Henry Cavendish is situated on two separate sites, in Balham, and Streatham. Our school caters to children from the age of three to eleven, from Nursery to Year 6. We are a happy school where the atmosphere is relaxed and conducive to high achievement. We take pride in our diverse community. We value every child as an individual and are proud of being an inclusive school and of our cultural and linguistic diversity. We work closely with parents and families.
We have high expectations of all our children both socially and academically. We place great emphasis on personal, social, and emotional development by fostering caring attitudes, thoughtfulness, mutual respect, self-discipline, and self-confidence. We aim to develop each child as an individual, nurturing their strengths and talents. We give our pupils responsibility and believe that they should be encouraged to do their best in a positive, hard-working learning environment. We place a strong emphasis on creativity and ensuring that our pupils enjoy learning and have fun.
Henry Cavendish is a very special place with its unique ethos. Our School Council has spent considerable time discussing what our new school motto should include. After much debate they have come up with Create, Discover, Succeed Together this motto acknowledges that we deliver creative learning opportunities where our children take an active part in their education. We firmly believe and build on children’s strengths to ensure that every child is successful. We encourage the children to support each other both academically and socially, hence our pupils do ‘succeed together.
We are constantly working hard to improve and enhance the learning environment and the opportunities which we can offer our pupils. We have an excellent Early Years Foundation Stage. They also have a large shared outside learning environment and a new climbing frame which is enjoyed by every child in the Early Years. As children begin their school life, they must be provided with care and education in an environment that enables them to feel safe and supported and which extends their learning and development. We have invested heavily in our Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure that our pupils enjoy school and that parents/carers of Henry Cavendish pupils are confident that their child will receive a quality experience that supports their development and learning.
Our children benefit from an amazing and enthusiastic team of staff, governors, parents, and supporters. The pupils themselves have a powerful voice within our school. Our children are exceptionally well taught and enjoy learning – they achieve well academically and emotionally through PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education, Citizenship) and SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning). We are proud to have two active and articulate School Councils, one at Balham and one at Streatham who work both independently and on joint projects. Our children know their school and can identify strengths and areas for development.
Our vision for the future is to become more sustainable to ensure that our pupils understand how to look after the environment and what we as individuals can do personally and collectively. Our two ECO Action Teams are extremely proactive and meet regularly. They are passionate about sustainable development and finding solutions to improve the environmental performance of our school. We are fortunate to have solar panels on our roofs at both Balham and Streatham. The panels at our Balham site were jointly purchased with the local community, the Hyde Farm Community Action Network. At Henry Cavendish, we work together with other local educational establishments within our Cluster group of local schools and Children’s Centre. This augments opportunities and provides fresh ideas and the opportunity to share with and support one another.
