Ethos & Values
The Trust’s aim is to provide exceptional education for its pupils and to work closely with its families to identify needs as early as possible. By engaging families at an early stage in their child’s school life we can focus on the child’s educational and developmental requirements quickly to ensure the best educational journey for the individual.
We are committed to the locality, to building the best provision possible for every child through from Nursery to secondary, in both academic and social, emotional and health education.
At Orchard Grove Primary School we believe that every child has the right to a high quality education, to see themselves as successful, to participate in enrichment and learning and to be full citizens locally, national and globally.
Orchard Grove has at its core a commitment that:
Every Child Belongs
Every Child Participates in learning, enrichment and the community
Every Child Achieves
Every Child Belongs
At Orchard Grove we are committed to every child feeling that they belong, that they are important and that they contribute in their own unique way as well as collectively, building a positive, enthusiastic and supportive community that is based on mutual respect and support.
The pastoral system is the key driver in this. Houses provide a strong family-orientated support for children and families and are a key feature of Orchard Grove.
The Houses reflect the commitment of the School and Trust to a carbon neutral school, and its curriculum to furthering the understanding of Science, the environment and how human activity can impact upon the world around us.
Orchard Grove Houses:
Attenborough: David Attenborough has brought the natural world into our homes and made us understand the delicate balance of nature. His impact in teaching us about nature, wildlife and the environment is incalculable.
Jackson: In 1958, Mary Jackson became NASA’s first black female engineer and was part of the NASA Langley Research Centre as an Aeronautical Engineer for 34 years. She grew up in Hampton, Virginia and taught in Maryland prior to joining NASA. Her career is an inspiring story of resilience and determination. For Jackson, a love of science and a commitment to improving the lives of the people around her were one and the same.
Faraday: Michael Faraday was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis. Born in 1791, he is one of the great pioneers of Science.
Herschel: Caroline Herschel was born in Hanover in 1750. Between 1786 and 1797, she discovered eight comets and fourteen nebulae. She began a catalogue of star clusters and nebulae patches. Her brother, William Herschel and Caroline were significant figures in Astronomy.
Every Child Participates
Orchard Grove believes strongly in community and the contribution that young people make is essential to the wellbeing of their local, national and global community. Orchard Grove centres itself firmly in the heart of the local community and supports the community by ensuring children have a clear sense of what makes a good citizen and a good neighbour as well as understanding the responsibilities and the privilege of living in the UK. Pupils have a strong sense of themselves in a local, national and global context so they have a clear sense of the responsibility they have to others, in the present and in the future.
To further strengthen the core values which run through the school, Orchard Grove has a set of attributes with aspiration embedded within them which are shared and demonstrated by all children, staff and the wider school community.
Our Orchard Grove attributes include:
We are POSITIVE in our relationships with others and values that we share.
We are ENGAGED in our learning, our wider school activities and our community.
We are RESPONSIBLE for the way we conduct ourselves in school and amongst the community
We are RESPECTFUL to everyone we meet and to the property and resources that we share
We are RESILIENT when things might not go the way we want and come back stronger
We rise to CHALLENGES to learn more about ourselves and to strive for further achievement
By demonstrating these core attributes, Orchard Grove has created a shared identity which enables all stakeholders to strengthen their sense of achievement, belonging and participation, both within themselves and collaboratively.
Every Child Achieves
Through school, children begin to develop attitudes and beliefs about themselves both as learners and as people. By the age of 7, children already have a deep sense of themselves as learners and as part of a community. By 7, many children who are disadvantaged have already fallen behind their peers and we will not allow that. We want every single child in our care to thrive, be successful, have strong moral purpose and sense of belonging and identity.
We are serious about ensuring that no child will be disadvantaged by their background. We are committed to a deep progression from Nursery through Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the Key stages 1-4 and beyond into their adult life. The Pioneers Nursery provision and Orchard Grove EYFS forms the bedrock of our children’s outstanding education and personal development, especially for disadvantaged children who will begin at Pioneers aged 2. Children leave Pioneers with the beginning of a sense of themselves as both individuals and a sense of responsibility for their community which they then take with them as they continue their learning journey through school.
In order to ensure every child achieves, we have strong and robust systems in place to monitor, track and intervene so that no child falls behind. Most importantly the teaching and learning is focused on building knowledge and securing knowledge, whilst placing value on cultural capital (the essential knowledge and skills that children need to be educated citizens) and reading.