King David Primary School is founded on traditional Jewish values with a belief in respect, courtesy, self-discipline, diligence, and the pursuit of excellence.
Our mission is to encourage each child to reach the highest levels of academic achievement, creativity, and personal development. We aim to create a generation who will be knowledgeable and committed to their faith and values and will become outstanding citizens within the Jewish community and in the wider world.
Our ethos aims to develop open-minded, flexible, and resilient individuals with the skills and attitudes to be successful in tomorrow’s society. The creation of a warm and caring environment is a founding principle of our school and we go to great lengths to care for our pupils. We are fortunate to have outstanding, forward-thinking staff who continually develop their practice and are happy to give their time and energy to nurture your children.
The pupils at King David are our best asset and we understand that they are the thing you treasure most in the world! We take the trust of our parents very seriously and we are committed to individual pupil progress, safety, and well-being at all times. OFSTED recognized this in March 2016 by judging us OUTSTANDING in every area of the inspection framework. They said, “Every child’s success is at the heart of all the school does.”
The DfE have recently reinforced the need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
Democracy is rife within the school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council and Pupil questionnaires. The elections of House Captains are based solely on pupil votes. Our school behavior policy was reviewed with the input of our pupils.
The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behavior and through school assemblies. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves, and the consequences when laws are broken.
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school, we educate and provide boundaries for young pupils to make choices safely, through of provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advise how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Whether it be through choice of challenge, of how they record, or participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Part of our school ethos and behavior policy has revolved around Core Values such as ‘Respect’, and pupils have been part of discussions and assemblies related to what this means and how it is shown. This is reiterated through our classroom and learning rules, as well as our behavior policy.
Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in JS and PSHE. Members of different faiths or religions are invited into school to share their knowledge to enhance learning. We regularly take groups of our pupils to other faith and non-faith schools to enrich their understanding and share their own cultural and spiritual heritage with others. For example, some of our Year 6 pupils recently participated in a multi-faith week at a local Catholic primary school.
We believe that every child is entitled to full access to the Foundation Stage and National Curriculum, including especially gifted children as well as those who have particular difficulties. The objectives of the school’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Policy are to ensure that each child achieves his or her full potential. We aim to identify special needs at the earliest opportunity and consider a partnership with parents and guardians to be important at all times. We will take account of the views of all relevant agencies and the views of the child. We are committed to increasing the extent to which disabled pupils and adults can participate within school life and plan continual improvements to the school’s provision for pupils with special educational needs through the Accessibility Plan.
The school welcomes all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. We aim to be fully inclusive. Children with SEND are admitted to the school under the same arrangements as all other children, by the school’s admissions policy. The school has a Complaints Procedure in place. Any complaints connected to SEND should firstly be referred to the class teacher, then SENCo, and Headteacher.
