Brunswick Park Primary School

We are delighted to welcome you to Brunswick Park Primary School. We all worked together to explore our core values and beliefs about the role of primary school in the development of young children into young people ready and prepared for the demands of living well and successfully in society. Good relationships throughout the school are fundamental to a positive ethos. School is more than lessons; it fosters and encourages challenge, ambition and drive and teaches values such as respect, tolerance, honesty, trust and friendship.

At Brunswick Park these values, including hard work, behaving considerately, valuing citizenship and being a good citizen, are at its heart. These values and beliefs inform our school’s vision statement: "Learning for living through respect, support and challenge".

Every child can do amazing things and that it is our job to help make this potential a reality. With an outstanding education, children have the freedom to choose their own futures. As you are the most important people in your children’s lives, it is extremely important that we work together to support each other in making sure your children get the best possible education.

At Brunswick Park we offer a relevant, exciting, broad and balanced curriculum through which children are encouraged to be independent thinkers and to make informed, responsible choices about their learning. Learning is supported and enriched through a wide range of experiences including visitors to the school, residential trips, historical, scientific and geographical visits, music, sport and the performing arts. We consider the skills of communication, mathematics and English to be fundamental to our learning and we work hard to continue improving our standards and achievements.

We wish to continue to strengthen the partnership between home and school in order to ensure your children are happy and learning well to fulfill their potential. We listen to the views of our pupils and parents and use them to help shape the strategic direction of the school.

To create an optimistic, forward-thinking learning environment based on effective teamwork to give the children the best life chances possible.

We aim to

• Raise each child’s level of achievement by providing a high quality education based on the Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum
• Provide a positive and enjoyable environment in which a broad and balanced curriculum will develop each child’s potential
• Encourage children to work co-operatively and respect each other’s values, beliefs and cultures to prepare them for the next stage of their education and for their future lives

At Brunswick Park Primary School we value each and every member of our school community as individuals and respect their rights and freedom. Through our High Five we promote the values of:

• Courtesy and co-operation: Follow instructions from an adult the first time
• Respect: Treat others as you would like to be treated
• Care: Move around the school sensibly and safely
• Consideration: Look after everyone’s belongings and equipment
• Commitment: Be a positive role model

In addition, we focus our daily assemblies (Collective Worship) on the following values monthly, so in their school careers children will have experience of them all: Positivity, Positivity, Honesty, Perseverance, Trust, Patience, Responsibility, Empathy, Tolerance, Democracy, Liberty, Peace, Loyalty, Gratitude, Aspiration, Courtesy, Kindness, Courage.

At Brunswick Park Primary School we value the diverse ethnic background of all pupils and families and undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these. We have found this approach to be enriching for all parties as it teaches tolerance and respect for the differences in our community and the wider world.

Our children are encouraged to reflect on the predominant religious and moral values that underpin our democratic and multi-cultural British society. Through RE lessons, assemblies, visits to places of worship and celebratory events, our children learn about the similarities and differences of other religions and are encouraged to reflect on their own beliefs whilst tolerating the different viewpoints of others, including those who do not have a religious faith.

Our integrated curriculum is broad and balanced and has been organised using a subject focused/topic based approach that incorporates progressively the key skills set out in the National Curriculum 2014. It is enriched with trips and visits, visitors to the school, growing vegetables and gardening, cooking and extracurricular clubs and activities.

The EYFS covers the first 5 years of a child’s life and, in schools, forms the statutory framework for our Nursery and Reception classes. We use the document Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework, Outcomes & Development Matters as the basis for our planning, provision and assessment for our Nursery and Reception Children.

There are 7 areas of learning in the EYFS curriculum, all of which are important and inter-connected. Three Prime Areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

Four Specific Areas

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding The World
• Expressive Arts and Design

We follow the programmes of study from Letters and Sounds, backed up by a Literacy-rich curriculum. We do not follow commercial Phonics schemes. In Nursery, children follow Phase 1 from Letters and Sounds (environmental sounds, rhymes and jingles, listening skills). Towards the end of a child’s time in Nursery, s/he will be introduced to single phonemes from Phase 2, using games and songs.