Explore Kibworth Mead Academy in Leicestershire – a close-community, award-winning school open for tours

One of the comments Principal, Steve Piggott, often gets when he shows prospective parents around Kibworth Mead Academy is what a community, close-knit feel it has.

“We do really feel like a family,” he says. “Every single student is known by our staff. That’s unusual for some secondary schools, but being a relatively small secondary school means that we really understand each individual child.”

There are still places left for next year but, even filled to capacity, Kibworth Mead will have a far cosier atmosphere than many of its counterparts.

But part of that is also down to its ethos. The school values are “Work Hard, Be Proud, Be Kind” and it’s that final one that has had a lot of emphasis during the school’s transformation over the last three years.

That transformation saw the school win a Pearson National Teaching Award –the Oscars for schools – earlier this year in recognition of its outstanding commitment to education and the wider community. Judges particularly highlighted work in the local community, through charitable activities and events designed to support mental health. The award was a testament to the turnaround work done by the school’s leadership which saw it receive a ‘Good’ Ofsted inspection at the end of last year.

Mr Stanton, the Assistant Principal, says the school benefits from the community work as much as the charities it helps, albeit in different ways.

“It’s seeing the commitment from our students, the hard work they are willing to put into, the amazing response we get when we ask them to get involved. It brings us together as a school and it makes us stronger as well,” he says.

One example was a charity walk in the summer, where on a sweltering day, with temperatures hitting the high 20s, all the school’s pupils – as well as every member of the 50+ teaching staff – collectively walked the distance from Land’s End to John o’Groats around the grounds to raise funds for a local food bank charity.

But the season’s exceptional temperatures meant the hour and a half trek was tough-going, especially for some of the younger pupils. “The older students encouraged them a lot and told them they could do it. It was great seeing their resilience,” says Mr Stanton.

So it was a tired but delighted pile of students and teachers who collapsed together at the end of their efforts to hear a congratulatory address from Principal Steve Piggot, letting them know they had raised more than £3,000 for The Well, a food bank and community café in Kibworth.

The school links up with The Well for other events. Soon pupils will start preparing around 100 Christmas hampers which they will help load into the school’s minibus to send off to The Well to be distributed to vulnerable people, a project which has been running for the last two years. And pupils have also helped out in the community café at The Well. “It’s great to see them being proud of representing their school,” says Mr Stanton.

See for yourself

Right now, though, the school is already busy making preparations to welcome next year’s intake, with tours allowing parents to see the school in action. Parents of Year 6 pupils who are still making up their mind are especially encouraged to make contact and see what Kibworth Mead Academy has to offer. Visit the school’s website here for more information.