North West London

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Lea Valley Primary School

The school’s year 2 hard at work

Maria Kokotsis, head teacher

L ea Valley Primary School is a two-form-entry school in an area of high social deprivation in Tottenham, North London. Most pupils who attend are from minority ethnic groups, and for two thirds of the pupils English is not their first language. The proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is more than double the national average. Despite the challenges, Maria Kokotsis took on the headship in September 2014 and was determined that all children would succeed, regardless of their starting point. Her approach, as detailed in this article, is to do whatever it takes to ensure success for all. One of our pupils would have recently gone without a birthday party had I not hosted one in my office. Another would have missed three weeks of school had our deputy head not brought her to and from school each day. These may seem like minor, ad hoc actions. But they are part of a strategy to understand our pupils’ lives. At Lea Valley Primary School, we know that we must remove the barriers that stand in the way of some pupils benefiting from a high- quality education. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) states that 97.5 per cent of our pupils live in neighbourhoods registered in the lowest 30 per cent of Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) bands. Our most recent Ofsted (Oct 2017) report said, however, that we “have developed a very inclusive school, where pupils of all backgrounds know that they can thrive.” Above and beyond

REPORT CARD LEA VALLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL » » Head teacher: Maria Kokotsis » » Founded in 1976 » » Based in Tottenham, Haringey » » Type of school: Community primary school » » No. of pupils: 450 » » Top 5 per cent most deprived (Index of Multiple Deprivation) » » www.leavalleyprimary.org

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