VISIT

The Staff College

SCHOOLS AT THE CENTRE OF THEIR COMMUNITIES

CASE STUDY 2: ST MARY'S C OF E PRIMARY SCHOOL

MULTI-AGENCY COLLABORATION TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF POVERTY AND DEPRIVATION ON PUPILS AT ST MARY'S C OF E PRIMARY SCHOOL

1. PROJECT DETAILS

St Mary’s CofE Primary School, located in a socio-economically deprived inner-city area of Manchester, serves a richly diverse community predominantly comprising Somali, Arab, and other global majority heritage pupils. The school faces significant challenges related to high deprivation levels, including overcrowded housing, food insecurity, digital exclusion, and complex safeguarding concerns such as domestic abuse, child exploitation, and emotional dysregulation among pupils. Many families have no recourse to public funds (NRPF), severely limiting access to statutory support and refuge services.

In response, the school has led a bold, place-based vision aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of poverty and deprivation on pupils’ educational, health, and safeguarding outcomes. The core objective has been to reduce these impacts through multi-agency collaboration – bringing together statutory services, voluntary groups, cultural providers, and community activists in a coordinated, trauma-informed response centred on relational practice, cultural competence, and child and family participation.

Grounded in the school’s Christian and UNICEF Rights Respecting ethos, the practice and drive prioritised equity, inclusion, and the holistic well-being of every pupil. By embedding a protective web of health, safeguarding, and social care support around vulnerable children and their families, school sought to improve pupils’ attendance, emotional regulation, academic progress, physical and mental health, and community belonging, aligning closely with OFSTED’s focus on high expectations, well-being, and safeguarding.

2. IMPLEMENTATION

This vision was realised through dynamic partnerships involving key local stakeholders, with a strong emphasis on safeguarding and health integration and academic achievement:

  • Children’s Services and Safeguarding Leads embedded family focused staff in every part of school and pastoral lead within the school, delivering early help practices and child protection interventions. This included joint home visits and coordinated safety planning for families experiencing e.g. domestic abuse, neglect
  • Police safeguarding officers worked closely with school staff and social workers to address risks of child exploitation, knife crime and domestic violence, ensuring rapid response to safeguarding concerns and improving community safety.
  • Voluntary sector organisations offered culturally sensitive advocacy and crisis support, particularly for families with NRPF, providing interpreting services and linking families to emergency housing, food aid, and mental health resources.
  • Education partners worked collaboratively to share safeguarding information, coordinate referrals, and deliver targeted learning support, including trauma-informed teaching approaches and nurture practices for pupils affected by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
  • Mental health and mindfulness practitioners deliver resilience-building programmes, therapeutic play, and emotional regulation workshops, reducing behavioural incidents and supporting pupils’ recovery from trauma.
  • Arts, culture, and sports providers engaged pupils in identity-affirming activities that promoted social integration, self-expression, and positive peer relationships, contributing to emotional well-being and reducing isolation.
  • Arabic supplementary schools and community advocates strengthened cultural identity and provided additional safeguarding support through trusted relationships and community engagement.
  • Peace activists and rights advocates facilitated workshops on conflict resolution, respect, and non-violence, reinforcing pupils’ social and moral development in line with the school’s ethos.

Pastoral Lead and key staff provided wraparound care, including practical aid such as food parcels, housing advice, and access to mental health services and bereavement. Volunteering-to-employment pathways empowered parents with skills and confidence, strengthening family stability.

ENHANCED HEALTH AND SAFEGUARDING FOCUS

A distinctive feature of the project was its integrated health and safeguarding framework, which:

  • Improved early identification and intervention: Close collaboration between school staff, health professionals, and social care enabled timely recognition of physical and mental health issues, safeguarding risks, and unmet social needs.
  • Reduced safeguarding incidents: The coordinated multi-agency approach led to a significant decrease in child protection referrals escalating to crisis, with more families receiving preventative support.
  • Enhanced mental health outcomes: CAMHS and mindfulness programmes reduced anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation among pupils, supporting better engagement and behaviour.
  • Strengthened family resilience: Health visitors and family workers provided parenting support, domestic abuse recovery programmes, and access to specialised health services, promoting safer, healthier home environments.
  • Addressed health inequalities: Targeted initiatives tackled food insecurity, immunisation gaps, and digital exclusion, improving pupils’ physical health and access to learning resources.

3. EVALUATION AND IMPACT

Evaluation drew on qualitative and quantitative data, aligned with OFSTED’s inspection criteria on teaching and learning, well-being, care
and support, and leadership, with a strong focus on safeguarding and health outcomes.

