Visitors comment that St Philip's is a welcoming school and we aim that all pupils should fulfill their potential and grow up to be responsible members of society. We are committed to raising the achievement of all pupils, in all areas of the curriculum, developing the whole child.

By working together in an exciting, creative and supportive Christian environment, we will challenge and inspire every child to achieve academically, creatively and socially, and thus, to become a good citizen.

At St Philip’s we strive for the highest of standards in all we do. We aim to help children develop as honest, caring and thoughtful people, able to work and play sensitively with others, confident in their own abilities and with respect for authority. We aim for children to come happily to school. They should grow up in a strong moral framework, understanding right and wrong and able to act appropriately as a result.

They should come to have a clear sense of themselves as members of an ever-widening set of communities - family, school, town, country, the world - and develop a responsible attitude to their own lifestyle. They should grow up with respect for the range of cultures that they will meet in a multi-racial society, and recognise the limitations of gender stereotypes.

All children are given full access to the National Curriculum. We see the broad development of literacy and mathematics as central to our curriculum work. We aim for the children to be able to communicate clearly, and to be confident problem solvers and users of modern technology. Each individual child is encouraged to achieve his/her full potential, both intellectually and physically. We want our children to approach learning with excitement, curiosity, perseverance and high personal standards. We approach the National Literacy and Numeracy initiatives with interest and enthusiasm.

As a Church of England School we have links with the Parish Church. The Vicar is a governor, and the Church appoints other foundation governors. Our daily act of collective worship reflects the broad traditions of Christian belief. In Religious Education in the classroom, we teach children about several religions, predominantly Christianity, so that as children grow up they can make their own informed decision about the role they want religion to play in their own lives.

Relationships between children and the adults who work in the school are fundamental to creating a happy, successful school. We base our relationships on mutual respect, trust, honesty and good humour. We listen carefully to the concerns of children, and expect them to follow basic guidelines to ensure a happy community in the school. Rules in the school are explained carefully, so that children come to see them as logical. Class rules are negotiated by the individual classes.

We value the partnership between the school and parents in the education of our children. We aim to build up a relationship of mutual trust, openness and honesty with parents, with an open-door policy to encourage accessibility. We take the concerns of parents seriously and do all we can to respond to them appropriately.

This embraces everything that a child learns at school. It includes the core curriculum, English, Mathematics and Science, as well as Religious Education and the foundation subjects of Art, Geography, History, Music, Physical Education (PE), Design and Technology and Information Communication Technology. Many of these subjects are taught in a cross-curricular way through carefully planned topic work. The National Curriculum provides the framework for all subjects. Each subject is taught through a programme of work designed to ensure continuity and progression. Planning is undertaken in year groups and departments, i.e. Foundation Stage (Nursery/Reception), Key Stage 1 (Infants) and Key Stage 2 (Juniors). ICT is an effective tool for delivering the curriculum. All pupils have access to the ICT Suite for the teaching and learning of ICT skills. The suite is also used to support work in other subject areas.

English

We aim to help children to communicate effectively through the written and spoken word. The skills of reading, writing, listening and talking are all part of the English programme. We aim to develop a love of reading by using Oxford Reading Tree as our core reading scheme, backed up with a wide range of other scheme books, picture books, fiction and non-fiction. Presentation of work is considered important, and from the Reception classes children are encouraged to start joined-up or cursive writing. The National Literacy Hour is used throughout the school in accordance with Government directives.

Mathematics

We aim to develop in the children a positive attitude towards mathematics, and to help them learn both basic numeracy skills and an appreciation of mathematical patterns and relationships. We aim to develop clear and logical reasoning, which can be applied to other subject areas as well as to everyday mathematical problems. We aim to develop an understanding in order to apply the rules of number, and to that end we precede abstract work with practical exploration and discussion, and follow it with practice and applications to consolidate each concept. The National Numeracy Strategy is used throughout the school in line with Government directives.

Science

Foundation Subjects

Religious Education

Special or Individual Needs and Disability

Inclusion

Taking account of the diversity of language, culture, experiences and abilities within the school to enhance teaching and learning for all children.

 

Race Equality

We aim to promote good relationships between all children and adults in school and the wider community. We regularly review our practice in school to ensure that all children are valued equally and have equal access to the curriculum.

Racist behaviour of any kind is not tolerated. Incidents are dealt with promptly and are recorded by senior staff members.

 

County Multi-cultural Education Services - CMES (Section XI) now Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG)

At present we have a part time EMAG teacher, Ms T. Binns, funded by the Home Office. This teacher is part of a county team working alongside class teachers in planning preparation and implementation of the curriculum. In addition, we have a part-time bilingual assistant, Mrs S. Miah, who works across the school. We take seriously the issue of equality of opportunity for all children regardless of race, gender, creed or disability, and constantly look for new ways of raising awareness and improving opportunities for all children to engage in activities.

 

Disability Act, Racial Awareness and Equal Opportunities

Policies and Procedures exist for all these areas. If you require further information then please contact the school.

 

Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)

St Philip's has developed a planned Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum. We work to create a caring ethos that fosters and builds self-esteem. Alongside this we have developed strategies for positive behaviour management and are firmly committed to minimising bullying behaviour.

We see bullying as behaviour which is deliberately hurtful, repeated over a period of time, and which is an abuse of power over those unable or unwilling to defend themselves. Bullying can be physical (kicking, hitting, interfering with belongings), verbal, (racist or sexist remarks, name calling, taunting) or psychological (deliberating excluding, “looks”, colluding with others). Children often find it hard to tell a grown-up that they are being bullied. Often it emerges at home before anyone at school knows about it. If this is the case, please contact the school straight away. If a child says that they are being bullied we will take it seriously, and investigate. It is likely that as part of our procedure we will need to talk with the bullied and the bullying child together. We will keep you informed about the ways we are dealing with the problem. With a child who has been bullying, our approach is to make it clear to the bullying child that we take the situation very seriously, but that we want to help the bullying child to avoid this kind of behaviour in the future. It is the action, not the child that we disapprove of. We believe that the Christian ethos of our school and the Christian teaching helps our work in this vital area of school life. We use circle time and team-building activities such as parachute games. We also try to enable the children to develop strategies for making wise choices.

St Philip’s has been selected as a Health Promoting School.

 

Sex Education

The Governors, in conjunction with the staff, have agreed the policy for the whole school. This is an integrated part of the Personal, Social and Health Education policy. Our school nurse, Catherine Ray assists with the programme. Parents are welcome to see the teaching materials used, including the videos used with Year 5 children. On written request to the Headteacher parents may withdraw their child from all or part of the sex education teaching, though we would ask parents to make an appointment to discuss any concerns.