St Edmund's Catholic Primary School

St. Edmund’s Catholic Primary is a community of faith where we aim to keep Christ at the centre of everything we do. We celebrate the uniqueness of every individual nurturing them to achieve their full potential. Our understanding and experience of the love of God grows through our way of living, behaving, learning and teaching, which is inspired by Jesus.

Our vision is an expression of how we seek to move the school forward and aims to sustain the developments we have made towards being an Outstanding Catholic School. We strive to inspire pupils who will learn, grow and develop in faith, talents and skills. We nurture young minds to aspire to succeed and to live confidently in an ever changing society.

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its’ own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.

The Early Years Foundation Stage applies to children from birth to the end of the Reception year. In our school, all children enter Reception, after an induction period, from the September of the academic year in which they will turn five years old. These children are in the final year of the EYFS.

Teachers liaise with the Inclusion Leader to address the needs of specific children whose progress is not as expected or where children face particular problems. Where necessary, with parental consent, the expertise of outside agencies is called upon for extra assessment, support and advice.

We believe that play, both indoors and outdoors, is the fundamental way in which young children learn. Play can be enjoyed and challenging. When playing, children behave in different ways. Sometimes, their play will be boisterous, sometimes they will describe and discuss what they are doing, and sometimes they will be quiet and reflective as they play. Through play, children will be developing skills across all the Prime and Specific areas of learning, working towards achieving the Early Learning Goals.

As e-Safety is an important aspect of strategic leadership within the school, the Head and governors have ultimate responsibility to ensure that the policy and practices are embedded and monitored. The named e-Safety co-ordinator in our school is Mrs Pearson. All members of the school community have been made aware of who holds this post. It is the role of the e-Safety coordinators to keep abreast of current issues and guidance through organisations such Enfield LA, Becta, CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) and Childnet. The e-Safety co-ordinators will be supported by the Inclusion Manager, as part of her responsibility for Health and Safety and Safeguarding children. The e-Safety coordinator/IT Subject Leader will ensure that Governors have an understanding of the issues at our school in relation to local and national guidelines and advice; and that they remain updated.

A Catholic School supports parents in their responsibility of handing on the faith to their children. The School staff share with parents the aims of instilling in the children the Christian virtues and moral code together with the basic doctrines of the Catholic Church. We seek to recognise the unique qualities in each child in order to allow them to develop fully within a Christian framework. All children take part in quiet times of prayer and reflection at the start and end of each session. Classes are involved in collective worship and liturgies.

We aim to provide a balanced, challenging and creative curriculum allowing children to develop fully in all aspects of their life. Great importance is attached to developing a curriculum in accordance with national standards, alongside a spiritual life, to create a working environment and ethos which prepares the children for their adult lives In designing the curriculum, the Governors and staff have taken account of the Statutory Orders issued in respect of the National Curriculum and the EYFS Curriculum.

A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that has an adverse, substantial and long term effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities. At St. Edmund’s we are committed to the inclusion of all the pupils who, having met the admission criteria, are placed on our registers. We recognise that their inclusion may warrant preparation in terms of physical access, access to the curriculum and access to information. We will not discriminate against a pupil on the grounds of disability and will make reasonable adjustments to accommodate them in so far as our resources allow.

We are committed to making changes and removing barriers, where feasible, in whatever area, which will affect this access and inclusion. At St. Edmund’s we believe inclusion to mean that all children have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and are given the support they need, dependent on availability of resources, to achieve their potential. These pupils may be gifted and talented, have special educational needs, have a disability, have English as an additional language or be from the travelling community. We recognise that this Accessibility Plan must be adequately resourced, implemented and reviewed every three years. Our action plan showing how the school will address the priorities is attached.