Henry Cavendish Primary School

As a Rights Respecting School our motto acknowledges that we deliver learning opportunities where our children take an active part in their education and grow as people. We build on children’s strengths to ensure that every child is successful. We encourage the children to support each other both academically and socially, hence our pupils are ‘growing together’ by understanding that the rights of everyone are respected in our diverse society.

We are proud to be a Rights Respecting School and as a consequence our children understand that their actions have an impact on others. This makes the pupils at Henry Cavendish even more supportive of each other.

Henry Cavendish is situated on two separate sites, in Balham and in Streatham. Our school caters for children from the age of three to eleven, from Nursery to Year 6. We are a happy school where the atmosphere is relaxed and conducive to high achievement. We take pride in our diverse community. We value every child as an individual and are proud of being an inclusive school and of our cultural and linguistic diversity. We work closely with parents and families.

Both sites have amazing libraries which have been totally renovated. We are passionate about reading here at Henry Cavendish and every child in the school from Nursery to Year 6 continues to enjoy and benefit from the improved surroundings and the new books we have purchased.

Many of our children attend the rich and varied extra-curricular activities available, including Breakfast Club, Kids City after school club and a range of creative and sporting after school clubs.

At Henry Cavendish we work together with other local educational establishments within our Cluster group of local schools. This augments opportunities and provides fresh ideas and the opportunity to share with and support one another.

We always welcome visitors to our school and prospective parents are welcome to book a tour to look round either our Balham or Streatham site or even both sites. Please email office@henrycavendish.co.uk to arrange a visit

We have high expectations of all our children both socially and academically. We place great emphasis on personal, social and emotional development by fostering caring attitudes, thoughtfulness, mutual respect, self-discipline and self-confidence. We aim to develop each child as an individual, nurturing their strengths and talents.We give our pupils responsibility and believe that they should be encouraged to do their best in a positive, hard working learning environment.We place a strong emphasis on creativity and ensuring that our pupils enjoy learning and have fun.

We are constantly working hard to improve and enhance the learning environment and the opportunities which we can offer our pupils. We have an excellent Early Years Foundation Stage. They also have a large shared outside learning environment and a new climbing frame which is enjoyed by every child in the Early Years. As children begin their school life, it is particularly important that they are provided with care and education in an environment that enables them to feel safe and supported and which extends their learning and development. We have invested heavily in our Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure that our pupils enjoy school and that parents/carers of Henry Cavendish pupils are confident that their child will receive a quality experience that supports their development and learning.

Our children benefit from an amazing and enthusiastic team of staff, governors, parents and supporters. The pupils themselves have a powerful voice within our school. Our children are exceptionally well taught and enjoy learning – they achieve well academically and emotionally through PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education, Citizenship) and SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning). We are proud to have two active and articulate School Councils, one at Balham and one at Streatham who work both independently and on joint projects. Our children know their school and can identify strengths and areas for development.

Our vision for the future is to become more sustainable to ensure that our pupils understand how to look after the environment and what we as individuals can do personally and collectively.Our two ECO Action Teams are extremely pro-active and meet on a regular basis.They are passionate about sustainable development and finding solutions to improve the environmental performance of our school.We are fortunate to have solar panels on our roofs at both Balham and Streatham.The panels at our Balham site were jointly purchased with the local community, the Hyde Farm Community Action Network.At Henry Cavendish we work together with other local educational establishments within our Cluster group of local schools and Children’s Centre. This augments opportunities and provides fresh ideas and the opportunity to share with and support one another.