RAYSFIELD JUNIOR SCHOOL
Belong, Believe ... Achieve!
Belong: We aim for all members of the school to feel pleased to be a part of this community. It is very important that in showing ‘Raysfield Respects’, we all recognise the great effects we have on those around us, and try to do them good.
We are all connected and have our own special part to play within this caring community. What we say and do impacts upon how good a school we are and what we can become. Like the pieces of a jigsaw, we fit together, with all our differences and diversity, making the rich and colourful school we can be proud to be a part of.
Therefore, Oftsed were able to recognise, “Pupils get on well together in the singularly happy atmosphere. Teachers pay careful attention to pupils’ personal development, and pupils grow confidently in this atmosphere of mutual trust. They are respectful of others and take their responsibilities seriously whether as peer mediators, school council members, or play leaders.”
We look for ways of celebrating each other’s success, such as in rewards given out in assembly, and value each other’s efforts, whether we succeed or not.
The school uniform is just one more way of encouraging a sense of belonging, with a pride in our appearance, showing that school matters to us. Wearing the school colours, or bearing the school’s name, in performances or sports teams demonstrates our belonging and the pride experienced in representing the school.
Ofsted commented that children ‘were proud of their school and could not imagine being anywhere else.’
In bringing the whole school together, in assemblies, performances, enrichment days, charity and PTA events, we look for ways of enjoying being together and celebrating this group of people… Raysfield Junior School… a place where we belong.
Believe: ‘You have to believe… in order to achieve.’ How true this is. One thing which so many heroes or heroines of the past and present (in the fields of science, discovery or sport) had in common, was their belief in what was possible. Explorers have travelled around the world, beyond anywhere others thought possible, because they believed they could. Sports personalities have driven themselves to extraordinary achievements, because they believed they could.
And yet, without belief that something is possible, we can achieve nothing, because we are unlikely even to try.
In encouraging everybody in the school to be changed during their time here, we aim to open up each other’s eyes to what is possible. For none of us have achieved all we can achieve, or experienced all there is to know. There is always more, and the future can be better than what we have known so far.
Pupil group or individual targets that we set, along with whole school targets, encourage us to have something to aim for and believe possible.
From belief, or hope, we can try for anything. With determination and effort, it is surprising what we can achieve, both on our own and together.
We will not get it right every time and sometimes we may try and fail, but ‘someone who never made a mistake, never made anything.
Achieve: At Raysfield Junior School we value all sorts of achievements. As a school we always work hard to continue to achieve the best standards of teaching and learning that we can.
Ofsted recognised that the school’s leaders have, “worked successfully to drive school improvement. Pupils are now much more confident to ‘believe and achieve’ that they can do well.”
“Governors are committed and hard-working and through their perceptive insights provide good levels of support and challenge.”
Achievements in learning may be in core subjects such as Literacy, Numeracy and Science. It is achievements in these areas that a school is judged upon. However, they do not give a full picture of all we can achieve. For achievements can also be in many other areas, such as Sport and the Arts. As a school, we value the whole child and the whole of our learning experience, so we recognise achievement in all these areas.
We aim to celebrate successes, whenever we see members of the school community becoming better at something than they were before. As the first of our progress awards says, ‘every journey begins with a single step.’ We recognise the many small steps of progress which we make in learning, through clear lesson objectives, the use of pupil targets and self assessment. We learn new skills and gain new understanding, to each become better than we are today.
To achieve in anything is a great feeling, (just like scoring a goal!) and can help us to enjoy learning even more. So each day can be filled with small successes, where we enjoy the achievements we make, great or small.
We are very proud of our achievements in music, dance and drama, demonstrated in quality theatrical or musical performances.
We celebrate the efforts and successes in sport, through competitions against other schools, (such as winning, or coming runners up in the local football league for 6 of the last 7 years and 3 counties champions in girls 7-a-side 2009/10).
We recognise achievements outside of school, for life is for learning. Together we celebrate children’s awards, medals and certificates through many out of school hobbies and interests.
We keep looking ahead to what we can achieve together, and aim for all members of the school community to,
“Love to learn… learn to care… belong, believe and achieve.”