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Having developed a love of learning and the self-discipline required to achieve, our students will have mastered essential skills that ensure their continued success at university, in employment and the wider community. They will have been guided throughout this journey by expert tutors and teachers, offering excellent bespoke support and advice, delivered in ways that allow all to achieve. We are not all created equal, but with hard work and tailored guidance, all can improve themselves. Through an exciting and dynamic curriculum, our Nursery and Pre-prep children are encouraged to be independent thinkers and decision-makers. Helping them along their journey is a team of dedicated and passionate teachers who strive to inspire and nurture all their talents. We believe that curiosity must never be suppressed. We embrace the National Curriculum in Key Stage 1, but are not bound by it and look to extend beyond, and for our younger pupils, the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile system forms the core. Literacy and Numeracy are paramount to a child’s education however, it is the approach to these subjects that determines learning success and the enjoyment for our pupils. Throughout the Pre-Prep department, this is through the use of creative, cross-curricular topics that will fire the imagination and allow using real-life tools. Moving up from Year 2 to Year 3 marks the transition from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 in each child’s learning journey. The curriculum offered is broad, balanced, and engaging, offering depth and challenge. Subjects are timetabled within the week and homework is gradually integrated. Pupils are placed in ability sets for English and Maths from the Lent Term of Year 3 to help to tailor teaching to each child. To ensure that every child’s progress is tracked effectively, the children undertake regular assessments, including NFER, reading and spelling tests, and targets are shared. Differentiation is crucial and, therefore, embedded into our curriculum. In Year 5 the children are taught by subject specialists and are prepared for any entrance examinations that they will be undertaking in Year 6, including the Kent Test (Eleven Plus) and entry to our own Senior School. Learning how to learn is paramount to a child’s education and pupils are given many opportunities throughout their Prep education to think independently, solve problems and foster their natural curiosity. Our First and Second Forms (Years 7 and ? follow our innovative, challenging, and stimulating Junior Curriculum, which has academic excellence at its heart and continues to promote our pupils’ love of learning by emphasizing the SV Learning Habits of Being, Thinking, Doing and Relating. We also ensure that the fundamental study skills required for success are mastered so that our pupils can move on fully prepared to excel at GCSE and beyond. These pupils also undertake our Junior Leadership Course which promotes those essential skills required in addition to academic study for them to become truly successful and make the most of all that is on offer: leading others, team membership, organization, time-management, and perseverance, as examples. In addition, they each produce a Junior Portfolio which records their achievements over the two years and ‘graduate’ in readiness to join the Senior School with the award of the SVS Junior Diploma. Many pupils join us in the Third Form from other schools. In this Form, we concentrate even more on developing a high level of competence in the essential numeracy, literacy, and ICT skills, across all subjects, in targeted-ability groups, with the ablest often undertaking extension programs, in preparation for GCSEs, which are then studied in the Fourth and Fifth Forms. Every pupil is set ‘Target Agreed Grades’ (TAGs) in discussion with their teachers and their attainment and effort level about their TAGs is reviewed half-termly. These grades are benchmarked against the performance of pupils of similar ability in other independent schools. Our aim is that SV pupils will aspire to and achieve highly ambitious outcomes relative to their ability profile and thus amply fulfill their true potential. Sixth Form Pupils, either progressing from our Fifth Form or joining us from elsewhere, pursue A Level courses in three or four carefully chosen subjects along with individual research in a specialist topic in preparation for submission of an extended project qualification (EPQ) or the BTEC Level 3 in Uniformed Public Service, which counts for university entry. As in the younger years, all pupils work towards ambitious TAGs based on Durham University’s independent school benchmarking system. They can also expect to receive plenty of individual support and expert, bespoke, advice on appropriate Higher Education applications, interview practice, CV writing, and careers in general. In addition, there are numerous opportunities to be fully involved in wider School life and take on positions of leadership. The vast majority will continue their academic journey at the university level, although employment-based training routes are becoming an increasingly popular option for some. On Leavers’ Day, we are always immensely proud of our pupils. They will have followed a bespoke academic program, tailored to their individual needs and worked very hard to achieve exceptional things in a multitude of disciplines, whilst always playing a full part in our community and caring for others along the way. View full school

