ST THOMAS
CE (VC) PRIMARY SCHOOL
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Our School
Welcome to our school website. Whatever your reason for visiting, I'd like to take a moment to share with you why I think that our school is a really special place.
I've worked in this community since 2005. Before this, I worked for many years in Manchester as well as teaching in Fairfax County, Virginia in the USA as part of the Fulbright Education Exchange. I joined this school in September 2005 and since then I’ve married and had a family of my own. Prior to taking on the role of Headteacher, I worked part time to allow me to juggle the demands of home and work life!
I am proud to be Headteacher of such a diverse, friendly, family focused school.
Mrs Meade
Over the years I have seen the school change significantly and our community change as a result of this. These positive and historical changes are inherent in everything that we do, with no child under-estimated and every interaction and opportunity well considered. We try hard to make sure that everything that we do is done as well as possible, and with a sincere sense of pride. This means that regardless of our successes, we constantly and carefully strive to make every day as meaningful as possible. A visitor once commented that the school has ‘spirituality around every corner’ and this reflects our commitment to creating a school community that is thoughtful, secure and positive.
To ensure that our children are happy and productive at school, we focus on relationships and the time taken to share a conversation or a discussion. For this reason, our children and families like coming to school, have a good level of attendance and enjoy the calm, friendly and productive atmosphere. Our children feel valued and nurtured, and it’s from these foundations that we implement our own curriculum, which we have created ourselves to engage and enthuse our children. Our curriculum reflects a wealth of experience and hard work, with every learning opportunity considered and explored. It’s a curriculum that provokes questions and opinions, supported by rich opportunities to learn from real-life experiences, both on and off our school site. Our school SATs results and Early Years assessments show upward trends over the last few years in nearly every aspect of english and maths across the school. OFSTED acknowledged that our ‘children are making rapid and sustained progress’, which highlights that our approach to school life does not compromise on high academic expectations.
The school itself has many fantastic ways of supporting our children, with technology and natural resources working together hand in hand. Whilst iPads and virtual learning are an integral part of the day, our outdoor learning provision supports the whole curriculum, from maths to design technology. This includes our pond, orchard, community garden, sports fields, Early Years learning areas and our magical story hub. The children can often be seen enjoying and learning outside the school with their teachers, artists, tennis coaches and outdoor learning specialists.
Inside school there are many references to a school culture that is inclusive and creative. Our school is filled with images and texts from children’s stories as well as our house system, where the children can feel part of a team; succeeding and collaborating together. Whilst we embrace change and forward thinking, we never lose sight of some of the tried and tested old-school approaches that all young children require to contribute successfully to wider society.
I hope that the above comments reflect how passionate and proud we feel about our school. Together with our families we work smart to deliver good, positive outcomes in all respects. If you have any further enquiries, please feel free to contact me.
