Trinity St Mary's CE Primary School

TSM has been part of the community for over 150 years and has served Balham’s children throughout those years. We are a small one-form entry school which allows myself and my staff to build solid relationships with the children and the families who attend our school. We have created a safe, warm and friendly atmosphere where children flourish and grow. Our aim is that every child develops a love of learning as well as leaving our school with the best results possible.

Our school boasts a fantastic staff including specialist teachers and lead practitioners. We are currently in the top 5% nationally for maths and the top 20% for reading and writing. Our focus on creative and cross curricular learning is why our children develop a love of learning and why they achieve such amazing results.

Our Christian ethos is embedded within all aspects of our school life and all children who attend our school (no matter their religion) reflect on their learning, behaviour and how they can develop into global citizens. Our main values of Kindness, Courage and Unity are taught to the children from Nursery to Year 6. We use kindness to ensure all children, staff and governors are treated with respect and we help those who are less fortunate. We are united together as a school and as a community to support everyone. We use courage when facing challenges in our lives, when we think we might fail and believing in ourselves when it’s time to move to a new year group or secondary school.

Our Vision is Trinity St Mary’s is a multi-cultural community based on Christian values and principles. Children, parents, staff and governors work together to promote a happy, supportive and secure learning environment.

Our Mission statements are

• Ceating an environment where positive behaviour, self discipline and honesty are expected.
• Promoting an understanding of everyone’s rights and how to respect these rights.
• Celebrating our Christian distinctiveness as a Church of England School.
• Valuing and maintaining the partnership between our school and the Parish Church of St Mary’s.
• Dedicated teaching of Christian values and morals; respecting the diversity of our school community.
• Ensuring that all pupils have equal access to learning by means of a broad and balanced curriculum, enabling them to achieve their full potential in a safe and secure environment.

At Trinity St Mary's CE Primary School our aim is to create confident and independent learners by the time children reach Year 6. We believe that it is enjoyment of learning that fosters self-esteem, self-motivation and a sense of well being upon which children thrive, and we aim to provide this in our approach to delivering the curriculum. The curriculum of the school is broad and balanced with the school ethos at the centre of how we teach. Great emphasis is placed on planning the curriculum so that there is continuity, progression and challenge whilst ensuring creativity and inclusion of every pupil.

In 2014 our national education system went through significant changes. At TSM we strive to ensure our children receive an excellent first class education. As a result we would like to inform you about how we, as a school, address these changes and how we are working to implement them whilst maintaining our high standards. At TSM we view assessment as a very important tool for benchmarking the starting point of a child's education and to track progress and attainment throughout their time at the school. English, mathematics, science and RE remain very important and core subjects at our school. The National Curriculum sets out in detail what must be taught in each of these subjects for each year group. There is an overview of the curriculum topics available on the school website in the ‘Curriculum’ section, just choose your child’s year group.

Trinity St Mary’s is an inclusive school committed to giving all of our pupils every opportunity to achieve the highest of standards. We provide education for all pupils through a variety of access strategies and the provision of resources and facilities as necessary. All pupils' needs are considered and a range of flexible responses are available to accommodate and value their diversity. Our policy is to support learning through appropriate external specialists, tailored to individual need. Co-operation between agencies ensures education, health and care services for children with special educational needs and disabilities are jointly planned and commissioned. We also make sure that parents are involved in, and informed about, their child's learning and support.

Our Inclusion Manager (SENCO) is Mrs G Ahmed. She is responsible for coordinating provision for children with additional needs, for developing, implementing and monitoring the school's Inclusion and SEND Policy, and facilitating specialist staff training. The school has been involved in Speech and Language support training by ELKLAN. At present eight adults have been accredited with NVQ Level 3, with two taking part in the training during the spring term, the school also has a teacher specialising in dyslexia and another SEN/EAL teacher taking part in the National Award for SEN Coordination.