Here at London Colney, we strive to ensure that ‘Everyone Valued, Everyone Included’.
As a school community, we continue to ensure high expectations for our children’s’ behaviour and conduct and that as staff we apply and communicate these expectations consistently and fairly. This is reflected in our children’s behaviour and conduct. Our children’s attitudes to their learning are positive and through discussions with both staff and children, we strongly believe that children “bubble” over their learning. They are committed to their learning, know how to learn effectively and do so. Our children work hard to display a growth mind-set and resilience is modelled and encouraged by staff. Our relationships between our children and our staff reflect a positive and respectful culture. Within our community, we create an environment where bullying, peer-on-peer abuse or discrimination are not tolerated. If they do occur, our children feel we deal with issues quickly and effectively, and do not allow them to spread.
We have ambitiously designed and created a curriculum that extends beyond the academic. It provides our children opportunities for broader development, enabling them to develop and discover their interests and talents. We listen closely to what our children and parents want from their education and work tirelessly to deliver this. Our curriculum supports our pupils’ to develop their character – including their resilience, confidence and independence – and help them know how to keep physically and mentally healthy. We strongly believe in inspiring and supporting our children to be ready for the next stage of their education and life and our curriculum is driven by 4 aspects that we believe will help prepare our children to succeed in life in modern Britain.
These are some of the ways in which we look to personally develop our children:
Breakfast
At London Colney we believe breakfast is a key ingredient in school success. Pupils who eat breakfast perform better academically, exhibit better classroom behaviour and enjoy overall healthier diets. At London Colney we believe a well-nourished child who starts the day with breakfast is more likely to be at school, a better learner, and willing to participate in the classroom. We truly believe in the benefits of breakfast for our pupils, including:
Academic performance – Making sure every child has eaten a healthy breakfast is an important but often overlooked tool to boost academic performance:
· Children who skip breakfast are less able to master the tasks necessary to do well in school.
· Children who eat breakfast at school — closer to class and test-taking time — perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat breakfast at home.
· Children who live in families that experience hunger have lower math scores and an increased likelihood of repeating a grade, and receive more special education services.
· Improved cognitive skills, including memory, retention, concentration and alertness.
· Stronger coping skills during frustrating and demanding tasks.
· Higher test scores.
Reduced Behavioural problems – Children who have eaten breakfast at school are less likely to cause distractions due to behavioural and disciplinary issues:
· Children experiencing hunger are more likely to be suspended from school, and have difficulty getting along with other children and establishing friendships.
· Pupils who participate in school breakfast exhibit decreased behavioural and psychological problems and have lower rates of absence and tardiness.
· Providing pupils with breakfast in the classroom is associated with fewer disciplinary referrals
· Fewer disciplinary issues.
Improved children’s diets – School breakfast also helps build lifelong healthy eating habits
· A better diet, with more fruits and vegetables (and a higher intake of vitamins, minerals and fibre).
· Less sodium, cholesterol and fat consumption.
· A lower body mass index and risk of obesity.
· A lower risk of anxiety, depression and mental health issues.
· Fewer visits to the school nurse.
Behaviour and Nurture
We know that for children to effectively be able to develop personally, how we instil positive behaviour and nurture our children has a big part to play. As well as our Behaviour For Learning Policy (which can be found here), we use innovative and creative ways to support our pupils.
Here at London Colney, everyone, including staff, are called by their first names. We know our first names approach has huge benefits, including:
- Promoting and driving our values, for example, Equality
- It breaks down unproductive barriers that engender mutual respect between adults and children
- It is a way to foster respect and inclusivity
- It develops a sense of belonging and community
- It helps our children see the adults who teach them as whole people with interests that transcend what they do in the classroom
- It fosters the feeling of being partners in learning
- Children can then begin to develop strong relationships and are less afraid to make mistakes and advocate for themselves
- The anxiety of talking to a grown up is diminished and research shows pupils speak of a sense of respect and empowerment
- It shows pupils teachers have a genuine interest in them
Pupil Leadership
At London Colney, we are passionate about enabling our children to have the skills, confidence and ambition to become successful and responsible citizens who actively contribute to the world they live in. We believe that this begins at primary school and we use our curriculum to help us deliver this. Part of this work is inspiring and promoting the leaders of tomorrow and here at school we have a Pupil Leadership Programme to do just this.
