A specialist school in Nottinghamshire for children with special educational needs has achieved a remarkable national double, securing two prestigious awards for its groundbreaking approach to physical activity.
Innovative Approach Wins Top Honours
Kedleston Group's Wings School Notts, located near Newark, has been celebrated at the recent National Association of Special Schools (NASS) Awards, taking the top honour in the Breaking Barriers and Inclusion category. The school supports children with special educational needs including autism and social, emotional and mental health challenges.
This achievement creates an impressive 'double-header' of award wins, coming just months after the school also won the Outstanding Inclusive Practice award at the Youth Sport Trust Conference 2025 Awards for the same initiative.
Transforming Education Through Physical Activity
The school was honoured for its innovative strategy of using PE, sport and play to re-engage young people in their education. As a Youth Sport Trust Lead Inclusion School, Wings Notts completely redesigned its approach to physical education, school sports and physical activity to provide students with an improved developmental experience.
Significant changes implemented across their PE and school sport practices included adopting the Youth Sport Trust's My Personal Best and Inclusive Youth Leadership programmes, which are led collaboratively by students and senior leadership.
The school introduced multiple initiatives including daily health and well-being sessions, activity-based enrichments, uniform changes, dual national curriculums and the strategic use of physical activity to aid regulation and de-escalation.
Measurable Impact on School Community
These changes have delivered notable improvements for both students and staff. The entire school community now reports an improved sense of belonging, with more young people regularly attending offsite sporting enrichments with trusted staff. The school has also observed generally improved behaviour across the student body.
Principal Jacob Shelton expressed his delight, stating: "We are incredibly honoured and beyond delighted to have won this hugely prestigious award. We changed our entire approach to sports and physical education to be more inclusive so that everyone could engage at their own level of interest, motivation and pace."
He added: "This has helped to remove barriers of 'being the best' or 'being the worst'. Removing these barriers has opened the gates for a wider group of pupils to experience the life changing benefits of physical activity."
This latest recognition continues the school's success story, following its designation last year as a Centre of Excellence by the Leadership Skills Foundation, one of only 17 centres in the country to achieve this prestigious accreditation.
