Grafton Primary School

Grafton is an exceptional school, where the individual child is at the heart of all is does and always strives to inspire children to achieve the highest level.

We see our school community as a 'Family' where pupils are cared for, nurtured and supported and where pupils make outstanding progress in all areas of learning. Children and Parents at Grafton School foster an atmosphere of mutual respect, tolerance and high regard for all members of society and for themselves. We are proud of our school and all those who work and learn in it. From Years 1 – 6 your child will follow the National Curriculum.

School Mission Statement and Aims

• Create a calm, happy and purposeful environment for all children and staff, through positive management that reflects care, respect and support for each other, encouraging tolerance, discussion and co-operation at all times.
• Provide a stimulating working environment and curriculum, which encourages learning in which children show interest, enthusiasm, and independence.
• Foster non-sexist, non-racist, non-homophobic and a non-elitist philosophy amongst all members of the school community, ensuring equal opportunities for all.
• Provide opportunities for children to achieve their full potential - to develop their skills, talents and interests, within a creative environment.
• Facilitate children's achievement and potential by setting high standards and providing a carefully planned programme of work delivered with high quality teaching.
• Work in partnership with our parents and the school community

To ensure children are able to work and play safely, we expect them to

• Be polite and thoughtful and play fairly and cooperatively with each other at all times
• Listen and consider each other’s feelings
• Be kind and never hit back but tell an adult

We value each other’s work and celebrate each other’s achievement, whatever that might be. We value our learning and are determined to do well. We love reading, writing, investigating and sharing our learning with each other. At school we respect, tolerate and help each other. We never use abusive language of any kind that hurts other and our behaviour is always the BEST. We know how important it is to be in school every day and on time so we always do our best to achieve 100% attendance and punctuality.

The Nursery has a number of full time children as well as those who attend on a part time basis. The Early Years follow the Foundation Stage Curriculum which consists of seven areas of learning:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication
• Mathematics
• Literacy
• Understanding of the World
• Physical Development
• Expressive Arts and Design

Special Educational Needs and the Inclusive School. As an inclusive school we support all pupils to access the curriculum through effective programmes of support. Whatever the pupil’s Special Educational Need we will ensure that they reach their full potential. Working in partnership with parents and carers is central to our work and to the children’s success.

In Grafton Primary School, we have a long history of supporting our most able pupils through both identification of their particular skills and offering a great deal of provision.

Most provision for our most able pupils occurs within the classroom through extension and enrichment activities. Grafton also has a vast amount of out-of-class enrichment activities.

One of the most powerful and well researched thinking skills programs has been running for many years at Grafton. The Cognitive Acceleration program (Let's Think!) takes place throughout the school from reception up to year 6. During these unique lessons our most able pupils are challenged in English, mathematics, and logic. They are stretched and challenged to the point where their thinking and creativity are stimulated leading to exceptionally high quality work and dialogue.

In mathematics Let's Think lessons also stretch our most able pupils through a series of well-structured lessons that progress in difficulty. We also offer Logic training within this approach for children in Key Stage 1. These lessons have taken place for 15 years at Grafton.

We also have a science specialist who has worked across most year groups. The use of a specialist has enabled our most able pupils to be more deeply involved in science lessons. There is also an after-school club available for our most budding scientists. With the use of advanced questioning techniques and subject knowledge we know that our pupils are well stimulated in science.

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is another well researched approach to thinking and learning that has taken place at Grafton for over 10 years. With the help of in-house philosophy specialists and trained teachers it aims to build children's ability to reason, analyse, create and think clearly. Philosophy for Children has an advantage of being able children's thinking across all subjects. By working collaboratively, all pupils including the most able are allowed to flourish intellectually within the class environment.