In 1920 Balgowan had four classes of 46 infants and 330 secondary-aged pupils (11-14 years of age). Balgowan Boys Technical School and Balgowan Girls School shared the school hall but were separate schools on this site. The boy's school was the forerunner of Kelsey Park School (now Harris Academy Beckenham)and the girl's school was the forerunner of Cator Park (now Harris Academy Bromley). Following the re-organization of education in Kent in the years after the Second World War, Balgowan became a primary school.
The school benefited from a major building project in 1996 which included new classroom areas for our Early Years and Year 2, the new architecture reflecting the original Edwardian building. A Music practice room enables regular instrumental music lessons to be taught by specialist teachers from the Bromley Youth Music Trust. The school continues to develop its grounds, with landscaped gardens and trim trails for both our Infant and Junior playgrounds.
Balgowan Primary School is an inclusive community in which the achievement and well-being of every child matters. Positively encouraging our children to recognize and welcome individual differences is fundamental to our approach because everyone is unique and special. Showcasing and valuing the abilities and achievements of all our children is essential. We are committed to providing, for each child, the best possible environment for learning.
We are proud to work closely with Bromley Parent Voice, which is a recently registered charity supporting families to have their voice heard. They work collaboratively with our school, the local authority, and other services to raise awareness of unmet needs and the difficulties children and young people with additional needs and disabilities and their families face.
At Balgowan, we aim to foster a life-long love of learning by ensuring that all of our children experience a creative and values-centered curriculum, fully preparing them to become citizens of the 21st century.
Our main aims are:
- To provide a broad and balanced education (academic, social, moral, spiritual & cultural) so that every pupil achieves his or her full potential.
- To ensure that pupils enjoy learning, feel confident, and are equally valued and fully inclusive participators in all areas of school life.
- To encourage, promote and secure for all pupils the experience of success and genuine achievement and to instill in them the importance of striving to attain the highest possible standards of performance at all times.
Our creative curriculum aims to deliver a twenty-first-century education that will equip our children with the skills required to be independent and responsible citizens. Through highly effective curriculum planning and teaching, our creative curriculum provides opportunities for all pupils to:-
- Acquire life skills such as literacy, oracy, and numeracy and apply them across the curriculum.
- Develop lively, imaginative, and enquiring minds
- Develop the ability to question and argue rationally and to communicate appropriately
- Develop personal moral values, tolerance, and respect for other beliefs and cultures
- Develop a concern for the environment and an understanding of the changing world in which they live
- Develop a sense of personal responsibility, community, and belonging, contributing to their community through direct interaction – making links with local organizations
- Acquire physical skills, aesthetic sensitivity, and an appreciation of the arts
- Appreciate and value their achievements and those of others
At Balgowan we put values at the center of everything that we do. Children explore values stemming from the traditional British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty & the mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.
We recognize that the whole school and wider community are sailing together on the Balgowan ship through both calm and uncertain glasses of water but we remain strong in the knowledge that it is the core values that keep us on a steady and even course – and which help children to navigate their way through life into adulthood. By positioning core values at the heart of our school, we will engage staff, children, and parents in the debate about what kind of people we want to be and the kind of world we want to live in.
Each week we focus on a different value from our ship of values (displayed prominently in the school entrance), such as respect, co-operation, honesty, and patience. The new value is introduced in assembly normally accompanied by the use of a song with a related values message and then explored from various aspects throughout the rest of the week via stories, plays, personal recount, examples of good role modeling in school, and children’s shared experiences.
