Rush Green Primary School

Since the amalgamation of the poorly performing infant and junior schools in 2013, Rush Green Primary School has made rapid progress to become one of the highest achieving schools in Barking and Dagenham. In 2016, the school was recognised and congratulated on the very high level of progress our pupils make, by the Rt Hon Nick Gibb, the Minister of State for School Standards. The school is aiming to continue to build on recent successes and is continuing its upward trajectory towards providing an outstanding education for all children.

We have high expectations of what our children can achieve and strive to innovate and inspire all children, through a broad and balanced curriculum, so that they attain their very best and become confident, articulate and successful individuals in an ever changing global society.We provide an exceptional learning environment and experience for our children and we use excellent resources, including high quality staff training, so that pupils make excellent progress.

Rush Green Primary School seeks to serve the community by striving to ensure the highest standards of education for every child entrusted to our care.Our vision is to promote a positive, caring learning community; where the values of mutual respect, tolerance, compassion, hard work and commitment enable our learners to become the model global citizens of the future.

At Rush Green Primary School we have recently introduced a House Points System. We believe that pupils thrive when they receive praise for their effort, success in their studies, sport, music and other extra-curricular involvement in the life of the school. The aim of the system is to work together to create a happy and productive learning environment.Every week, in our Friday Golden Assembly, the House Points Cup is awarded to the House with the most House Points. Children can earn House Points for their Houses by working hard in class, producing good quality work, being polite and courteous, helping each other and by setting a good example.

Online safety, the safe and responsible use of technology, is a term that encompasses not only Internet technologies but also electronic communications via mobile phones, games consoles and wireless technology. It highlights the need to educate children and young people about the benefits, risks and responsibilities of using information technology.It means ensuring that children and young people are protected from harm and supported to achieve the maximum benefit from new and developing technologies without risk to themselves or others.

The aim of promoting online safety is to protect young people from the adverse consequences of access or use of electronic media, including from bullying, inappropriate sexualised behaviour or exploitation.The Internet is an unmanaged, open communications channel. The World Wide Web, email, blogs and social networks all transmit information using the Internet’s communication infrastructure internationally at low cost.Anyone can send messages, discuss ideas and publish material with little restriction. These features of the Internet make it an invaluable resource used by millions of people every day.

Some of the material on the Internet is published for an adult audience and can include violent and adult content. Information on weapons, crime and racism may also be unsuitable for children and young people to access.Pupils need to develop critical skills to evaluate online material and learn that publishing personal information could compromise their security and that of others. Schools have a duty of care to enable pupils to use online systems safely.

SMSC stands for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development. At Rush Green Primary we embrace this broader dimension oflearning through SMSC development. We understand that the personal development of all pupils plays a necessary part in their ability to learn and achieve both within this early stage of learning and later as they make their journey through adulthood.

It is important to us that all members of our school community help us to provide an education that encourages opportunities for children to explore and develop and understand their own and others’ values and beliefs. To do this we must ensure our children develop spiritual awareness, high standards of behaviour, a positive caring attitude towards all, an understanding of social and cultural traditions and an appreciation of the diversity of other cultures.

SMSC is embedded throughout our school community ranging from RE (Religious Education) and SEAL (Spiritual and Emotional aspects of Learning) lessons through to assemblies, charity work, cultural awareness events, visiting speakers and a wide range of extra-curricular and out of school activities.The school ethos “Strive to Succeed” is also a significant contributor to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our pupils. The ethos is embedded strongly throughout all teaching of the National Curriculum subjects and lessons aim to include clear SMSC opportunities.

As part of the SMSC development within Rush Green Primary we have implemented a School Creed for all members of the school community to learn and recite. It is important to us that children display an increasing willingness to participate and to learn about their own service within the school. This is clearly depicted throughout the recitation of the School Creed. Children must understand their place within their society and the role they must take within it, ’So many hearts make a school’.

To start each new week as a working community the children are expected to recite the School Creed alongside their teachers every Monday. In order to give the children a broader sense of community the creed is also recited throughout the week during assembly time. Before going home on Friday the children will again recite the creed to finish their week with a sense of belonging.