Unicorn Primary School

[EduCativ]

We are constantly pleased with the very positive reaction we receive from parents, children, and visitors to our school. Our excellent staff and governors are an enthusiastic, dedicated team of people who are committed to achieving the very best for every child within our care to help them reach their full potential.

Children are at the center of everything we do at Unicorn Primary. We aim to provide a stimulating learning environment in which children are excited to learn and are given the confidence to achieve their potential. We pride ourselves on encouraging a child's enthusiasm and nurturing a love of learning. We want children to enjoy school life and we work to achieve this in an environment that fosters the traditional values of respect, reliability, and responsibility. This is demonstrated in our Unicorn Promise:

• Strive to achieve
• Believe in me
• Respect me and others
• Solve my problems
• I can do it
• Challenge me

In our relentless drive for excellence, we foster strong links between home and school, actively encouraging parents to be closely involved in their child’s education. As part of Compass Academy Trust (please find the link to the Compass Academy Trust website at the bottom of this page), Unicorn Primary School benefits from working closely with four other local primary schools and has the opportunity to collaborate and share good practice whilst still retaining our identity and ethos. We try to develop pupils as excellent learners, with social and emotional skills that help them to reach their full potential in life.

Unicorn Primary School has much to offer other than purely academic, sporting, and musical success and we would be delighted to welcome you to our school. Please contact the school office direct (the details can be found on the “Contact” page on our website) with any queries you may have or to make an appointment for a school visit to experience our exciting, vibrant and happy environment.

Children are at the center of everything we do at Unicorn. We have high expectations for every one of the children within our care irrespective of their ability or background. All our children are expected to work hard and challenge themselves to be the very best that they can be. We intend to ensure that our children develop a love for learning that will remain with them throughout their life.

To this end, we make learning fun wherever possible. We encourage our children to understand that it is alright to get things wrong as making mistakes is an important part of the learning process. Praise and positive encouragement are key elements of our approach as we believe that children with high self-esteem and a ‘can do’ approach to learning achieve more.

High standards of behavior are also a key factor to life at Unicorn. Our children understand that good manners, respect, and tolerance are essential and their behavior is excellent. We place a strong emphasis on personal responsibility and use praise and positive encouragement to help each child to be able to ‘make the right decisions for themselves.

Unicorn Primary School is part of Compass Academy Trust, along with Oak Lodge, Marian Vian, and Wickham Common primary schools. We opened in 2003 accepting 30 reception-aged children and through phased development grew year on year, becoming a full one-form entry primary school in 2009. From 2010 we have been accepting 60 children into our reception year group and we have continued to grow year on year until 2016 when we became a full two-form entry primary school.

Our school is an inspiring place to be in! We are fortunate enough to be able to boast that we are a rural school in an urban setting. We are situated just off South Eden Park Road and our grounds not only adjoin a nature reserve but also enjoy views over a lake. We work hard to ensure that this exciting outdoor location plays as important a part of our learning environment as the school building itself. Planting has been ‘zoned’ to match the different world continents and our playground is home to three rather large dinosaurs, an African hut, and a seating pavilion that overlooks the lake.

In addition to the amazing location in which our school is set, each of our classrooms has been furnished to provide bright attractive learning environments. Information Technology systems are an integral part of the school design with interactive whiteboards, tablets, and laptops in each year group. Wireless technology is available throughout the school. In addition, our modern building includes a large well-equipped hall, six shared learning areas, and an attractive modern library that adjoins a quiet internal courtyard, which is home to our rabbit Cookie and Fluffy!

Access to the school is via a footbridge over a stream thus ensuring the children’s safety. In addition to the tarmac and grassed playing areas directly attached to the school we also have the luxury of a large playing field.

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