Our Lady of Grace Catholic Junior School

Welcome to our school. The life of our happy and successful school, which has been serving the Catholic community in Dollis Hill for 50 years.

We believe that the years spent in Primary School are amongst the most important in every child’s education. Therefore, at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Junior School, we aim to provide the best possible opportunities and environment for your child to reach his or her potential in all aspects of school life (spiritual, moral, academic and social). We aim to provide enjoyment and challenge for all learners, across all curriculum areas, and ask the pupils and parents to embrace these challenges and see them as a genuine chance to progress.

We aim to provide a happy, caring, secure and stimulating environment in which all the children will feel confident about themselves and the world about them and to grow in faith and understanding. We provide opportunities for parental involvement in the life of the school to encourage a real collaboration and co-operation between the Parish, Governors, teachers, parents and children. We believe this to be encapsulated in our Mission Statement below.

At Our Lady of Grace, we expect high standards of conduct from all members of our school community and place considerable emphasis on treating each other with kindness and respect. We have an experienced, well-qualified, committed and talented teaching staff that allows us to be confident that we can fulfil our promises to our parents; and we are well-resourced in terms of books, equipment and ICT resources.

At Our Lady of Grace school, we are committed to helping children learn in many different ways. In addition to classroom based learning, all year groups have the opportunity to extend their learning during educational visits throughout the year. Some recent examples are visits to Handel House by current year six children to work with musicians and other schools on baroque music, our school choir visited and performed at Wembley in the Brent Music Choir competition and year three visit the London Zoo with great excitement to support their learning about animals. Some children were offered the opportunity to visit Westminster Cathedral for a special Advent Service.

We also have very close links with local secondary schools and some of the Year 6 children have recently visited St Gregorys for both Science and Maths lessons. Other opportunities for learning in the community include visits to the Welsh Harp Educational Centre.

Throughout the year there are a large number of occasions when individuals or companies are invited into the school for workshops, assemblies or themed days to further the children's learning. Recent examples include a Tudor day, a Victorian day, a workshop about safety for Years 3 and 4 and a visit from St Josephs Pastoral Centre to coincide with our 'Disability Awareness Week'.

Our school should provide a caring, positive, safe and stimulating environment which promotes the social, physical and moral development of the individual child. We make every effort to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued and where there is a culture of openness where both children and adults feel able to talk and be listened to.

We are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and follow our procedures to ensure that children receive effective support and protection. At all times, the welfare of the child is paramount. Whilst the school will work openly with parents, as far as possible.

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Junior School is a fully inclusive school that ensures that all pupils achieve their personal, social, emotional and academic potential in all areas of the curriculum (regardless of their gender, ethnicity, social background, religion, sexual identity, physical ability or educational needs). All pupils at the school are valued and we work hard to ensure that their confidence and belief in themselves is developed through different aspects of school life.

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Junior School will address the needs of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disabilities. It has been written to help parents/carers understand how we will support all our children, including those with SEN and disabilities, to make the best possible progress in school. The information report is updated annually.

Our Lady of Grace Day is a very special occasion which is celebrated at the school every year. It is a fantastic opportunity for the Junior and Infant school to come together for a time of reflection and spirituality. The children enjoy the shared lunch and art activities that take place during the day. This year was particularly special as we are also celebrating the school's 50th Anniversary.