We are a busy and friendly Church of England Primary School on the borders of Peckham, Nunhead, and East Dulwich. We aim to foster the intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual development of all our children. At St John’s and St Clement’s, we work hard as a team of learners, so that everyone can achieve their very best. Our goal is to provide outstanding academic and pastoral guidance to every child so that they leave us best prepared for the next stage in their education.
At St John’s and St Clement’s, we pride ourselves on high standards for all learners, while nurturing each individual through our Christian ethos. We believe that each child should leave school with:
- A sense of moral and spiritual awareness
- A sense of wonder and curiosity about the world around them
- A love of learning and the desire to achieve high standards
- A growing ability to relate to and communicate with other people
- A sense of their citizenship of the school and the wider community
Our Aims:
- As a Church school, we believe each person is made in the image of God. We strive to reflect the love of God, love of life, and love of learning in all that we do.
- We build our school on our core values of aspiration, resilience, creativity, community, and kindness.
- We aim to foster the intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual development of all our pupils. We believe that children need a caring, consistent environment where they are treated with respect and where their well-being is seen as paramount.
Our mission statement: Working together in the love of God. Love of Life and Love of Learning.
At St John’s and St Clement’s our curriculum is led by theory and research into how children learn and underpinned by the school values of Aspiration, Resilience, Creativity, Kindness, and Community. Our curriculum aims to be:
- Challenging for all – all children will be able to access learning that encourages them to think, enables them to make progress, and provides opportunities to develop the skills to be successful in life.
- Engaging – children are motivated when engaged and inspired. We aim to provide real-life opportunities for learning where children are encouraged to think and learn through inquiry and exploration and engage in the process of learning.
- Broad and inspiring – children learn through a variety of experiences and a cross-curricular approach, valuing all subjects and considering the whole child.
We do this by teaching the National Curriculum through themes based on the high-quality texts used for English. Projects are cross-curricular and are designed and planned in conjunction with the children to encourage them to take responsibility for their learning, whilst at the same time providing a rich, real-life learning experience.
Learning through play is fundamental to a child’s development and engagement in the learning process. In reception class at St John’s and St Clement’s play-based learning is at the center of our provision as it is crucial in igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships, and thrive. The Early Years Curriculum is driven by the seven areas of learning and development. We value all areas of learning equally and understand that they are inter-connected.
Outdoor play is an integral part of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and vital for children’s development and we encourage children to go outdoors in all kinds of weather. Outdoor provision fosters further learning opportunities in all areas of learning. Physical activity and energetic play provide exercise, encourage coordination, and helps children develop physical skills, such as climbing, balancing, and writing/mark-making, etc. Through outdoor play, children have unique opportunities to play co-operatively – sharing resources, turn-taking, negotiating, communicating ideas, and developing friendships and self-esteem.
Phonics – Children from Reception to Year 2 are taught according to the Letters and Sounds program. Daily phonics lessons directly follow the phases and teaching programs detailed in Letters and Sounds. Lessons include revision of previous learning, the teaching of new sounds/ tricky words, and application of new skills. It is an active, multi-sensory session and in the early years, Jolly Phonics actions are used to help children remember the sounds. Children are taught how to read and write graphemes and apply these skills to their independent reading and writing. Some children will receive additional support in class, in addition to whole class phonic sessions.
English literacy is at the heart of our learning and teaching and essential to every area of the curriculum. It is through literacy that concepts are formed and we can make sense of the world and our place in it. High-quality texts are at the center of our English curriculum and are used to stimulate and engage the children. Children are encouraged to read for pleasure and understand that we learn to read for a purpose.
Maths is an important life skill. We want our children to be confident mathematicians who can use and apply their learning and understand that it is fine to make mistakes along the way. They are given lots of opportunities to discuss, explore, practice, and apply mathematical concepts.
Music is held in high regard at St John’s and St Clement’s and supports all year groups to share her passion for expression through music. We offer a range of wonderful musical opportunities for all children and we encourage them to fulfill their musical potential through individual and group lessons, choir, and an ongoing calendar of exciting musical events.
