Welcome to the Friars Primary Foundation School. Friars is a vibrant multi-cultural one form entry primary school located in the Borough and Bankside ward of the London Borough of Southwark. We have a long history of high achievement and enrichment and we aim to make every child’s time with us as valuable as possible.
We care about our children and families. From the physical environment of the school to the outstanding care guidance and support, all staff gives to the high-quality teaching that goes on to the number of extra activities available – they all show that we want the very best for our children.
Our vision for Friars is of a happy community, nurturing, safe and caring environment for all. Everyone will have a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning. We will be courageous, ambitious, resilient, and confident. Throughout our journey at Friars, we will be able to successfully respond to a changing world.
Our aim is for Friars’ pupils to achieve high personal and academic success, and demonstrate good behavior, values, and tolerance. We want our learners to become creative, critical thinkers who are inquisitive, flexible, and independent.
We will all achieve this through:
- Developing positive relationships, attitudes, and understanding within our diverse community where pupils show respect for themselves and others
- Celebrating individuality and creativity within an inclusive environment of equal opportunities
- Ensuring effective leadership, teaching, communication, and open partnerships with parents and carers
- Creating a stimulating environment for learning and well-being
- Offering opportunities to participate in a wide variety of social, cultural, moral, and spiritual experiences
- Facilitating high-quality professional development to ensure staff reflect, embrace challenge, have high morale, and are well equipped to deliver excellent teaching
Friars have an agreed set of values that we all believe in. They are:
- Right Conduct
- Truth
- Peace
- Non Violence
- Love
These values permeate every aspect of the school’s work including assemblies, behavior management, and everyday discourse between children and adults. We believe they help prepare our children for life in modern Britain. They also sit alongside and run through the fundamental British values of:
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith
- individual liberty
The Nursery and Reception classes are in a self-contained unit, which has facilities including a well-equipped outside space. During the Autumn Term, the children are educated in their classrooms but after Christmas, there is more of an integrated approach to learning. The children in both classes have the opportunity to use all the space and free flow between classes and outside and are taught in mixed ability groups. Both Nursery and Reception classes follow the Early Years Foundation Stage, whereby the curriculum is delivered through structured play where learning has been identified.
The Foundation Stage curriculum includes all the experiences, opportunities, and activities that are offered to help children learn.
Each child is viewed as an individual with specific needs being met inappropriate ways, and with individuality being encouraged. Independence is fostered and each child is encouraged to reach their full potential. The curriculum balances a range of developmental experiences focussing both on indoor and outdoor activities. Activities are based around themed units which are taken from the Creative Learning Journey.
The Early Years Foundation Stage focuses on effective learning and teaching within seven areas:
- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Personal, social, and emotional development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive arts and design
At Friars we want our children to be motivated and successful learners. One of our main priorities is to Increase pupils’ stamina and resilience when they are challenged in their learning by a more rigorous and demanding curriculum.
We use Carol Dweck’s work on Growth Mindset to encourage children to have a positive learning attitude. To have a growth mindset is to understand that qualities like intelligence, talent, and abilities are not fixed but are developed through hard work, effort, taking risks, and learning from others.
