Victoria School, Specialist Arts College and Special School

Victoria School and Specialist Arts College is a day special school for children aged 2 to 19 with a wide range of physical and complex learning difficulties, ranging from moderate to profound. Nearly all pupils have physical disabilities and Victoria School is the largest centre in the Birmingham area for such children. Some pupils have multi-sensory impairments, and the school is a regional resource for these pupils. Approximately 20% of pupils have life limiting conditions. The school houses an impressive collection of facilities to care for people with all kinds of disabilities and a team of over 100 teaching, medical and support staff.

Situated in the suburb of Northfield, the School has a diverse social and economic catchment area covering the whole of Birmingham. Nearly half the 200+ pupils are eligible for free school meals and a similar number have English as an additional language.

The School is successful in meeting the individual needs of its children, ensuring that they achieve their full potential, and has received a number of awards including Artsmark Gold, Investor in Schools, and the Basic Skills Agency Quality Mark. It gained Specialist School status for the Arts in February 2007.

�Victoria is an outstanding School providing excellent value for money. An excellent drive for further improvement, skilled and dedicated staff and exceptionally good working relationships with partners have led to outstanding improvements since the last inspection. Self-evaluation is wide ranging and successful in diagnosing areas that need improving. The School�s capacity to improve further is excellent�

Victoria School�s 2009 OfSTED Report

Who Will Be Delivering The Themes ?

Victoria School

Head Teacher - Jim Kane

Jim has been Headteacher at Victoria School and Specialist Arts College for 8 years. His teaching career has included teaching in a residential special school for pupils with complex medical difficulties, acting Deputy Head Teacher of a residential school for pupils with BESD, Deputy Head Teacher of a residential MLD school and Head Teacher of an inner City MLD day school.

In addition, Jim has wide experience of OfSTED dating from his 1994 secondment to work with HMI as an Additional Inspector. He then worked as an OfSTED Inspector, inspecting mainly Special Schools and becoming a Registered Inspector in 1995. Jim worked for five years as a Local Authority School Inspector, serving with two West Midlands Local Authorities and was contracted to work with OfSTED inspecting, primary, secondary and special schools. Jim also provided support and Link Adviser work for all schools within the LA�s in which he was employed, which involved support on raising attainment in core subjects, reviewing and supporting SEN departments, team building and improving the quality of teaching.

Jim serves on the Executive Committee of the Birmingham branch of the NAHT and is a past President. He currently chairs the Birmingham Special Head Teachers Association and is a member of Birmingham School Forum. He is a qualified School Improvement Partner and supports three special schools in a West Midlands Authority.

"The experienced head teacher provides good, confident leadership and management. There is a strong commitment by all staff to the school and the vision for the school is widely understood and shared. Monitoring is thorough. The Head Teacher is eager to constantly improve the school. Examples of this are the improvements to some of the accommodation and the successful bid to gain specialist status for the Arts."

Jim�s Headship has been recognised by OfSTED (2007)

Senior Leadership Team

Assistant Head/Director of Arts College - Sandra Kallitsakis

Sandra has taught at Victoria School for ten years and her current role began in September 2007 when Victoria School gained specialist status. Sandra�s leadership role is combined with teaching music and she also has experience of teaching deaf-blind pupils in Victoria�s specialist M.S.I. Unit. Her career has included teaching Art, classroom teaching in a number of special and mainstream schools in the UK, as well as ten years teaching music in Crete. Amongst a breadth of responsibilities and skills, Sandra has considerable experience in bid writing/ fundraising, organising school and community arts projects and Alternative Therapies.

Deputy Head - Caroline Lane

Caroline has been Deputy Head Teacher at Victoria School and Specialist Arts College since September, 2008 after serving in a similar post in another Birmingham Special School (MLD) for 3 years. Prior to this she led on ICT for 5 years at Victoria School, teaching the subject across all Key Stages. Her career has also included working as a qualified Teacher of the Deaf mainly in inclusive mainstream settings in various parts of the country, including outreach work with Hearing Impaired pupils in mainstream and Special School settings, as well as some pre-school work. Over the last couple of years Caroline has been involved with the ICT work strand of the Building Schools for the Future project in Birmingham and she is also currently part of the Learning Platform Strategy Group for the city.

Caroline�s current interests and areas of expertise include: target setting/ assessments; ICT for special needs including access; development of communication for children with SEN; inclusion and the social and emotional aspects of learning.

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