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Vision and Values

Vision and Values at Reay Primary 

Our vision is to enable children to become lifelong learners by creating a safe and inclusive learning environment that nurtures individuality and enhances potential

Our values:

  • We’re imaginative - we’re creative thinkers and doers
  • We’re curious - we encourage inquisitiveness and risk taking
  • We’re proud - we take pride in our school and want everyone to succeed
  • We’re courageous - we understand that we learn from our mistakes
  • We’re original - we celebrate difference

How we developed our vision

Reay Primary School is an exciting, stimulating and creative primary school catering for pupils aged 3-11 years.  At Reay, we believe that learning should be fun, challenging and leave each learner with a thirst for more.  We believe that ‘there is no full stop to learning’ for adults and children alike. 

With the help of our pupils, staff, parents and community we aim to stand out from the crowd by delivering an education that allows our pupils to have an infectious enthusiasm for learning and are well prepared for their next stage of schooling.

Our vision was developed following consultation with pupils, parents, staff and governors conducted through surveys, open mornings, assemblies, discussion and facilitated workshops.

How we plan to achieve our vision over the next 3 years

Set out below is a summary of actions we are taking, and results we aim to deliver in order to achieve each part of our vision, followed by an explanation of how collaboration with others will help us to fulfil our vision. 

…enabling children to become lifelong learners…

Over the next 3 years we aim to embed current practice and introduce new initiatives which will enable our children to continue acquiring learning skills which will stay with them for life.  In doing so we also aim to ensure that we maintain our school’s record of excellent academic achievement where pupils meet at least national expectations at key assessments, and benchmark rigorously against similar local schools, whilst ensuring learning is fun and engaging.  In particular we will employ the following tools:  

  • Mantle of the Expert is a teaching technique which enables children to use their imaginations to engage with curriculum subjects allowing them to explore in greater depth and become confident learners who understand real life.  You can find out more about Mantle of the Expert here.

  • Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)) is a method for learning languages which allows our children to use other languages in a real-life context, for example teaching Spanish through Art.  Find out more about Content and Language Integrated Learning here.

  • High Academic Standards - we will continue to have high ambitions for our pupils to have the mathematical skills to solve real life problems, including through the use of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning techniques and resources; and to ensure that every child is a confident reader and writer. This will be facilitated through class teaching, intervention/booster groups and challenging pupils through National Competitions, such as Quiz Club and Maths Challenge

  • Outdoor learning will be used to support learning across the school enabling children to make academic progress, understanding the importance of the natural world while at the same time supporting pupil mental and physical health

…creating a safe and inclusive learning environment…

We aim to continue to provide a learning environment which is safe, secure and enriched for pupils and staff, enabling all to participate, question and experiment, so that children are confident   to take risks and make mistakes in their learning to allow them to progress We will have a clear focus on ensuring this environment benefits all pupils in our diverse school community, irrespective of ethnic or economic background, to ensure nobody is left behind.  We will:

  • Use the innovative teaching techniques described earlier (Mantle of the Expert//CLIL) to help create a stimulating and participative learning environment
  • We will continue to develop and foster relationships with outside agencies to ensure we meet everybody's needs and support families
  • We will develop our programme for emotional literacy in the school to support all children, not just pupils with Special Educational Needs, for example; outdoor learning, art therapy, Lego therapy
  • We will hold appropriate regular events at the school reflecting issues of the day and celebrating diversity.  Recent examples have included Refugee Week, International Day and a Day of Languages

… that nurtures individuality and enhances potential…

As well as achieving excellent academic performance, we also want to provide the children at Reay with a diverse set of curricular and extra-curricular activities to enrich their school experience and help them stand out from the rest.  We will therefore continue to develop our arts and outdoor learning programmes.  In particular:

  • The arts are at the heart of Reay. We all feel that appreciation and experience of different art forms is essential to ensure pupils receive a fully rounded education. The arts will be embedded across our curriculum in the form of music, art, design, performance, drama, dance, literature, languages, outdoor learning, creativity and more
  • We believe that outdoor learning is an essential part of school life and comes with huge benefits: Learning outside goes way beyond a mud kitchen. Our outdoor learning is an extension of our classrooms and is embedded throughout our curriculum and school life. It supports resilience and adaptability, respect for nature and the environment, development of problem solving skills in ‘real’ situations, as well as providing positive health benefits.
  • We will continue to ensure that children each class fully engage with study topics chosen for each half term, and that class trips to stimulating events and locations are arranged, making the most of our location near central London
  • We will continue to give opportunities for every child to express themselves through high quality school performances, including drama, dance and music

Collaboration

As a one form entry primary school we feel that is essential to work with others, to ensure that we take advantage of their experiences and know-how and keep up with ‘best practice’.  This may entail working with other schools within our cluster, within London, or beyond.  Also, our strong links with the British Council allows us to build relationships with schools around the world and also welcome overseas visitors to Reay in order to enhance and enrich the children’s understanding of the world.  Recently, our school has worked or collaborated with schools, educators and experts from countries including Spain, Italy, Zimbabwe to share experiences and develop skills

We will continue to develop relationships, by sharing good practice, and we will strengthen relationships with other schools in the UK and abroad.  We are also committed to working with our local community and services within the community to ensure that we do not work alone.  ‘There’s no full stop to learning’ and we believe it is important to share and learn from our colleagues.