We would like to extend a very warm and sincere welcome to our school, where our greatest asset is the wonderful children who make our learning community such a special place to be.
As a Catholic school we place our faith at the center of all that we do and with this in mind we aspire to provide the very best education that we can for the children.
We believe that by working together in a genuine partnership of school, family, and parish that we can help our children reach their full potential.
St. James the Great is a Catholic primary school in partnership with the home and parish we aim to develop and strengthen the faith of each individual by living according to Christian values. We aim to educate our children to enable them to reach their full potential, spiritually, academically, and socially so that their lives are brought to fulfillment in God.
When children leave our school they should:
- Have learned the skills and knowledge required in the National Curriculum to the best of their ability.
- Have developed a lively, enquiring mind and the ability to question and discuss rationally.
- Be able to successfully progress to secondary education.
Christianity is the cornerstone upon which our school is built. We aim to achieve a caring and stable Catholic community, based on the teachings of the Gospel, in which all children are seen to be valued.
We aim to help our children understand the world we live in and to develop respect for religious and moral values and understanding of other races, religions, and ways of life. Equality of opportunity is at the core of our Catholic school values.
The Language guidelines aim to encourage an enjoyable and enthusiastic development of speaking, listening, reading, and writing for every child. There is a school library available to the children at all times.
Religion is a relationship, a relationship of love between the child and other people, in a community of thankful witnesses to the love of God. Religious Education fosters this relationship through daily prayer, Acts of Worship, and Celebrations of Liturgy.
The RE Curriculum is taught through the ‘Come & See’ Scheme’, but a much wider religious education is offered through the child’s experience of our school life and community.
The program is both ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’. It presents a systematic presentation of the Christian event, message, and way of life, in contexts appropriate to the age and stage of development of each child.
Mathematics is one of the core subjects of our school curriculum. Much emphasis is put on the acquisition of sound concepts in numbers, all forms of measurement (length, weight, area, volume, capacity, time, and shape). To achieve this aim the children are given plenty of practical experience and are encouraged to discuss their observations and to consider further possibilities. They also learn to record their work – as sums, like graphs and using appropriate units. Their knowledge and understanding, at every level, is continually challenged by problem-solving and investigational work.
Art Education enables children to use, understand and enjoy visual forms of communication.
At St James The Great, we believe that P.E. is an essential part of the curriculum. It provides an ideal opportunity for children to develop their personal, co-operative and social skills, as well as helping children to become, and stay, healthy and active. P. E. at St James The Great consists of gymnastics, games, athletics, outdoor activities, swimming, and dance.
At St. James the Great Catholic Primary School we actively promote Christian values, virtues, and ethics that shape our children’s character and moral perspective based on the Gospel values and teaching of the Catholic Church. We take very seriously our responsibility to prepare children for life in modern Britain. We ensure that the fundamental British Values are introduced, discussed, and lived out through the ethos and work of the school.
The children’s strong rooted values-based understanding gives them an excellent platform to embrace difference and grow into being positive, responsible contributors to modern British society.
The children at St. James the Great see democracy borne out in a whole variety of ways and as an essential component of successful team working. Democracy is a school value that children meet when discussing respect and fairness. It is lived out in many aspects of class decision-making as a fair means of gathering agreement. The school's involvement in the Peckham Citizens organization is a very tangible example of the children's voices being heard to affect real change in our local area.
