Rotherhithe Primary School

Welcome to Rotherhithe Primary School. We are very pleased to inform you that Rotherhithe and Dog Kennel Hill primary schools are now officially in a hard federation as of 2nd January 2018.

We pride ourselves in providing a caring, happy and friendly atmosphere that nurtures all children and enables them to meet their maximum potential in all areas of their growth and development.

We believe that every child is different, yet equally important and valued. This ethos is tangible and can be felt as soon as you walk into our school building and the classrooms.

We aim to give the highest priority to academic excellence through a broad, balanced and exciting creative curriculum with a keen focus on the performing arts and sports.

Our main aim is to give each young person an education of real worth, one which will equip him/her to take a place in society as a responsible, informed person who has high self-esteem and respect for others. Thus, we firmly believe that a child’s education must include the widest range of opportunities, be they artistic, sporting, cultural, recreational or social.

Driven by the children, we chose an anchor as our logo which reflects our steadfastness, relentless commitment and the strength we show as a learning community. We consider ourselves as the ‘anchor’ of our community. Our values: Caring, Courageous, Ambitious, Resilient and Empathetic (CCARE) are at the heart of all we do.

Our school is extremely well resourced for teaching our creative curriculum. We have a very modern, multipurpose computer suite which is being utilised well by children and parents during and after school. In addition, each class has access to laptops, iPads, cameras, an interactive whiteboard and projector which are used effectively throughout the school as teaching and learning resources.

Whatever their special and/or educational needs, we can assure you that your child will be well looked after by our dedicated, committed and very skilful staff. We are an inclusive school and have achieved ‘Flagship status’ in recognition of our commitment that all pupils reach their full potential. Good emotional health and well-being is paramount for leaning and for creating well-rounded citizens, we have therefore incorporated mindfulness into our daily school practice. We take pride in our relationships with parents, the mutual respect our children and young people show each other and the care that we offer. We make time to get to know children and their families.

Passion for learning and high motivation are key components of our school’s success. By being confident, independent and collaborative learners, we aspire to achieve highly, both academically, creatively and socially. We are an inclusive school where pupils have a strong sense of their own identity, and have high aspirations for future success and happiness.

Our values of being: Caring, Courageous, Ambitious, Resilient and Empathetic help us to prepare them for an exciting yet unknown future filled with possibilities and opportunities.

We value and seek to empower our families by working in partnership with them and with others within the local community. Pupils are exposed to a world of possibilities, so that they understand their place and their responsibilities as global citizens.

Any attempt to continue to raise standards in our school must be focused on the classroom. Continued and sustained improvement is dependent upon sustaining the high quality of earning that is taking place on a daily basis.

Across our school the expectation is that all pupils are provided with high quality learning experiences that lead to consistently high levels of pupil achievement.

At Rotherhithe we want every child to be successful. We know that the sooner children learn to read, the greater their success at school. We use a phonics programme called Read Write Inc. The teaching of phonics is a key strategy that is used to teach our children to read and write.

We start teaching phonics in Reception, year 1 and year 2. Some children in Year 3 and 4 may continue to be taught phonics if this is needed. We use the Read Write Inc Fresh Start programme for children in year 5 & 6 who may continue to show some challenges in terms of learning to read.

During phonics lessons we give children books we know they can read using their sound blending skills. Before they read the story, they sound out the names of characters and new words, practice reading any of the ‘tricky red’ words, and tell them a thought-provoking introduction to get them excited about the story.

Then, the children read the story two to three times: first to focus on reading the words carefully; then to read fluently with comprehension and understanding. We talk about the story together for example, how characters might be feeling and why. By the time your child reads the story to you at home, they will be able to read it confidently with expression.