St James' C of E School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Working together, striving for excellence, we can make our school a place that truly belongs amongst the best there is.
We believe that it is very important at St. James' to have a curriculum that is relevant to the interests of our children, that grabs their attention and that is adapted to their needs. For this reason, the curriculum may change over the year. A Geography unit planned for the summer term may be changed or adapted as the needs and interests of the children develop over the year. Whenever a change occurs, the updated document will be posted below. Parents will always be sent a letter at the start of the half term, outlining what subjects are being taught during that period.
At St James’ C of E Primary School, we believe in the concept of the learning community and lifelong learning. Through our teaching, we aim to equip children with the skills, knowledge, and understanding necessary to become independent learners, with the ability to make informed choices about the important things in their lives. We believe that appropriate learning and teaching experiences help children to continue to develop and explore their potential.
Our SEND provision allows pupils with learning difficulties the opportunity to follow a curriculum specifically tailored to develop life skills and to give pupils self-confidence through their learning thus enabling them to maximize their potential and to work independently.
We are committed to narrowing the attainment gap between SEND and non-SEND pupils. This may include short-term intervention learning programs, before and after school skills groups and other learning interventions developed to personalize learning. We have very good attendance as pupils want to come to school to experience our high-quality learning provision. Respect runs through our school and is central to the way that we treat each other. It is through these core ideals that we can promote British values.
Democracy is highly visible within the school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our Pupil Parliament and Pupil questionnaires. The Pupil Parliament is a particular focus this year, highlighted in the School Development Plan. They have already delivered an Anti-Bullying assembly, identified opportunities to raise money for charity, and supported the Friends of St James Christmas Disco. Once a year we complete a PASS survey, gathering the views of all children on a range of topics, including their attitudes to school, learning, and themselves.
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 rules, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves, and the consequences when rules are broken. Visits from authorities, such as when the Police came to talk to the school on the issue of dangerous parking, help reinforce this message.
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 the 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 extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Underpinning our school ethos and behavior policy is the notion of “Love your neighbor as yourself”, and pupils have been part of discussions and assemblies related to what this means and how it is shown. The key to this idea is that of mutual respect, and this is discussed regularly in class and during assemblies. Children are encouraged to think about what respect means and how to show it, while also being asked why it is important.
This is achieved through enhancing pupils' understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. We are lucky to have a very diverse school population and encourage children to talk about their family backgrounds warmly and positively. This can be seen in many ways at school, from the way that children interact with each other, to the annual Eid and Diwali parties we hold at school to celebrate these festivals.
The Friends of St James' is a group made up of parents and friends from the school and the local community. We love organizing things to do for the children and families of our school. We aim to help the school by raising some money to provide exciting opportunities for the school children. With the money raised from our last Summer Fair, we have enabled the school to run a trip to the seaside for the whole school.
