Canonbury Primary School

Welcome to Canonbury Primary School. We hope that this site gives a strong impression of the rich, vibrant life of our school, while providing important information to our community.

Canonbury is a two-form entry Primary School with Nursery provision, catering for ages 3-11. We pride ourselves on being a school that reflects the local community in all its diversity, a school where parents, children and staff value the opportunity to work together for the benefit of all.

Together, we are ambitious for our children to learn even more than they thought possible in the fundamentals of Reading, Writing and Mathematics. And there is more. We strive to provide a full curriculum where our children can discover and develop their particular abilities and talents. In addition to Science and Humanities, all Canonbury children have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and enjoy PE, Sports and Art lessons with specialist teachers.

Our vision is that our eleven year olds will leave Canonbury as confident, resourceful and respectful individuals who are ready to lead a successful life at Secondary school and beyond.

Our children will leave Canonbury as confident, resourceful and respectful individuals who are ready to lead a successful life at Secondary school and in the wider world.

We believe that learning is at its most powerful when everyone respects one another as part of our community. Children, staff, parents and governors will work together to create a safe and supportive environment where every child can thrive in their work and play. We will aim high, striving for every child to achieve more than they thought possible. Our curriculum will nurture curious minds, stretch the imagination and provide opportunities for every child to discover their particular talents. Every day our children will grow in confidence as we celebrate success and support each other to reach new heights.

At Canonbury, children will be happy in themselves and enjoy firm friendships.

Our values

• We respect each other for who we are and show this in our actions and words
• We work hard and look for enjoyment in everything that we do
• We are eager to embrace new experiences
• We relish a challenge and see mistakes as essential to learning
• We ask questions and create imaginative answers
• We bounce back when things don’t go the way we hoped
• We support each other to succeed and celebrate the achievements of all

At Canonbury we aim to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that will develop the skills, concepts and knowledge necessary for future learning. We place emphasis on the core knowledge and skills of Reading, Writing and Mathematics and bring the wider curriculum to life by teaching subjects in an integrated way, through topics. This ensures that subjects are taught through meaningful cross- curricular learning experiences.

The Nursery and Reception classes work together as a team and follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. At Canonbury we work to provide a supportive, safe and secure environment for our youngest children to learn, play and develop.

At Canonbury Primary School we follow the National Curriculum from Year 1 to Year 6. Our curriculum design is based firmly on the principles of good learning matched to the specific needs of the children in our school. We have designed our curriculum framework to be taught through topics.

We encourage the children to become independent, capable and confident by observing how the children learn as well as what they can do. We use the children’s own interests to motivate and engage the children in active and investigate play. We value the exploration of learning and the development of questioning skills and resilience.

Our Aims

• Our aims spring directly from our School Vision and Values.
• Enable all pupils to achieve more than they thought possible, regardless of their ability, socio- economic background, ethnicity, language or gender.
• Develop confident, enquiring and resourceful learners, able to make informed choices and to apply their learning in different contexts.
• Encourage a love of learning in all adults and children within our community.
• Encourage self-esteem and personal responsibility, linked to respect for the needs and feelings of others.
• Ensure equal opportunities in relation to gender, race, culture, class, special needs and belief.
• Provide and maintain a school and classroom environment which supports, reflects and stimulates learning.
• Provide a safe and happy work place.
• Promote a thoughtful attitude towards the immediate and wider environment.

The Canonbury School Foundation is the school’s registered charity and was established in 1994 to raise funds for projects that enrich the lives of all the pupils. For the past three years the Foundation has helped to fund the whole-school music programme, purchasing brass instruments to support free instrumental lessons for all children in Years Four to Six.