Mission Statement

Success and Enjoyment for All

At Stanway Primary School we aim to give every child the best possible education and start in life in our caring and aspirational school. Our curriculum reflects the needs of all our pupils: it not only focuses on the core skills, but gives opportunities for all children to develop their understanding and appreciation of the wider world and the part they have to play in it.  We want to encourage and inspire creativity, and also help our pupils to develop as caring and thoughtful people, equipped to live in the modern world and develop rich and meaningful relationships with others.  

We provide a nurturing, positive and purposeful environment in which to learn, that both children and staff can look forward to attending each day, and in which all children can be happy and successful.  We recognise that establishing a strong relationship with our families is pivotal in ensuring our children progress and thrive in their journey through primary school. 

Our staff provide opportunities and experiences aimed to engage, excite and stretch pupils and create confident and independent learners.  Our ethos is embodied in our core values of Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative, Community and Determination to which we aspire and celebrate every day. We believe each individual can grow and learn through encouragement to identify and pursue their hopes and dreams, and the development of strong self-esteem, tolerance and respect.

Our Values

We believe that Stanway Primary School is a very special place where we all work together to enable our pupils to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. We recognise those who embody this ethos through Achievement Certificates, Values Certificates and Headteacher's Certificates during our Celebration Assemblies on Friday mornings. Our core values of Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative, Community and Determination underpin everything we do at school.

Be the Best that You Can Be!

Leadership

As children progress through the school we offer opportunities for them to become more involved with decision-making within the school.  All children can become a School Council Representative and the Senior School Council is formed from Year 6 children through a KS2-wide democratic process following the political processes the children see in our wider society.

We aim to instil in our children a sense of collective responsibility and children in Year 6 can become prefects to assist in the daily orderly functioning of the school.  Children with particular interests choose to assist in spaces such as our School Library.  We respect our learning spaces and are proud of what we have built together through fund-raising.

We place a high value on older pupils both working collaboratively with younger children, and modelling effective learning strategies; and plan for this in the context of themed days and activities throughout the year.

Organisation

Children learn to take responsibility for themselves and their learning, whilst accessing a range of support and opportunities on offer.  Learning should be fun, and we enhance our curriculum wherever we can with opportunities for creative and imaginative learning, learning through play, and use of the outdoor classroom and our surroundings, including trips to local places of interest and resources.  We provide a range of extra-curricular activities at lunchtimes and after school, which are continually evolving and growing.

Our Year 6 children take part in a three-day residential trip each year, and we have several theatre groups visiting in the summer term to perform Shakespeare to our older children and take part in storytelling with other classes in the school.

Our Home Learning Policy reflects our increasing expectations that children will leave our school secondary-ready as they move through Key Stage 1 and 2.  Children have set tasks to complete but also can select from a range of tasks in each class Home Learning Menu.

 

Resilience

"I have not failed. I have just found ten thousand ways that won’t work" - Thomas A. Edison

At Stanway, we make it clear to children that it is good to make mistakes, and only through building resilience can we gain success. Exploring what it is to be a good learner is often explicitly and always implicitly part of our whole school and key stage assemblies, and many of our PSHE lessons.

Our Behaviour for Learning Policy, a copy of which is displayed in each classroom, clarifies and reminds pupils and staff of our shared expectations for learning behaviour and the necessary conditions for learning.  We communicate this to parents whose children join our school and every year via our Information Evening and half-termly newsletter.

 

Initiative

We are proud to have a culture of high expectations and aspirations. This is visible throughout our school in our displays, our behaviour and the manner in which we interact with each other. We constantly seek new challenges and aspire to do well in everything we try.  We have a programme of performance and authentic experiences running throughout the year in which children can participate.  By the time children reach Year 6, they will have performed in a venue outside the school, many will have taken part in competitive sports and all will have received some form of music tuition. 

 

Community

"Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind" - Henry James

This is probably the most important part of our ethos, and is a value that we constantly and consistently strive to instil in our pupils through the way in which we run lessons, the way in which we speak to one another, and the behaviour on which we place value.

Everyone in our school, from the children in Reception to Year 6, and each member of our teaching and learning team, is treated as a unique individual who has gifts to share with everyone else.

Key themes of diversity, tolerance and respect are interwoven throughout our curriculum and assembly themes.  Assemblies reflect topical events and interests, key historical and current leaders within the world and calendar events such as National Anti-Bullying Week.

We have a dedicated Nurture Room and Quiet Room to ensure inclusion and good mental health provision and all stakeholders are aware of where they can access advice and support.

Raising money for charity is something we value highly in the school and this is often led by the School Council.  We have also worked collectively to raise money to fund the re-establishment of a Library Space; children and parents raised almost £10,000 towards library furniture and books after a School Council petition to reinstate the school library in December 2021 was signed by over 100 children.