Alfred Salter Primary School

Welcome to the Alfred Salter Primary school. Our school is a friendly and welcoming place to be, a place where everyone is valued and their contributions are appreciated. We are very proud to be a Rights Respecting school and we work hard to ensure that this respect is evident through all aspects of school life.

We ensure that the curriculum is varied and creative. The children all have opportunities to learn to play musical instruments while they are here and the school has a long history of having Artists in residence.

The school was opened in 1995 and the building is fully accessible to wheelchair users. For an inner London school we have spacious playgrounds and outside areas including a running track with views of Canary Wharf beyond. We are fortunate to be in a vibrant and evolving part of south east London, we have excellent transport links to central London and take full advantage of the resources open to us there and in our local area.

The values and ethos of the school underpin all that goes on at Alfred Salter. This includes the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of children as well as their development as successful learners. We are particularly keen to develop childrens' skills in, and appreciation of the Arts. At Alfred Salter Primary School we aim to, Motivate children to:

• Apply skills and knowledge to investigations and real life situations
• Aspire to their highest potential
• Have high self esteem and achieve work of high quality
• Respect the school and other members of the community

Provide an environment which:

• Has high expectations of work and behaviour and celebrates children's achievements
• Is stimulating, challenging and happy
• Values co-operation and collaboration between staff, parents or carers and children
• Promotes equality of opportunity, acceptance and respect for others
• Recognises potential talents in all children and cultivates them
• Welcomes children with SEND and seeks to include them in the life of the school

Help children to develop:

• intellectually, physically and socially
• Emotionally and creatively
• Morally and spiritually

Encourage children to:

• Speak confidently, discuss, initiate, question and explore
• Express themselves through the Creative Arts
• Be independent
• Be self motivated and develop a passion for learning
• Have high self esteem and be confident
• Be open minded and sensitive to the feelings of others
• Participate in sports activities within and outside the curriculum

The School curriculum refers to all the positive things that we try to offer the children while they are at our school. We aim to give the children some idea of what we know about the earth and how we find out about it. We try to make them aware of themselves and their value, and to prepare them for the part they will play when they grow up as global citizens. We want them to be sensitive to and understand individual personal relationships.

We want them to be aware of how groups of people behave towards each other, especially in our multi-ethnic multi-faith community. We encourage children to learn confidently and to communicate what they learn through written work, art and craft and by taking part as performers or as an audience in dance, drama and music.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) for Nursery and Reception pupils is based on seven ‘Areas of Learning’ which provide a broad and balanced foundation for future learning and achievement.

Practitioners work towards and beyond the ‘Early Learning Goals’. There are constant opportunities for pupils to extend their knowledge, understanding and skills. Pupils continue to access the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) as part of their transition into the National Curriculum in Year 1.

Throughout the Foundation Stage, pupils are exposed to regular Literacy and Numeracy sessions in preparation for Key Stage 1. Phonics is taught daily through a range of lessons and activities, using the letters and sounds scheme. These are planned using the DfE Letters and Sounds Publication.

We use a variety of teaching methods including whole class, group work and individual learning. We have an interactive whiteboard and iPads in every classroom, which give teachers an opportunity to use interactive software and make greater use of the Internet in their teaching. To make learning more meaningful we aim to teach children some of the National Curriculum in an integrated way through TOPICS or THEMES. The curriculum gives us a framework within which we plan what we want the children to learn. This planning must also pay attention to how children learn. We believe that children learn best when they are actively involved.

'Learning by doing' makes the work more interesting, more meaningful and more likely to make sense to the children and be remembered. Problem solving and investigations are both important for primary children. This kind of learning helps children to think more clearly, to raise questions, try out ideas and to record their findings.