St. Laurence's Primary School
John 13:34
'A new commandment I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love another’.
Our vision and Christian values are at the heart of everything we strive for at St. Laurence's C.E. Primary School. We strive to reflect the love of God, the love of life and the love of learning together in all we do.
Our Christian values are the foundations of our teaching and learning and provide an environment which nurtures happy, confident and independent children, who make good choices and contribute positively to society.
At St. Laurence’s, we see ourselves as a learning community where we all (adults and children) aspire to achieve our potential: academically, professionally and spiritually.
Out three core values inform our curriculum and our ethos:
Trust
'I trust in your unfailing love' (Psalm 1 3:5)
In our school community, we feel safe and valued. we know that there is always someone that will help us. We behave with honesty and integrity; work as a team and build friendships. All our learning is based upon this trust in each other.
Wisdom
'He who walks with the wise grows wise' (Proverbs 1 3:20)
In our community we join together to make good choices and informed decisions. We reflect on our learning to understand how to improve our work; how to meet challenges and so become better learners.
Creativity
'In his grace. God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well' (Romans 1 2:6)
In our school we provide an environment where we strive for self-belief so that we can fully develop our talents; express ourselves clearly and confidently and aspire to excel.
Our Curriculum:
Intent
The curriculum at St. Laurence's is underpinned by the National Curriculum but also ensures that, at each stage of their learning, each child acquires a rich breadth of knowledge and skills. It is our intent to make learning memorable by delivering inspiring content, repeating key concepts, making links and building on previous learning.
We aim to develop articulate, thoughtful children with a joy of learning who are able to express themselves confidently and listen to and respect the opinions and views of others. We are committed that every child will develop a love of reading and will be able to comprehend and read fluently.
Implementation
At St Laurence's School we have always appreciated the importance of a broad and balanced curriculum and recognise that learning is interconnected: our curriculum is designed so that subject specific skills are taught alongside appropriate links to other areas of learning. This is identified in our detailed medium-term planning and is apparent in how we teach each curriculum area.
The range and quality of educational experiences in the early years is reflected in a weekly record of both adult and child-initiated learning that is shared with the parents.
Our values are evident in all that we do and are the foundation of all our teaching and learning.
We recognise the importance of culture and have always strived to enrich our curriculum offer with a variety of stimulating opportunities for the children to appreciate our cultural legacy. There is emphasis upon performing arts, including music and drama as well as physical education, art and design.
In all core subjects we practise a mastery approach to teaching with a strong emphasis upon questioning, discussion and clear learning objectives. The high quality of discussion in lessons reflects our commitment to oracy as a fundamental principle of effective learning.
We strive to instil a love of reading in St. Laurence's school for all children and have established a positive reading culture as a result.