Ethos

At Alwoodley, our goal is to ‘grow’ a school where everyone is ‘learning’ using cognitive education approaches. Children are encouraged to have a ‘strong’ sense of self and we equip them with the personal development skills needed to succeed. Reading is prioritised throughout a child’s journey with us, to drive their academic progress across the curriculum. We share and celebrate successes ‘together’, as one community, striving towards a common goal of: Learning Together, Growing Stronger. 

Values

At Alwoodley Primary, we prioritise helping our pupils discover their unique qualities and how they can use them to make a positive impact on the world. Our 21st - century education goes beyond knowledge acquisition: focussing on developing transferable skills that will aid them beyond school. We instil a set of core 'Habits of Mind' fostering ethical behaviour, good decision-making  and community involvement from Nursery to Year 6.

If you would like to read more about the 'Habits of Mind' please click here

Our Aims

We aim to:

• Provide equal opportunities for all pupils.

• Provide teaching and learning of the highest quality.

• Adapt learning to take account of the needs of each individual.

• Support pupils’ physical, mental, social, moral, spiritual and cultural needs.

• Keep all pupils safe from physical and emotional harm.

• Provide a broad, balanced and rich curriculum that prepares pupils for modern life.

• Enrich pupils’ learning through visits and experiences.

• Embrace the community and make parents part of the school's success.

• Create a friendly, happy atmosphere where good behaviour is the norm and attitudes to learning are positive. 

• Achieve the best outcomes for all.

Our aims are tied together with three golden threads that are embedded consistently from Nursery through the Year Six.  They are:

Golden thread one - Cognitive Education: Learning how our brain works to become better learners.

Golden thread two - Reading: Fostering a life long love of reading. 

Golden thread three - Personal Development: Building knowledge, attitudes, skills, relationships and behaviours that can be used to navigate the world we live in. 

Our golden threads should:

• Be visible in each classroom – on displays and learning resources and talked about with pupils.
• Be referred to during lessons.
• Become part of everyday language in school.
• Feature in our planning.
• Be used to reinforce positive learning behaviours with all classes.
• Be used as an important part of pupils’ reflection and review time.
• Be used with individuals to encourage specific behaviours like resilience, challenge and motivation.

For more information, please visit, 'Our Curriculum' under, 'Key Information'.