Rutherford House School

Welcome to Rutherford House School, a two form entry, primary free school based in Balham, South London. We opened in September 2013 with our pioneering first year of children and their families and have now welcomed our fourth year group. We currently have Reception to Year 4 classes and will reach full capacity in 2020.

At Rutherford House, the child comes first. We are a non-fee paying, non-selective, non-denominational, co-educational school and as such welcome children from all backgrounds. We pride ourselves on offering a bespoke, personalised education that meets the needs of all pupils and is totally inclusive. Our ambition is to be excellent in everything we do while ensuring our pupils enjoy their learning experiences, feel supported and become confident, independent learners in a culture that encourages risk-taking and regards mistakes as opportunities. Discussion and debate are encouraged; beliefs, ideas and rights are respected. Above all, my staff and I enjoy working in a happy school where our children are eager to charge through the gates every morning and are reluctant to leave at the end of the day.

We actively seek links between our school, home and the wider community. We support parents to ensure they can support their child’s development, and stay informed about their learning. The diverse community is celebrated and children learn through sharing their experiences in and out of school.

In addition to our permanent staff, we are well supported by specialist teachers in sports, music and languages, as well as providing a wide range of extended school provision that offers opportunities such as ICT coding, ballet, football, tennis, netball, street dance, cookery, French and much more.

We are extremely proud of all our children and what they have achieved since our school opened and I hope our website will give you a sense of what is it like to be part of our enthusiastic, thriving and successful school community. There is so much more to Rutherford House than academic, sporting, dramatic or musical success and we are pleased to welcome you to experience our exciting, vibrant and caring environment in person.

At Rutherford House School we are committed to excellent standards in both academic and personal development. More importantly, we believe that happy children learn better. We will provide a secure and nurturing environment where children will feel safe, valued and able to express themselves. We want children to be excited to come to school. The safety of our pupils is also paramount and the school embeds safeguarding and high-quality pastoral care in all that it does.

Ethos & Vision is 'What does a RHS child look like?’ A Rutherford House child is well rounded, independent and successful. They experience a broad and challenging curriculum within a nurturing, collaborative and creative environment. They leave Rutherford House School having achieved their full potential, confident and happy; interested and interesting.

Our Vision: Every child at Rutherford House will leave understanding and embodying our school values.
In children, staff, parents and carers we value:

• Respect (self, peer, adult, community, environment, integrity, responsible, well behaved)
• Resilience (sporting, problem solving, independence, driven, fortitude)
• Partnerships (friendships, family, citizenship, wider society, empathy, understanding )
• Reflection (mindfulness, introspection, self awareness, self expression, personal happiness)
• Ambition (focussed, driven, successful, aspirational)
• Enthusiasm (fun, playful, enjoyment)

These core values are at the heart of everything we do and enables us to put the child first within clear boundaries. They enable us to encourage pupils to take responsibility for their actions by guiding them to be responsible for their behaviour and attitudes. All members of our school community feel valued and understood within a safe, supportive and stimulating environment. We welcome and actively encourage everyone to participate in school life.

Our mission is to educate with creativity and rigour, provide an environment for enjoyment, where everyone belongs and we aspire for our pupils to succeed at the highest level. Learn, enjoy, succeed.

Our Aims

• To develop confident, successful and independent learners.
• To promote high academic standards.
• To provide a rich learning environment including arts, culture and sport.
• To know and understand each child as an individual and for them to understand themselves.
• To provide a welcoming to everyone, safe and fun environment.
• To encourage pupils to act responsibly and respectfully to all.
• To establish and maintain effective relationships between home, school and community.
• To fully develop creative, well rounded and resilient individuals.
• To nurture a love of learning and spirit of inquiry.
• To ensure our staff learn, enjoy and succeed.

From the Reception Class to Year 6, Rutherford House School offers a broad, balanced, creative and enriched curriculum, providing opportunities for pupils of all abilities and backgrounds to succeed. We will be unashamedly focused on high academic attainment. This is based on the EYFS and National Curriculum and at times entails formal teaching of spelling, punctuation and grammar as part of our emphasis on literacy. Rutherford House School focuses on the core learning, accelerating progress in literacy and numeracy and maximising the use of ICT enabling all pupils to have full access to the curriculum. The curriculum is delivered by the finest teaching staff, but our belief is that children learn best when they are happy and excited by what’s happening in the class room; excellent achievements will be a by-product of the education on offer and not the only goal. The children’s wishes, rights and entitlements are at the core of all discussions and decisions concerning the curriculum and the quality of learning experience the school provides.

A 'Can do' approach encourages the children to develop into critical thinkers. Coherent team work is key to the learning process where the children develop a positive personal self-awareness. High quality speaking and listening skills are encouraged through drama activities, hot seating, questioning and explaining

During the week, the children also have access to an enriched provision for Spanish, art, music, multi sports and dance. They can regularly be found using music, drama and role play to bring alive aspects of the curriculum, as well as performing in class assemblies, festivals and productions, whilst developing confidence, self-esteem and life-long skills for learning.

We feel passionate that education is not restricted to the gaining of knowledge and the acquiring of essential skills but it also includes the personal development of each boy and girl, in its fullest sense; which includes building spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC).

SMSC is embedded within the curriculum and is delivered through assemblies, cross curricular discussions and games. It does not target external outcomes in the same way as many other subjects, but focuses upon a child’s internal development through their engagement and reflection upon issues which question and challenge children’s view of themselves as an individual, part of a community and the contribution they can make to society and the World.