Our Vision and ethos

Vision and Ethos - INTENT

Dear Parents, Carers and Families,

Thank you for visiting Spire Nursery and Infant School's website. We hope you can find all the information you need about our school. Our website aims to provide parents, carers and families at Spire with up-to-date news and information, and snapshots of children's exciting learning experiences. We would welcome any positive feedback or suggestions and ideas to develop our website further.

Thank you and best wishes,

Kelly Hill - Headteacher

Our Vision & Ethos

A – Aspiration - Aspire to be the very best we can be
S – Self esteem- Develop children’s pride, self esteem and respect for themselves and others
P – Progress - Ensure that our children make progress in a stimulating and inclusive environment
I – Independence - Give children the opportunity to make choices, question, explore, observe and develop independence
R – Resilience - Never give up and are resilient to challenge and change
E – Enterprise - Lay the foundations for all of our children to become enterprising young people with high ambitions for the future.

A – Aspiration - Aspire to be the very best we can be
At Spire we strive to ensure that every child has the best possible education so that they have the skills, knowledge, qualities, and values that they will need to reach their full potential in life. We want all our children to enquire about the world, celebrate diversity and be aspirational. Everyone at Spire works collaboratively to ensure that all children are given every opportunity to enjoy learning, and to thrive in a happy, stimulating, caring community school. We believe that our children have the right to receive ‘Quality First Teaching and Learning.’ We have school standards that provide clarity for all members of our school community, on how they can ensure that Spire is the best school it can possibly be.

We strive to ensure that Spire children are aspirational – that they use their knowledge and understanding of the world to form their own aspirations and hopes for the future –

“Anything is possible for Spire children”

 S – Self-esteem- Develop children’s pride, self-esteem and respect for themselves and others

It is important to us that our children come to school happy and ready to learn and that we work in close partnership with parents to achieve this. We strive to help every child develop in self-esteem, independence and confidence through the creation of a school environment which is happy, safe and secure, and in which effort and achievement are recognised in equal measure. We aim to ensure that our children in our care grow up to be well-rounded, responsible, considerate and caring human beings. The Coronavirus pandemic has had a detrimental effect on our children, therefore, we have revised our curriculum, particularly surrounding the areas of personal, social, and health education - we have put a strong emphasis on the teaching of PSHE and RSE.

Spire Nursery and Infant School is also committed to serving the community and surrounding areas. We encourage our school community to access services which will enrich and benefit family life. This includes offering wrap around services, including a Family Support Worker that supports the whole family, not just the child.

 P – Progress - Ensure that our children make progress in a stimulating and inclusive environment

Our school has a calm, welcoming and nurturing environment, and we take pride in displaying and celebrating the children’s work and achievements. We have extensive grounds including a vegetable garden, a small animal farm and a forest school area - we make use of these in our learning wherever possible. With high focus on the ‘importance of reading’, our ‘Enchanted Reading Room’ (library) provides our children with opportunities that encourage a ‘Love for Reading’. At Spire, every child is valued and respected regardless of ability, gender, religion or ethnicity. Our children come from many and varied backgrounds – so we aim to provide all our children with experiences that address Cultural Capital, Social Capital and Social Mobility.

We work as a team, and in partnership with parents, to create and maintain a safe learning environment where children can learn and develop as individuals. We provide challenge, expect high standards of individual attainment, behaviour and application by promoting…

‘Positive Attitudes Towards Learning’

We want our children to believe in themselves and understand that their classroom is a safe place to make ‘mistakes’… and that they have the ‘I can’ attitude. Our vision is for a curriculum to provide first-hand experiences, and wherever possible, respond to the needs and interests of the child whilst ensuring that our provision is broad, balanced and relevant. Everything we do, we do around our values and vision – Curriculum INTENT to enable every child to fulfil their potential and to develop a love of learning they will carry with them when they leave us.

I – Independence - Give children the opportunity to make choices, question, explore, observe and develop

At Spire, we prepare children for the future world by developing their confidence, independence, problem solving skills and the ability to work as a team. At Spire, we offer personalised learning, ensuring that the education we deliver to each child is geared to their individual needs. Children are taught the skills and knowledge to develop informed opinions and considered conclusions. These are required and applied in groups such as class councillors and P4C tasks (Philosophy for Children).

We also provide children with opportunities to develop and expand their own learning. The children set their own targets and are actively involved in improving their learning and identifying their strengths and weaknesses. We aspire to teach children the skills to become independent learners to seek and facilitate their learning.

R – Resilience - Never give up and are resilient to challenge and change

Our vision is for an inclusive school where pupils of all abilities, background and needs are respected and valued for the contribution they make. We aim to ensure that our practices support equality of opportunity and recognise the cultural values of our wider community. Spire children celebrate diversity through various experiences - they understand that we are all unique and recognise our differences. We build on children’s attributes - emotional wellbeing, inner drive, future focus, relationships, and physical health. We want our children to be confident, have character, make positive contributions, and have the skill of coping. By instilling these attributes, the children will feel that they are able to succeed. Having confidence in their own ability to cope with the stresses of life, can play an important part in resilience. Becoming more confident in their own abilities, including their ability to respond to and deal with a crisis, is a great way to build resilience for the future.

‘Never give up’

E – Enterprise - Lay the foundations for all of our children to become enterprising young people with high ambitions for the future

At Spire, we want our children to understand the positive impact they can have in changing the world around them by showing care, compassion, tolerance and kindness. We provide a school where respect, resilience and responsibility are held dear. We aim to help children develop sound moral values, a healthy lifestyle and to become responsible citizens who can play a positive role in their community. We enjoy involving parents and the wider community in ‘Enterprise’ events and opportunities. By holding these enterprise events, children become motivated - this helps them to find entrepreneurial solutions, showing them that they can be agents of change wherever they are.
By engaging in various enterprise activities, children in all year groups, gain a deeper understanding of the importance of opinions, compromise and teamwork. Enterprise also introduces children the value of money and encourages them to think about future careers.