Case Study: Forest View Primary School
Forest View believes that children should take risks when they learn and play. We offer children stimulating, challenging environments for exploring and developing their learning and play in a range of different ways.
The school is situated in the heart of the Forest of Dean, an area of outstanding natural beauty in Gloucestershire. Forest View is built around the community for which it serves. Their curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of the children with a particular emphasis on excellence and enjoyment.
The primary school uses In Kind Direct Products in 3 key different ways:
+ General consumables in the school
Running a school of significant size requires large quantities of product. Items like toilet roll, cleaning supplies and stationery are in constant demand. The ability to source a lot of these products through In Kind Direct makes an enormous impact. In the current climate, where budgets are often cut year on year, accessing essential and expensive products like paper and white board markers through In Kind Direct has been crucial for Forest View Primary School.
+ Resources to support student behaviour
The school uses products distributed by In Kind Direct as rewards for their students, allowing students to exchange good behaviour points for small prizes. The team at Forest View have noticed a positive improvement to general behaviour since instigating the initiative.
+ The ability to sort local families that are in need with specific products to respond to their specific needs:
The school is situated in one of the top 20% of most deprived wards in the country. Today’s schooling is not just about education and teaching children the curriculum. Schools are often the first line of support for families when they fall on hard times. The school tries to give extra support to children in emergency care or sheltered accommodation. Their Head Teacher works with social services to identify families that require extra support and the school does everything they can to support these families and their children.
This includes when families moved into new council accommodation or sheltered accommodation, often with very few of the essential items that they would need. The school can step in and give out items like duvets and clothing to ensure that home life is as stable as possible. All of this is geared towards giving children equal opportunities and support to allow them to get the most out of their time at the school.
Ben Lyons, Forest View Primary School Head Teacher says:
The main impact In Kind Direct has had for us is the overall savings we make on crucial, everyday items. Rather than buying expensive cleaning products we are able to put more money into the classroom to support children’s learning. The second impact has been the ability to support local families when they find themselves in crisis situations.. The difference this makes in providing a comfortable home is significant.