“At Wrotham School we have focussed on ‘high expectations, challenge and opportunity.’  In the past, this focus has been underpinned by a behaviour policy which has focused too heavily on punitive sanctions.  We recognised and celebrated student achievement, but character education was something not implicitly taught with no formalised recognition of it. In 2019 we made a radical change to our approach to character education, establishing it as central to our ethos as a school.  This focus on character development, rewards, praise and restorative justice, has already seen improvements across all key metrics of the school, including our 2022 GCSE and A Level results. 

We would highly encourage any school considering the quality and extent of their character provision to go through the assessment process. For us as a school the Quality Mark application process was a rewarding experience for the school and helped us to highlight key areas for development in our character provision as well as formally acknowledging the incredible work of our staff team in driving this across the entire school.”

“Discussions with students were particularly revealing and the assessors were highly impressed with the clarity and confidence with which they were able to articulate their understanding of “character development” and its direct impact on their personal well-being and life chances. In particular, older students were able to reflect on their time at the school over the past years and confidently relate the progress and journey they had been on with specific reference to character development and its impact on their success and the success of the wider school community.

It is refreshing to witness a school working in close collaboration with a partner school in its academy trust (Aylesford School) and benefiting enormously from shared expertise and support from experienced colleagues. This is a clear example of excellent practice in terms of mutual and equitable school improvement focused on flourishing for all.”