F.A. Charter Standard for Schools and was also a recent county winner of this award.
Aspirational Targets
We are committed to ensuring that we re-qualify for all of our current awards on an annual basis. Thus we will keep up the standards of excellence in each area that supported the achievement of these awards in the first place. In addition, it is our intention to qualify as a specialist school in 2011. To do this, we will ensure that our Ofsted reports reflect on a school that has moved from being "satisfactory" as we are now, to being "good with features that are outstanding".
School Council
The Westlands School Council was set up in April 2008. The council was set up to give students a chance to have a say in how the school is run. Election Day is held in April and last year was attended by Dari Taylor, MP for Stockton South.
Since then the council has made a significant contribution to school life, including choosing a new school uniform and helping staff to put together a list of rights and responsibilities for students.
In July 2008 representatives of the council visited Dari Taylor MP at the Houses of Parliament. The visit, funded by Stockton Youthbank, included a tour of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and a chance to see The Lion King performed in the West End.
This year, the Student Council representatives broke new ground by:
- attending a governors meeting, presenting to governors and answering their questions
- taking an active part in interviewing candidates for the post of Head of School at Westlands
