There is so much to say about this school is it hard to pick the highlights. It is school full of joy, movement and deep reflection.  One year group for instance, is challenged to think about how beliefs impact actions.

Children and families arrive to music at the school gate. Check out the BBC news feature about the start of the St Ebbe’s day: https://youtu.be/v0XMBpb_ZL4

Children in reception classes routinely enjoy play-based learning but in St Ebbe’s this extends up through Key Stage One.  Alongside traditionally structured classroom practice with teacher-directed and teacher-initiated learning there is the freedom and resources to develop ideas and imagination through play. This approach is grounded in research about how young children learn.

Children are building the executive function skills that underpin later academic success: the ability to regulate themselves, to be resilient and to persevere. (Tina).

The children write spontaneously when they are inspired or when they have a clear purpose such as writing menus for their restaurant, or labels for their models.  The level and depth of writing is testament to the value of this approach both in engagement and in skill development.

An original definition of genius is the spirit you were born with. So, the school’s mission is to uncover what this is – children’s passions, their unique strengths, abilities and inclinations. Each child has their own learning path. Every week there is a Passion Sharing assembly where pupils have the opportunity to present something they are passionate about to the whole school – from caring for the environment to doing magic tricks.  We watched these presentations and also the rest of the school, Every pupil sat and listened with rapt attention and respect for their peers.

The school celebrates the strength of the child, rather than putting them in situations where they’re behind everyone else. They bring out their unique abilities, their unique interests, their passions. (Parent)

St Ebbe’s is unique in the emphasis on joy in learning, the autonomy offered to children and the collaborative ethos of the staff.  In this school learning takes off; and the children love it!

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Read more about the Love of Learning Project here.

The other schools we have visited for the project so far are:

• Sinclair Primary and Nursery School, Southhampton
• Nightingale Primary School, Hackney, London
• Easington Colliery Primary School, Durham
• Ripple Primary School, Barking, London
• St Nicholas’ Priory C of E VA Primary School, Great Yarmouth