Judith Kerr Primary School is an all-ability, non-denominational, bilingual primary school teaching children aged 4 to 11, from Reception to Year 6. We teach all children in English and German and opened in September 2013.
Each year, we welcome 50 four-year-old children in two Reception classes of 25. Having opened in September 2013, we are not yet full. At full capacity, Judith Kerr Primary School will have 350 pupils.
Judith Kerr Primary School is a free school operated by CfBT Schools Trust under contract with the Secretary of State for Education. The school is funded directly by Central Government and CfBT Schools Trust is accountable to the Secretary of State.
Our school’s distinctive curriculum offers a bilingual education to all. At Judith Kerr Primary School, we embed both German and English languages, cultures, and traditions as well as promoting the fundamental British values through our daily life at school. We welcome families from a range of cultures and backgrounds, providing an inclusive environment where a range of learners accessing our bilingual curriculum can achieve well, academically, socially, and emotionally.
We are proud of our school and its achievements so far and are all dedicated to supporting the school as it seeks to realize its vision. The passion and collaboration of all our stakeholders have led to a very close school community that works tirelessly to achieve the best for all children.
Our children need the skills, sensitivity, and character to navigate an increasingly complex and fragmented world and to create the opportunities they deserve for further learning, personal growth, and work.
At Judith Kerr Primary School we believe one way to help them acquire these skills is through language.
That’s why we formulated our mission as “Bilingual education for everyone.” The Primary School Curriculum sets out what pupils should be taught and the expected standards of pupils’ performance.
At Judith Kerr Primary School, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental, and physical development of the pupils at the school. We also prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of adult life.
At the Early Years Foundation Stage, the subjects that the pupil's study are:
- Personal, Social, and Emotional Development
- Language and Communication
- Physical Development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Physical Development
- Understanding of the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Our Early Years Foundation Stage (“EYFS”) curriculum in Reception follows the revised Early Years Foundation Stage (2012) and is planned to provide children with a varied and stimulating balance between learning through play and structured learning activities that cover the 3 Prime areas of learning and the 4 specific areas of learning.
All areas of learning and development are important and interconnected and many activities will cover many of the areas. Each area is divided into stages of development and our team can identify resources and learning opportunities for individual children dependent on their developmental needs.
At Judith Kerr Primary School we follow the Read Write Inc. phonics and reading scheme. Our Reception children begin their reading journey by learning all of the Set 1 sounds like a class. This gives them the sounds that will enable them to become confident, fluent readers. Once all children have been taught these sounds they are then allocated small groups according to their individual needs. The children are regrouped every 6 weeks.
Children are given reading books to bring home and share with their family. They have an opportunity each day to change these books. They also take home a picture book that can be read by a family member to encourage reading for pleasure.
Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who reads challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out.
Using Read Write Inc. the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into comprehending what they will read. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write.
Our Special Educational Needs support helps those with general learning difficulties. We welcome children of all abilities and needs. Our curriculum and teaching are flexible and inclusive:
- To support pupils with special and additional educational needs or disabilities
- In response to the variety of language backgrounds and levels with which pupils will enter our school
- To stretch gifted and talented pupils
German in Reception focuses on introducing children to spoken German for beginners and building language and vocabulary for the more advanced speakers. The children have one discrete German lesson per week along with other regular opportunities to hear German stories and sing German songs. We celebrate German culture throughout the year by partaking in festivals both with the rest of the school and in our EYFS setting. The German-speaking staff encourages children to speak in German throughout the day.
