The PACE programme is the culmination of one school’s work to boost curriculum enrichment, teach character and skills, raise aspirations, and broaden horizons. Paula Arrowsmith explains how it works

In September 2013, I was appointed to my first headship role at Shelfield Community Academy. Barely four months later, the academy was placed in special measures.

Our academy values, created early into my appointment and developed with students and staff, have never been more apt. They are: aspiration, responsibility, positivity, and achievement.

Special measures required all of us to have high aspirations and expectations, of ourselves and our students; it required all staff to take responsibility for the situation we found ourselves in, without attributing blame. It required a team spirit, for problems to be treated as challenges and an unrelenting focus on raising and praising student achievements.

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