Welcome to our blog!
Here at the Jack and Jill Family of Schools we are proud of our unique approach to education and the great care and attention applied to every lesson for every child – from a 6-month-old to an 11 year old.
We believe our schools offer unique environments enabling children to thrive and here we want to share more about the special things that happen within them. Through our blog we will tell you more about the different subjects, experiences and ethos that children at our school experience daily.
‘Nurturing Unique Potential’
2022 felt the right time to revisit our ‘vision’ statement; much had changed since ‘a tradition of excellence’ was coined, especially development of our cutting-edge curriculum. To us, the strap line failed to reflect the exciting initiatives happening in our schools and if we are honest, felt a little stuffy! However, finding an alternative was no mean feat and took time – and a lot of discussion – to achieve consensus!
The replacement had to reflect our ambition for all children and reflect the high standards of care offered – the nature of which obviously varies hugely according to age.
We opened the floor to our talented teaching team, discussed our core values and eventually agreed on, ‘nurturing unique potential’ as our new vision statement. Whilst not, perhaps, as catchy as Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ slogan, we feel this incorporates our core values, and works when considering each word individually as well as within the phrase as a whole:
‘Nurturing’ – for us, it’s imperative that children are given the right care and support to develop and grow. Whether that’s a 6-month-old baby with all the physical care required at this stage, or a 10-year-old considering options for secondary schools, all children need to be nurtured to thrive. As a family run school, it’s so important that parents feel the warm and welcoming environment they’re sending their children to and that children come to school excited to be part of their ‘school family’ where every person matters and is cared for equally.
‘Unique’ – embodies our core belief that it’s great to be different as engrained into the curriculum across our schools where differences are celebrated. Our schools do not expect children to fit into a particular ‘box’ but embrace their personalities and character making each different and special, helping each to channel their enthusiasm and energy towards positive things. More and more in life we see that having the ‘new’ or unique ideas is often what generates success, and we actively encourage new our generation of free thinkers.
‘Potential’ – as teachers we start each day expecting pupils to reach new heights and their full potential. Each child has strengths and through our team of specialist teachers
every child, from 0-11, is taught by experts. Children can and do develop real passions for subjects and teachers know exactly what next for a child to reach their full potential. ‘Potential’ in our context recognises that not everybody will be an expert at everything; in life we don’t strive for perfection, but to be the best we can be at everything we set our mind to. If that means working hard to learn the 3x table or developing a keen interest in how to save the rainforests, then we can be proud of our efforts together.
‘Nurturing Unique Potential’ – embodies our view that everybody has something at which they are great. Our aim is that by the time a child leaves at the age of 7 or 11, they’ve taken important first steps to find and foster their own unique potential; that they know what makes them special and have identified their own passions. Our aim as teachers is to build confidence in our pupils and help them identify their own strengths and interests. By studying a rich and varied curriculum they will already have gained knowledge within a wide range of subjects ready to set the world alight as they move on with firm foundations from their time at the Family of Schools.
Cara Ventham - Deputy Principal