Assistant headteacher Emma Orr has a specific brief to promote character education at her school. She describes some of their approaches to developing key character skills

The majority of the secondary schools in our borough serve the leafy villages surrounding Bedford – but our catchment area is very different. Just under half of our pupils receive free school meals (FSM). The school we replaced was failing, and many young people and their family members have not had the best experience of education.

Today, Bedford Academy is a school of choice, not a last resort – but when I took up my current role there was still more to do. Our summer 2013 results, while an increase on the previous year, still sat slightly short of the national floor target. Also, the 2013/14 academic year was set to be a tough one as we prepared to move from an upper school to a secondary in September 2014, taking our student numbers to 1,200.

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