SEND school strikes gold as it becomes first locally to win award
Health and wellbeing17 July 2026
Teachers and pupils are celebrating after a SEND school in North Northamptonshire became the first locally to be recognised for its dedication to health and wellbeing.
The Wren Spinney School, in Kettering, which supports pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), has achieved the much-coveted gold status in the Healthy Schools Award, given by the Government’s Department for Education.
The Healthy Schools scheme recognises and celebrates schools’ progress in promoting wellbeing, healthy eating and physical activity among pupils through three levels of achievement.
Wren Spinney, for students aged 11–18, achieved gold status for putting wellbeing and mental health strategies into action for both pupils and staff, with particular emphasis on how staff wellbeing can impact the whole school.
The school, for young people with Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD), achieved all targets set out to enhance students experience and wellbeing:
- To ensure that the mental health team worked more cohesively, in a structured and connected way to ensure the best support is offered
- To support staff wellbeing, to create a more positive and effective team
- To enhance and improve student experience and wellbeing
Over the course of a year, the school organised a festival, SENFest, a Winter Wonderland play day, and numerous wellbeing activities for pupils and staff.
They created a quiet space for staff, renovating a former Information Technology room into a staff quiet room; a space for staff to receive support from Mental Health First Aiders. Their SENCo booked out every afternoon for de-brief post incidents if required, for staff and a weekly pastoral email is shared with staff.
There are also plans for a quiet room for staff to recharge and to have breakfast staff mornings at the end of each term.
This is an incredible accomplishment and a testament to the sustained commitment to promoting health and wellbeing across their whole school community. This milestone is made even more special as it marks the first SEND school to achieve gold status.Cllr Elizabeth Wright, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive Member for Children, Education and Families
Wren Spinney is pleased to have taken part in the Healthy Schools Awards as these are about promoting a healthy lifestyle whilst still taking into the account the needs of the pupils, this is especially important for pupils with special needs. The Awards have been completed by not just looking what our pupils will or can eat (bronze), but enabling them to have the opportunities to be as active as possible (silver), and focussing on their wellbeing (gold). Wren Spinney have been proud to take part in the Healthy School Awards and celebrate achieving Gold.Wren Spinney’s headteacher Mike Tebbutt
Pictured: (l-r) Laura Ielapi NNC’s Public Health Officer, Toby Widdicombe Assistant Head Teacher, Mike Tebbutt Headteacher, and Cllr Elizabeth Wright