To see our Pupil Leadership Team for 2022 – 2023, please click here.
Enrichment
Whilst we are proud to be part of the London Colney Community, we know that for many of our children, they may not yet have had the opportunities to engage in experiences beyond their local area. We work hard here at London Colney Primary to ensure that all of our pupils have the opportunities to take part in and engage with enriching activities that will not only enhance the curriculum that we teach but will also broaden their life experiences.
Please look at our Gallery by clicking here to see the enrichment experiences we offer our children.
Family Service
At London Colney we believe that meals shouldn’t simply be about refuelling, but should be a chance to sit, enjoy one another’s company and talk.
Food and sharing food are an important part of what we do as a school. In London Colney, we use a type of meal service called ‘Family Service’. Family service ensures that the children sit together at the same time and share their meal; children will sit at a table every day and on their table will be children from different classes, a mixture of girls and boys and children of all races and religions sharing the same food. The children will serve each other and talk about their day. We are strongly committed to providing freshly cooked food, served ‘family style’ while developing children’s social skills, sense of responsibility and food knowledge as they participate in the Café London Colney experience. All the children take part in laying tables, serving one-another and clearing. Children sit and eat in mixed aged groups on round tables , enjoying the experience while building important social and emotional skills. A healthy, filling, hot lunchtime meal is provided everyday with a choice of meat and vegetarian options. Teaching staff and support staff eat with the children and advise them on food choices . Everyone sits around a table, with the food at the centre. We start our meal together and then clear away and move onto pudding.
Family Service Can Improve children’s health and futures by:
- Living up to our school values of ‘Respect, Bravery, Equality, Curiosity, Ambition, Kindness ” through our approach to food
- Serving a variety of fresh food so they have all the vitamins and minerals needed for growth
- Following school food standards to ensure children have the energy they need throughout a school day
Create wonderful school food memories by:
- Cooking food that is flavoursome and tasty
- Ensuring lunchtime is a social time
- Celebrating special events and our diverse community through our food
- Treating children as ‘customers’ so they are as happy in the dining hall as in the playground
- Delivering a friendly, warm, informed and smiley service
- Giving our children choice
Teach children to eat well for their health by:
- Supporting children to be able to talk about their plate and palate
- Developing children’s understanding of the food they are eating, it’s source, journey, flavour and nutrients
- Encouraging children to try new flavours and ingredients so they have a balanced diet
- Fostering a love for vegetables and fruit through tasters, growing experiences and other food education activities
- Building a good school food culture where mealtimes are valued in a school day
School Menu
Our school menu is designed to reflect our diverse community as well as following The School Food Standards. This includes:
- One or more portions of vegetables or salad as an accompaniment every day
- At least three different fruits, and three different vegetables each week
- An emphasis on wholegrain foods in place of refined carbohydrates
We do not serve
- more than 2 portions of food that has been deep-fried, batter-coated, breadcrumb-coated, each week
- more than 2 portions of food which include pastry each week
- snacks, except , seeds, vegetables and fruit with no added salt, sugar or fat (we do not serve nuts at all)
- savoury crackers or breadsticks
- confectionery, chocolate and chocolate-coated products
SMSC
At London Colney Primary and Nursery School we recognise that the personal development of our children, spiritually, morally, socially and culturally, plays a significant part in their ability to learn and achieve. We aim to provide an education that provides pupils with opportunities to explore and develop their own values and beliefs, spiritual awareness, high standards of personal behaviour, a positive, caring attitude towards other people, an understanding of their social and cultural traditions and an appreciation of the diversity and richness of the cultures.
For more information about how we develop SMSC within the school, please click here.
British Values
At London Colney Primary & Nursery School, we promote ‘British Values’ through our spiritual, moral, social and cultural education which permeates through the schools’ curriculum and supports the development of the ‘whole child’. We recognise that such development is most successful when those values and attitudes are promoted by all the staff and provide a model of behaviour for our pupils.
For more information about how we promote British Values, please click here.