At Shackleton primary school, we endeavour to improve the life chances of the children and families in the Shackleton community through academic achievement and by providing opportunities to enrich lives and fully support all of our children through a school ethos of collective responsibility. We pride ourselves of being at the very heart of our local community and we often talk about the ‘Shackleton family’.

Shackleton is situated in the Cauldwell ward of Bedford which is in the 10% of the most deprived areas of England in terms of income, employment and education deprivation. In 2021, it became a 2-form entry school from previously being a 3-form entry school. There are currently three classes in years 3, 4 & 6 and two classes in reception, years 1, 2 & 5.

Our school continues to be at the centre of the vibrant, multicultural, local community and many of our staff reflect our local community with their children having attended Shackleton and then moving onto the trust secondary, Bedford Academy.

We have a small but active PTA that have raised significant funds to support our children and provides opportunities for extra experiences. There is a wide and inclusive extra-curricular offer in sport, music and drama provided both internally through our own staff and through external providers and pupil uptake is high. There are also opportunities for year 5 & 6 children to be supported in reading, writing in maths after school. Children new to the UK are also supported after school through specific EAL intervention.

In 2023, we developed our inclusion hub to provide high quality support for our children with SEN. A nurture group also provides appropriate and additional support for our children. The school offered wrap around care provision from September 2023 in one of our community rooms and is run by some of our LSAs who know our children.

From 2022, there has been a focus on developing further community links and improving life chances for all within our Shackleton family with the introduction of the ‘family zone’. This initiative has been heavily supported by Heart Academies Trust. ‘Stay and play’ sessions held in one of the rooms of our adapted community accommodation support our families through offering birth-preschool activities. Parenting courses and various adult education classes (such as cooking and English lessons) are held frequently and run in partnership with Bedford council and the local NHS trust.

The school was last visited by OFSTED in September 2021 and was graded ‘Good’

As part of HEART Academies Trust, we recognise that teachers are the most important factor affecting pupil achievement and therefore staff well-being is high on our priority list. We invest heavily in staff development and work side by side with our teaching staff to ensure excellent teaching. We provide comprehensive training and development opportunities, including an exceptional ECT induction programme and personalised CPD pathways throughout your teaching career.