Holy Cross RC Primary School is situated in the North of Edinburgh. As a denominational school, our catchment area is widespread. The school attracts children from out with the catchment area as well as several other children of other or no denomination and children from a range of ethnic backgrounds. We are pleased to welcome all of our 350 pupils and we celebrate the diversity of their backgrounds.
There are 13 primary classes, a nursery morning and afternoon class. Currently, the school has a Head Teacher, a Depute Head Teacher, and a Principal Teacher. Specialist teaching is provided in Support for Learning and Physical Education. There is violin instruction for some P4 – P7 pupils. Pupils are also well supported by the school’s team of Pupil Support Assistants. EAL (English as an Additional Language) teachers provide support to pupils who require it. The school has a Parent Council and a PTA, both of which are actively supportive of the school and make a vast formal and informal contribution to the life of the school.
Our vision is to create a nurturing, respectful community where confident pupils can grow in faith and achieve their best.
Our Aims:
- To provide high-quality learning experiences in a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment.
- To promote the gospel values and provide opportunities for all to develop God-given talents.
- To promote pupil's voices and inspire a love of learning.
- To promote children’s rights in a respectful, inclusive environment so all learners become active, responsible citizens.
- To provide pupils with fun activities and opportunities to lead their learning.
At Holy Cross RC Primary School we seek to provide the highest quality learning experiences to all our pupils. Our broad curriculum is meaningful, relevant and recognizes the importance of learning through the four contexts. Pupils will have planned opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills in challenging tasks and new situations, thereby equipping them to become active citizens in an ever-changing world. We value the pupil voice highly, involving children in discussions about their learning and seeking their views about the life of the school.
Our curriculum is grounded in our commitment to securing children’s rights and wellbeing. As a Catholic school, we are a community of faith-promoting Gospel values through celebration and worship, and through service to the common good. In delivering the curriculum, we recognize the importance of all our partners in providing opportunities for learners to develop skills for learning, life, and work.
All teaching staff discussed advice from Education Scotland on Achievement of a level. An audit was carried out of current moderation practices within the school. A common planning format was agreed for Maths and Numeracy, and whole-school writing. A whole-school analysis of attainment for session 2015/16 was conducted, and areas for improvement, especially in numeracy, were discussed. Staff also met regularly to moderate standards of writing and to plan collegiately. Our Nursery offered flexible patterns of attendance. E-Journals were used by all Nursery children.
We will use the Education Scotland Benchmarks to help us assess how much progress we make with our learning, and create more opportunities for family learning. We will use Pupil Equity Funding to help ensure ALL pupils learn well at school and make good progress, targeting this at Nurture and in Literacy and Numeracy. We will continue our work towards Level 2 Accreditation as a Rights Respecting School and in Building Resilience. We will further develop links with our local community and parents, develop our digital literacy skills, learn about creativity and improve our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) skills.
