A community of learners

Our Headteacher shows a relentless and genuine interest in the staff. She is deeply passionate about the children and models her commitment in all she does. Staff are trusted and encouraged to explore areas for development, engage in research and be innovative. (Teacher)

Headteacher Maria Grimmer has high expectations of every child and every member of staff. She is totally authentic in her espousal of inclusion: every single child and adult in the ‘Priory Family’ matters equally. A mantra of the school is that everyone in the community is learning, children and adults alike.

I think building capacity in the adults brings capacity for the children. (Maria)

Maria fully trusts her staff and by maximising their autonomy, motivates them and fosters their creativity. Her teachers are innovative and proud of their work, and this contributes to their high self-esteem and professional wellbeing. Many of the leadership team have been in the school a long time and bring different strengths that complement each other. There is nothing hierarchical about the leadership, it is diffused through the school. Everyone supports each other.

Creativity and creative thinking

The creative arts are embraced fully at St. Nicholas Priory with enthusiastic teachers dedicated to enhancing every learning opportunity across the school, making contact and getting funding from many exterior organisations. In 2017 they joined “Enjoy“, an organisation that facilitates cultural activities across Norfolk. There are dance workshops, poetry reading, visits to theatre and the pantomime every year, art workshops, lantern design and construction, game design workshops. Some of these workshops take place at the local Sixth Form College with whom the school has strong links.

I liked how we did dance and circus skills. It was a bit scary when we had to balance but I did it. (pupil)

I felt shy in break dancing, but I got more confident over the day. (pupil)

I love all my clubs – dance, song school and beavers. They make me happy. (pupil)

The school recognises that there is much more to being successful in life than academic results. They aim to ensure every child is developed as a rounded human being with a life bank of skills and experiences.

We focus on the whole child, fostering a love beyond the curriculum and appreciation that they are so much more than exam results. We give children the experiences to thrive. The cultural experiences, the general creative experiences of a child in the school, are really, really important. (Teacher)

That’s the biggest thing in life, isn’t it social skills? Because that’s actually what is practical in life. It isn’t always the maths that you’re learning or the science. It is the practical social skills. (Parent)

Inclusion

A lot of schools pay lip service to inclusion. At St Nicholas Priory it is authentic. Every child is seen as unique and special and can expect to remain within their own community and their own school.

Staff at Priory understand that for many of our children, this is their safe space, and we take that responsibility very seriously. (Teacher)

 To deal with the increasing number of children with complex needs in the community, they decided to create their own provision within the mainstream school.

We were seeing so many children coming through with highly complex SEND needs we realised we had to do something in the school. (DH)

The Pod is for those with the highest need, children who struggle in main class. It started off as a vision for a few children, and now it’s three classrooms and up to 30 children…. It very much started as a small project, and now it’s grown and grown. (TA)

Community

We have strong links between parents, staff, children, police, local community groups and resources, all working together to give the best to children. (Teacher)

Whenever a new child is admitted to the school a visit is made to the home. This helps in understanding the family background, as well as an initial assessment of the child’s needs. All parents or carers are encouraged to get involved in the life of the school. Trust between home and school is built by senior staff who are not only present at the school gates in the morning but will accompany parents to medical appointments and help those with language and cultural barriers to negotiate local bureaucracy and officialdom. Senior staff are also trained in providing support to families experiencing domestic abuse. The Breakfast Club and After School Provision are widely used and appreciated by parents.

Our parents need as much support as the children. I always say to people, just remember who parented the parent, and if they didn’t have the best start, then they’ve absorbed that, and that’s how they’re going to parent. We need to break that cycle and get our parents back into education, if that’s what they need, to give them the confidence to parent in a supportive and loving manner. (behaviour team)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Read more about the Love of Learning Project here.

The other schools we have visited so far are: