Ben Jonson Primary School

Ben Jonson is a welcoming, ambitious and inclusive three-form entry community primary school for children between the ages of four and eleven. We share a site with Harry Roberts Nursery School and two classes from Phoenix School; we work closely together to serve the community in the heart of the Ocean Estate, Tower Hamlets.

The school’s greatest asset is the children. Our children are happy, curious, hardworking and motivated to do their best. They are eager to learn and make the most of opportunities to participate in a range of trips, projects and extra-curricular activities. Their parents and carers take every opportunity to support and engage with the school in their child’s learning; we value this.

The staff members at Ben Jonson are dedicated, talented and work hard for all the children. This is evident in the high expectations all staff have for every child’s wellbeing and achievement. Our curriculum is well-resourced and enhanced by specialist teaching for music, art, dance, computing and design and technology.

Our school is a beautiful, spacious and modern building that allows us to provide a rich and stimulating environment where learning flourishes. Our commitment to the arts is palpable as you walk around the building. Our impressive grounds border the historic Regent’s Canal and the wide open spaces of Mile End Park, but are just a short distance from the City of London.

Ben Jonson is characterised by its stimulating, enthusiastic and interactive environment. Whilst our inspiring and eclectic curriculum firmly follows the National Curriculum, it extends far beyond this. As a school we follow a “topic –base” approach, where a topic is taken and threaded through all subjects. Each term is launched with a “theme”, which the class will immerse in, allowing the children to learn and explore through various mediums. Our integrated and thematic approach is strengthened by the expertise and guidance of our specialist teachers in music, art, DT and computing. The development of the whole child is at the heart of our school’s educational philosophy. Here we believe primary education begins to build the skills needed to be a confident, creative, critical and compassionate learner.

Our well-equipped classrooms are supported by shared areas with excellent resources, which encourage confidence and independent learning. We promote a more open-ended enquiry based education, where pupils take a greater responsibility to independently learn, while getting the opportunity to work collaboratively in mixed ability settings. Our aim is to provide children with the prospect to develop into independent, autonomous and resourceful learners. As a school we are very concerned with the development of the whole child – academic, physical, social, emotional, moral, cultural and spiritual. Throughout the school, children are actively encouraged to develop and challenge themselves as learners; by offering activities for them to explore varying interests and develop skills in academic, artistic and athletic fields as we assist each pupil in reaching their full potential.

We recognise and capitalise on our unique location in the heart of London’s old east end. The diverse school and local community provide a rich, varied and factual background to our curriculum and we incorporate and take frequent field trips to gain first-hand experiences. We recognise that not all students learn in the same way and structure our curriculum and lessons to meet these different needs. We are constantly updating and refining lessons and units of the curriculum, based on current research and best practice. Our mission is to empower children to grow and develop into responsible, ethical and caring individuals.

The school’s core purpose is to ensure all children, groups and individuals, make good progress. In particular, our aim is to ensure that those we deem disadvantaged are able to make progress alongside their peers and any gap in attainment is diminished. We will do this by:

• Embedding a targeted inclusion strategy across Ben Jonson.
• Strengthening the teaching of English.
• Encouraging and celebrating children as learners.
• Seeing beyond gender.
• Empowering children to understand and explore their behaviour.

Ben Jonson is a safe and stimulating environment where children encounter positive, challenging and creative learning experiences. Each member of the school community is motivated to be a life-long learner. We will equip everyone with the skills to achieve their full potential in a climate of mutual respect and personal responsibility.