KEY OUTCOMES INCLUDE:
  • Enhanced mental and physical health: Pupils showed marked improvements in emotional regulation, self-esteem, and reduced behavioural incidents.
  • Outstanding attendance and engagement: Pupil attendance remained high at 96% in 2023 and 2024 and now 97% 2025, with persistent absence rates in the lowest 20% nationally for similar deprivation contexts, reflecting effective health and safeguarding support removing barriers to school.
  • Academic progress:
    • Pupils made statistically significant gains in reading, writing, and mathematics,
    • Targeted interventions within the safeguarding framework, such as nurture groups and trauma-informed teaching, enabled pupils with SEND and those affected by adverse childhood experiences to close attainment gaps rapidly.
    • Early language development supported by evidence-based speech and language programmes embedded in the EYFS curriculum, contributed to a significant improvement in oral language skills among early years pupils, a key predictor of later academic success.
    • The reduction in persistent absence and improved emotional well-being positively correlated with increased classroom engagement and homework completion, as evidenced by teacher assessments and pupil work scrutiny.
    • Disadvantaged pupils’ attainment rose more sharply than their peers, narrowing the attainment gap by 10 percentage points over two years, demonstrating the impact of coordinated support on equity.
  • Stronger family and community resilience: Parents engaged through volunteering, parenting classes, and employability programmes reported improved confidence in managing health and safeguarding needs, enhancing their capacity to support pupils’ learning and well-being.
  • Positive employability and economic outcomes: A significant number of participating parents secured paid employment, apprenticeships, or further education, contributing to improved household stability and reduced safeguarding risks.
  • Broader cultural and social enrichment: Arts, sports, and peace-building activities fostered identity, belonging, and aspiration, supporting pupils’ social and moral development in line with the school’s Christian and Rights Respecting values.

Feedback from OFSTED highlighted the school's exemplary safeguarding culture, integrated health provision, and strong leadership in managing complex vulnerabilities, contributing to outstanding overall effectiveness. Inspectors noted that the integrated approach significantly supported pupils' academic resilience and progress despite challenging external circumstances.

4. NEXT STEPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Building on these successes, the following next steps and recommendations are proposed:

NEXT STEPS
  • Embed trauma-informed restorative practice: Extend restorative approaches across the school and partner agencies to improve behaviour management and pupil voice, further supporting well-being and safeguarding.
  • Strengthen data sharing and impact monitoring: Develop robust systems to track long-term health, safeguarding, educational progress, and employability outcomes, ensuring continuous improvement and accountability.
  • Scale effective safeguarding models: Share best practice in multi-agency safeguarding panels and integrated family support with other schools and local authorities.
  • Enhance SEND and health inclusion: Provide ongoing staff training on inclusive, trauma-informed teaching and health support to sustain progress for pupils with SEND and complex needs.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Maintain high safeguarding vigilance: Continue proactive identification and intervention to protect vulnerable pupils, with clear protocols and responsive leadership.
  • Prioritise culturally competent health and safeguarding support: Ensure all staff and partners receive training to deliver trauma-informed, culturally sensitive care, reflecting the community's diversity.
  • Enhance parental engagement in health and safeguarding: Expand workshops and communication to empower parents in recognising and responding to safeguarding and health concerns.
  • Leverage pupil voice in safeguarding and well-being: Develop pupil-led initiatives to shape safeguarding policies and promote peer support.
  • Support staff well-being: Maintain focus on staff workload and mental health, recognising their critical role in delivering integrated support.

These priorities align closely with the OFSTED framework’s focus on high-quality teaching and learning, well-being, safeguarding, and effective leadership.

5. CONCLUSION

This case study from St Mary’s CofE Primary School demonstrates the transformative impact of integrated multi-agency collaboration in addressing the complex interplay of poverty, health, and safeguarding challenges in a diverse, deprived community. By centring relational practice, cultural competence, and the active involvement of children and families, the school has created a protective, empowering environment that improves pupils’ safety, health, emotional well-being, and educational outcomes.

The school’s holistic approach – integrating education, safeguarding, mental and physical health, community development, cultural enrichment, and family empowerment – has yielded measurable improvements in attendance, behaviour, academic progress, and economic stability. This has underpinned the school’s outstanding provision and strong OFSTED outcomes, particularly in safeguarding and well-being.

Importantly, this model offers a blueprint for other schools and localities facing similar challenges, reinforcing the critical message that safeguarding and health inequalities are not inevitable but require coordinated, compassionate, and rights-based responses. St Mary’s continued leadership and partnership working will be vital in sustaining and expanding this impact, ensuring every pupil is safe, healthy, and able to thrive.

This case study contributes to ongoing discussions on educational improvement and innovation by showcasing how integrated multi-agency work, with a strong focus on safeguarding and health alongside employability and family empowerment, can enhance teaching, learning, and well-being in challenging contexts, fully aligned with the OFSTED inspection framework and the school’s distinctive ethos.