At Valence Primary School every child matters. We aim to create a happy, healthy, safe, and secure learning environment. we encourage all children to become independent, lifelong learners and achieve their full potential. We positively promote caring attitudes, respect, and responsibility towards each other, the environment, and the wider community. At Valence Primary we aim to create a school where PRAISE is central to our aims. Children can start in the nursery once they are three years old. Admittance is based on available places. The Bonham and St Georges nurseries each admit 39 children in the morning and 39 children in the afternoon. Each session is for three hours. Applications are made for a specific site nursery, however, if places are available on the opposite side, children on the waiting list will be given the option to take up that place. Parents are invited to place their children on the waiting list the year before they are due to start school. The waiting list opens in October and closes in March the following year. Parents complete a form which is obtained either from the school office. The completed form is then returned to the school office, where you will be asked to present documentary evidence confirming identity and proof of address. Children are admitted to the reception in the academic year that they will be five years old. The school applies the Local Education Authority’s admission policy. The Local Education Authority has set procedures for allocating Reception places. Admission to Reception classes is entirely their responsibility. The road to learning booklet is published by the borough and updated every year. Parents who are interested in their child starting at our school are welcome to contact the office who will be happy to arrange a visit, give a tour of the school and facilities available and answer any questions. Valence Nursery with Additional Resource Provision (NARP) is a provision for children with a range of needs including profound learning needs, complex social and communication needs, children who are on the autistic spectrum, and children with physical disabilities. We are a 16 place nursery with 8 spaces in the morning and 8 in the afternoon. Children within the NARP have access to all that our mainstream nursery provides but we are sensitive to children’s individual needs and we will make the necessary modifications where appropriate. We are fortunate to have a range of additional resources to support specific educational programs such as a soft room play area, specialist equipment, quiet work areas, and a sensory room. Children who come to the NARP are placed by the borough and are going through the Education, Health, and Care Plan assessment process. We work closely with our parents to ensure that our children receive the best possible start to their education and support parents with the process of choosing their child’s next educational setting. Our NARP was inspected by the Local authority Group Manager for Early Years and judged to be Outstanding. At Valence Primary, e-safety is embedded not only in our computing lessons but is very much a part of how we teach children to stay safe. However, research shows that one of the best ways to support children in keeping themselves safe online is not only educating the children but also supporting the parents it is essential that families feel confident in supporting their children in making safe choices using technology. On this page, you will find articles from Parent info, as well as a general feed of E-Safety resources from Twitter and resources created specifically for parents. As a child of a technological age, you have grown up around technology in school and also possibly at home. You have never known a time without a computer, laptop or the Internet - and might even be better than your parents. Although you might be able to use technology and the Internet easily, you still face the same dangers as anyone else that uses the Internet, just like your parents. The ECO team gave an assembly to children from Y1-Y6. They talked about how we can work together to be an environmentally friendly school. We discussed how we have different bins in school and how we have to be careful to put our rubbish in the correct bins. We have red bins for paper and blue or black bins for all other rubbish. We also discussed how we should not litter and what harm this can do to the environment. Finally, the ECO team reminded everyone how important it is to turn off the lights when you leave a room. Mrs. Fogarty told us that a new bulb for every projector costs around £400 (which is a lot of money!) so we should remember to turn off the projectors and visualizers too. We know that it's our job to work together to make our school an environmentally friendly place to be. The Government considers the Pupil Premium to be a key element of their education policy. Introduced in April 2011, the Pupil Premium provides additional funding to schools to target specific groups of children who are vulnerable to under-achievement. These include pupils from low-income families children in care and the children of armed service personnel. At Valence Primary School every child matters. We aim to create a happy healthy, safe and secure learning environment. We encourage all children to become independent lifelong learners who achieve their full potential. We positively promote caring attitudes, respect, and responsibility towards each other, the environment, and the wider community. View full school