St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary School

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We are a busy, successful, and happy school, with an exceptionally strong sense of community. We’re also a Roman Catholic school, and our Christian values permeate every aspect of the school day. As a small, friendly school, we aim to provide the warmth and intimacy of a family – caring for each other and fostering love, trust, and respect. We value each child as special and unique and try to promote a sense of worth and self-confidence as well as an awareness of their responsibilities to others. When mistakes are made, we treat them as opportunities for learning.
We aim to nurture each child’s talents and help all children fulfill their potential. Our expectations are high: we encourage the children to do their best at all times – academically, socially, personally, and spiritually.
St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary School is a Voluntary-aided school in the Diocese of Southwark. It is in the trusteeship of the diocese. The school is conducted by its governing body as part of the Catholic Church by its Trust Deed and Instrument of Government and seeks at all times to be a witness to Jesus Christ.
The school exists primarily to serve the Catholic community. The governors will require proof of baptism and evidence of practice from the relevant parish priest or equivalent. The governors also welcome applications from parents of children of other denominations, faiths, and no faith who support the religious ethos of the school. All children who receive an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) which names the school will be admitted.
Responsibility for admissions to the school rests with the governors. Following consultation with the Local Authority and the diocese and other admission authorities, the Governors intend to admit sixty pupils into the Reception Class in September 2018 as part of the shared forms of entry to manage the demand for primary places and to do so without reference to ability or aptitude. Our school stays true to a broad and balanced curriculum. It is carefully mapped out from Early Years to Year 6 to broaden the children’s experience and to challenge and support them at every step of their educational journey.
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most. Pupil Premium is also used for Looked After Children (CLA) and children of armed services personnel.
The Pupil Premium is allocated to schools and is identifiable. It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility.
At St. Mary Magdalen’s R.E. is the core of the core curriculum. The Governors, Headteacher, and staff work closely and harmoniously together to create an environment where high expectations and careful pastoral care enable pupils to reach their full potential both academically and spiritually. R.E.at school aims to promote knowledge and understanding about the Catholic faith and life that other principal religions represented in Great Britain. At St. Mary Magdalen’s we follow the ‘Come and See’ program which is taught in many schools across the country. This scheme also provides the children with an introduction to some of the Other Faiths that are part of our multi-cultural society.
Our home-school-parish link is a prominent feature of the liturgical life at St. Mary Magdalen’s. Father Richard is a frequent visitor to our school. The children attend mass in the church regularly and the school is fully involved in preparing the children for their First Holy Communion. Parents and carers are always encouraged to join us in our celebrations.
So that each child reaches his or her full potential, we work hard at assessing the pupils as they move through the school. This is carried out in many ways both informally and formally. This information feeds into progress tracking systems which are robust. This information is also used to inform parents of areas to work with their children on at home.
At St. Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary School we believe that all children should have access to a high-quality and diverse history education which will stimulate their interest and enjoyment of the subject, whilst building on and enabling the children to behave and think like historians. We take advantage of the rich historical venues local to us to create deeper learning experiences for our children, such as Kew Gardens, The Wetlands Centre, and Richmond Park.
We follow the National Curriculum to deliver a daily numeracy session. Our aim is for all children to feel able and confident in mathematics and to take enjoyment from the subject, gaining the skills necessary for everyday life. The children are introduced to several different calculation methods throughout their time at school. This will enable them to identify methods of calculation that they can complete accurately and with increasing efficiency. We use a range of strategies and activities when supporting the children as well as encouraging children to think of different ways to solve mathematical problems.

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