St. James’ (VC) Junior School is a Church of England school that recognizes the common values which are held by all faiths. At St. James, we welcome and respect people from all backgrounds and religions as part of our school family. We have high expectations of ourselves. We help each other to enjoy learning, to achieve the best we possibly can, and to be able to make choices that will contribute to a healthy lifestyle and economic well-being. We work and play together so that our school is a safe and happy place where everyone feels valued. We want members of our school family to be responsible, confident people who can contribute fully to society.
With twelve classes we are an average-sized school, by Newham standards, but are large when compared to other schools nationally. We fully understand the influence and impact that different forms of behavior play in determining the success within the school, for all pupils and adults, in the forming of the whole school ethos.
St. James’ CofE Junior School is a member of the Newham North Learning Partnership (NNLP). NNLP is a partnership of nine local children’s centers, infant, junior and primary schools that work together to support and raise the aspirations and achievements of all children, their families, and the community as a whole: providing highly effective learning experiences and opportunities, as well as community and welfare services.
As a voluntary controlled community church school, our diverse multi-faith, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic pupils, staff, and community make St James’ a rich, unique and harmonious place to learn, work and visit. Regular opportunities exist for visitors to the school including workshops for parents, open days and evenings, performances and assemblies, or community tea parties and events (including quiz nights and our, now legendary, international evenings).
Based in the heart of East London, just over two kilometers away from the 2012 Olympic swimming pool and park, is our happy and exciting school. Visitors and staff, as well as those children and families that do not live locally, can walk to the school within eight minutes from Forest Gate mainline station (part of Crossrail developments). Forest Gate station provides easy access to popular transport links, including Stratford and London’s Liverpool Street station.
St James’ Curriculum follows Primary National Curriculum (NC). However, we are proud to offer a much broader curriculum than the NC, making the most of the many and varied opportunities to broaden and enrich the curriculum for our children. We have developed a theme and skills-based curriculum that successfully offers a wide range of developmental opportunities and ensures that learning is both mastered and has depth.
The mastery pedagogy works on the principle that all learners, with effort, will meet expectations while some learners will be able to access even greater challenges to deepen their thinking further, exceeding end of year (age-related) expectations for attainment. Teachers at St James’ therefore use Bloom’s Taxonomy to support their planning, ensuring that the variation of independent learning tasks allows all children to access learning objectives at the relevant stage in the progression of concepts being taught.
We fully understand the influence and impact that forms of behavior play in determining the success within the school for all pupils and adults and in the forming of the whole school ethos.
We will aim to nurture in the individual awareness and responsibility for their attitudes, decisions, and actions and a recognition of their consequences.
In the context of our school environment, our policy supports the agreement and fulfillment of school aims and set procedures that consistently insist on positive behavior from all individuals which meet the expectations, needs, and aspirations of everyone establishing respect, safety, and opportunities for success for others and self. We understand that schools are ever-changing and recognize that there are times when we need to adapt and respond immediately to those changes as and when they occur.
