At our School we want:
We aim to provide:
The values of care, friendship, resilience, honesty, responsibility for yourself and others underpin the aims of our school. These values are taught actively through the curriculum, assemblies and experiences and modelled throughout the school.
At the centre of our approach is the drive to know our children well and use this information to provide the best possible learning experience. Staff are committed to being adaptable and trying new ideas so that our principles become our practice.
Our positive behaviour management approach (see Behaviour Policy) uses clear systems to build on praise and encouragement to build self-esteem and develop a sense of personal responsibility. This builds a happy and safe environment where learners can flourish.
We provide a rich and varied range of approaches to learning and strive to meet everyone’s learning needs. Through our well sequenced lessons and progressions of learning we ensure that knowledge and key facts are learnt, remembered and retrieved when applying them to new and different situations. We want our children to work and think hard and we make sure this happens through sharing the ‘big picture’ and building lessons for success so that knowledge and skills are embedded in the long term memory.
Children’s social and emotional wellbeing are important in their own right but also because they affect each child’s physical health and can determine how well a child can achieve at school. We prioritise the core skills of emotional literacy, developing resilience and self-esteem through our whole school nurturing approach.
Emotional Intelligence is developed through every day practice as all children are encouraged daily to consider their own emotional well-being through interactive displays and discussion with key adults. We have a Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy which alongside our PSHCE curriculum and relationships education provides a clear framework for supporting children within the class room and through assemblies etc.
To read more about Emotional Wellbeing and our Nurturing Approach click on the link below.
Inspiring children to develop positive leaning behaviours encourages them to be engaged and take responsibility for their own learning. These behaviours, values and attitudes are promoted implicitly across the school and through our nurturing approach and explicitly through assemblies, Personal, Health and Social Education and circle time.
Gem Power rules promote these positive learning behaviours and through teaching and learning of the curriculum the children are encouraged to identify where they are using these powers and talk about how they have helped them and others.
To find out more about our Gem Powers please click on the link below.
Our approach also includes a clear focus on Growth Mindset. We know that when we encourage a Growth Mindset in children then they become enthusiastic learners. A Growth Mindset means that their intelligence can be developed which has a positive effect on their motivation and subsequently their achievement.
To find out more about Growth Mindset please click on the link below
Speaking and Listening skills (Oracy) play a major role in the learning process and children are encouraged to consider how to use talking and listening positively. The school is developing approaches linked with metacognition and oracy to help children to develop these vital skills, expand their vocabulary and apply their skills within a range of contexts.
Please add the link to the oracy page in the literacy section of curriculum
Our learning environments help to promote our learning buzz and encourage everyone to feel motivated, stimulated, proud, enthusiastic and responsible. Working walls and interactive displays through-out the school promote interest and provide an opportunity for child initiated investigation.
Our learning areas are child centred, stimulating and interactive. We use displays which the children are involved in creating as a tool to aid learning. They promote the learning process, interactive learning, emotional literacy and a sense of responsibility.
All staff are the major contributors to the learning environment and ensure that it is a positive, safe place to be for all learners.
We firmly believe that learning beyond the classroom enhances self-esteem, provides a context for learning and provides risk taking opportunities in a safe environment.
The school has a variety of different learning spaces to which all children have access. A large focus of our work is taking the learning beyond the confines of the classroom, for example, the use of the Nature Trail, Story Telling Circles and the environmental areas. We recognise the significance of learning outdoors and resource this carefully to ensure that quality learning happens in all areas through for example Forest School and Maths of the Day.