What Makes Us Remarkable
More than a school.
A place where remarkable happens.
We're proud of who we are and we want you to know exactly what makes Kells Lane the place it is for your child. External recognition matters — it means independent experts agree with what our community already knows. Here is what Kells Lane has earned.
Ten remarkable things you won't find everywhere.
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UNICEF Gold Rights Respecting Schools AwardWe are proud holders of the UNICEF Gold Rights Respecting Schools Award — the highest level of recognition — awarded June 2025. Our assessors praised our children's articulate knowledge and understand
UNICEF Gold Rights Respecting Schools Award
British Values— democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance — are not a display on a corridor wall at Kells Lane. They are practised daily through our Smart School Council Class Meetings, our Kells Lane Cabinet, our places of worship visits, and our six-week Culture curriculum theme. OurCitizenship curriculumbuilds on this further, helping children understand their role in society and — crucially — that they have a voice within it.
We also takeeconomic wellbeingseriously. Children develop age-appropriate financial literacy so they leave primary school equipped to make informed, confident decisions. And ourPupil Premiumstrategy ensures every child — regardless of background — can access the same rich experiences as their peers. Disadvantage is never a barrier to remarkable at Kells Lane.
Rights Respecting School (About Us menu tab)
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Smart School Council — Every Child's Voice, Every WeekWe are proud to be a Smart School Council Ambassador School — one of a select group of schools nationally chosen to represent and champion this approach. The Smart School Council model is built on a s
Smart School Council — Every Child's Voice, Every Week
Traditional school councils often involve the same small group of pupils — typically those who are already most advantaged or most outspoken. Smart School Councils replaces this with pupil-led Class Meetings held across the whole school, so every child — regardless of background, confidence, or ability — has a genuine say in the life of the school. A Communication Team (our version of a school council) then gathers and acts on what they hear.
Kells Lane's approach has been featured by Smart School Councils as an example of best practice, and our pupils are visibly proud of the democratic culture they help to shape. This is pupil voice as a lived experience — not a display board exercise — and it connects directly to our Rights Respecting ethos, our TGMC emotional literacy work, and the value of Be Empowered. Our children don't just learn about democracy. They practise it every single week.
Citizenship (Learning - Personal Development menu tab)
How we transformed our school council to improve communication and inclusion
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Whole-School Wellbeing — Regulate to EducateAt Kells Lane, children's emotional health is not an afterthought. It is the foundation everything else is built on. We use the THRIVE approach — a whole-school framework for emotional and social deve
Whole-School Wellbeing — Regulate to Educate
Our staff have been trained directly by Paul Dix — author of When the Adults Change, Everything Changes — in his Positive Noticing approach. Rather than focusing on correction, we focus on connection: catching children doing the right thing, naming it, and building a culture of trust and belonging.
We are also a trauma informed school. Every member of our staff understands how adverse experiences can affect a child's brain and behaviour — and responds with knowledge and compassion rather than judgement. We don't ask "what is wrong with this child?" We ask "what has this child experienced, and how can we help?" Safety is not a barrier to education. It is the foundation of it.
Special Educational Needs & Inclusion (Key Info menu tab)
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Rooted in Place — Our Building, Our Story, Our CommunityThere is something special about walking into a Victorian school building. Ours has been at the heart of Low Fell for over a century — and that sense of place, of permanence, of belonging to something
Rooted in Place — Our Building, Our Story, Our Community
We believe that knowing where you come from helps you understand who you are. That is why we work with local historian Peter Sagar to bring the story of Low Fell and Gateshead alive for our children — connecting them to their community in ways that make history feel genuinely personal rather than distant. This work has earned us the Heritage History Award.
One story above all others captures the spirit we want our children to carry with them. Sir Joseph Swan — inventor of the world's first practical incandescent light bulb — lived at Underhill on Kells Lane North, just streets from our school. His house was the first in England to be wired for domestic electric lighting. He changed the world, from the end of our road.
We use Joseph Swan's story not as a history lesson, but as a mirror. We hold it up and say to every child: this is what remarkable looks like. It starts with curiosity. It grows through determination. And it can happen anywhere — even here, even you. Swan is the most local, most vivid proof we have that Find Your Remarkable is not just a school motto. It is a fact.
We are proud to have original artwork by Charlie Rogers — the beloved Gateshead artist — displayed in our school. He painted Kells Lane itself, and our children visit Saltwell Park, one of his favourite subjects, seeing their local world through an artist's eyes.
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Active Environmental Citizens — Not Just LearnersAt Kells Lane, climate education is not something children read about and move on from. It is something they act on. We partner with Groundwork North East on real environmental projects, and our child
Active Environmental Citizens — Not Just Learners
Our Eco School Award recognise this commitment — but the real measure is children who leave us genuinely caring about the world they are inheriting, and believing they have the power to do something about it. You can follow all of this work in our school newsletters.
This is Be Empowered and Be Ambitious in their most urgent form — because the generation sitting in our classrooms right now will shape the future of this planet. We take that seriously.
Climate Education & Sustainability (Learning - Personal Development menu tab)
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Sporting ExcellenceFinding your remarkable doesn't happen only in the classroom. We hold the Gold School Games Award — the highest level — for our commitment to sport and physical activity for every pupil, not just the
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Music Mark of Recognition
Music Mark of Recognition
Music (Learning - Creative Arts menu tabMusic Mark of Recognition for Ambition and Quality
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Healthy Schools Award
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Design and Textiles
Design and Textiles
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Drama
Drama