Kamini Mistry is the Headteacher of Sudbury Primary School in Wembley, a large, inclusive and multicultural four-form-entry primary with 930 pupils. With 42 languages spoken, 85 per cent of pupils learning English as an additional language and a high number of EHCPs, Sudbury is known for its strong commitment to meeting diverse needs. Kamini joined the school as Deputy Head in 2012 and became Headteacher in 2019. Through the Chrysalis Multi Academy Trust, she and her team have developed a close relationship with Challenge Partners, most recently through the Growing the Top programme.
I first encountered Challenge Partners in 2017, when we joined the Chrysalis Multi Academy Trust alongside Claremont High School. Claremont was already part of the network, and everything I heard about Challenge Partners aligned with our values: improving life chances for disadvantaged pupils and providing high-quality CPD for staff. We’ve now taken part in six Quality Assurance Reviews, all of which have been hugely beneficial for my senior leaders and me.
This year, we took part in Growing the Top for the first time, and it was genuinely excellent. It provided high-quality CPD for both me and my Deputy Head, but more importantly, it took us into other schools. Seeing practice outside our local area, and stealing ideas with pride, was incredibly refreshing.
Our trio included two very different schools. Eastbury Community School in East London had an outstanding early years provision, which was perfect for us as we develop our own EYFS offer. They also had a forest school and used the same phonics and writing programmes we use, so we came away with lots of practical insights. Their systemic challenge was SEND, which mirrored our own and led to powerful discussions.
The second school, Haberdashers’ Hatcham Free School in South London, focused on consistency in teaching and learning. As a large four-form-entry school, that is something we work hard on, so seeing how they approached it was very useful. Their work on visual literacy and oracy was particularly relevant for us, given our high EAL population.
Growing the Top directly shaped our school improvement work. SEND is our biggest systemic challenge, so visiting schools and then welcoming them to Sudbury helped us look critically at our provision. As a result, we have expanded our Rainbow Room offer for pupils with high-needs autism, creating two bespoke rooms for KS1 and KS2. We have strengthened our sensory room, made better use of our sensory garden and soft-play space, and created a more substantial, well-resourced provision for our most vulnerable children.
We also picked up smaller but powerful ideas. Our early years team refined their indoor–outdoor continuous provision to ensure consistency across all four reception classes. We developed our forest school offer. And I absolutely loved the themed reading corners based on a single class text, from Narnia to Harry Potter. We’ve introduced that school-wide, and pupil engagement has shot up.
The whole-cohort events were equally inspiring. Benny Kara’s keynote on diversity in the curriculum really resonated with me, especially given our pupil population. And hearing from Amar Latif, the blind adventurer, was a masterclass in resilience, independence and possibility. The carousel sessions added even more practical ideas for us to take back to Sudbury.
Through the Chrysalis Hub, we’ve also benefitted from excellent tailored training for our 18 schools. SEND, EAL, middle leadership and the outstanding teacher and TA programmes have all been exceptional. We hosted an MLQAR at Sudbury, which was a brilliant leadership development opportunity for our English and phonics leads. Two of my deputies trained as facilitators and led MLQARs in other schools, which has strengthened their leadership significantly.
Challenge Partners brings so much value to our school: fresh thinking, genuine collaboration and CPD that actually makes a difference. Growing the Top has given us new ideas, strengthened our SEND provision and helped us develop our leaders. I’m so glad we signed up. It has had a real and positive impact on Sudbury.