Our school is an inclusive school where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and where all members of our community are of equal worth. Parents, carers, and the community are key partners and we are committed to working together to promote educational achievement, raise children’s self-esteem and engender a sense of pride in our school and community.
Here at Springfield, we believe that children learn best when they are stimulated by an exciting and challenging curriculum that motivates them to learn. We actively encourage children to be inquisitive about the world around them and we celebrate every child’s success. We are determined to give our children every opportunity to make the most of their abilities through a combination of excellent teaching, an inspirational learning environment, and a rich, creative curriculum.
Many of our children join Springfield in the Nursery, aged three. A place in the Nursery does not guarantee a place in the main school but children meeting the Local Authority’s entry requirements will move on to Reception where they will be joined by children new to the school. Admissions to Nursery are provided by the school and there is no need to contact the Local Authority.
We are very proud of all the children in our school. We are particularly proud of the enthusiasm with which our children approach and embrace their learning, the progress they make, and the way they develop into conscientious and responsible individuals with a high level of self-esteem and a love of learning. We use a cooperative approach to support children from our rich and diverse community to achieve educational and personal success. We aim to prepare our children for the world by ‘bringing the world into our classrooms and taking our classrooms ‘out into the world.’
We come from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds. There are many different languages spoken in our homes. And we all have our different personalities, likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. But we all have one big thing in common and that is our school.
Springfield is a Rights Respecting School and we use our Pupil Voice in many ways. For example, we have an Eco Council, a School Council, and an E-Safety group. We have a beautiful Forest School and a woodland adventure playground where we love to play and learn outdoors. Children at Springfield love sports and we have all sorts of different clubs and matches to keep us active and busy before and after school.
Our curriculum is designed to inspire and motivate pupils while providing for their academic, moral, physical, creative, personal, and social development. Children learn through a careful balance of specific teaching programs and a topic-based approach.
From the Foundation Stage through to Key Stage 2 we recognize the importance of making links across the curriculum. Lessons are designed to ensure pupils acquire knowledge and skills and have opportunities to practice and apply their skills in a range of contexts. We encourage co-operative work, talk, discussion and above all, enjoyment as vehicles for learning in all subjects.
We are a group of schools working together because we believe our schools can gain many benefits from working collaboratively. We have committed to a shared responsibility to the wider school community, the provision of good quality education, and the improvement of life chances for pupils in the community beyond that of our schools. Teachers, support staff, school leaders, and governors have added expertise in working alongside colleagues to improve provision and outcomes for our pupils.
The Primary Advantage Federation has a formal governing board with representatives from all eight schools. Each school has a Local Advisory Board that meets at least four times a year and supports the Headteacher and Executive Principal in making strategic decisions that will improve outcomes for pupils. Each Local Advisory board reports to the Central Governing Board once a term. Our Local Advisory Board includes representatives from our parents, staff, and community.
The Local Advisory Board meets regularly to support and challenge the school to continue to provide children with a high-quality education. They look at outcomes for all pupils at St Matthias and look at how well our children are doing compared to children nationally. They also receive finance reports, health and safety reports, curriculum reports and help the school to make decisions that will benefit our school community.
We know that the most successful education takes place when parents, carers, staff, and governors all work together. Parents and carers can be involved with the whole school community in a variety of ways from attending fundraising events to supporting with homework. The school communicates in a variety of ways including newsletters, a texting service, Twitter, school website, Marvellous, letters, meetings, telephone calls, posters, and flyers.
Online Safety is an important part of keeping children safe at Springfield. We have extensive security measures in place in school, which are monitored both internally and externally, to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable materials. Online Safety is taught to all pupils explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.
We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the online safety message is consistent. Parents must speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.
