“This is a school where pupils are extremely keen to learn and do well”
“The year has been so positive. I am very grateful as are my children”
Reception Parent
We aim to nurture and develop your children into lifelong learners.
Our role is to provide a safe and happy environment so that your children can thrive over the next seven years with us, becoming young people we can be proud of and who achieve the highest standards.
We put our children at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves in working in partnership with families.
We recognise that every child is unique and we celebrate each of our positive differences. We are a family of learners and we encourage our children from the moment that they join our school to champion and support one another.
I feel privileged to be part of the Dunraven Educational Trust. I lead an incredible team of staff who are committed to making every day at school count for your children through teaching an exciting, broad and balanced curriculum.
We strive to build excellence for and with all of our children and we are glad Ofsted recognised this during our inspection in May 2022. We look forward to welcoming you to our school.
Mrs E Haston, Head Teacher Goldfinch Primary
We are delighted to have Goldfinch Primary as part of our family of schools. The school’s aim is ‘Building Excellence’ and it has already done much of which it can be very proud.
As a parent, you want to be confident that your child will be known at school as well as you know them at home. Goldfinch is a small, nurturing and friendly school which means that your child will be seen as the person they are rather than simply as one member of a class.
Remarkable things are happening at Goldfinch. We look forward to sharing them with you.
David Boyle, CEO Dunraven Educational Trust
Our aim is ‘Building Excellence’ to achieve the highest standards for our school community. Our key values are Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Resilience, Reflection (the ‘5 Rs’).
Our aims and our ethos are discussed regularly in class and shared in assemblies and we ensure that kindness always runs through everything that we say and do.
• we develop confident, responsible, resourceful, reflective, independent learners
• we deliver a challenging, inspiring, broad and balanced curriculum that is relevant to our children and teaches them how to learn and remember
• we recognise and celebrate children’s achievements, encouraging the whole school community to take pride in all that we do
• we advocate to educate for equality to ensure understanding and respect, transforming life chances and improving the world in which we live
• we commit to supporting the wellbeing of everyone within our school community by providing a safe and nurturing environment to thrive
• we ensure there is a trusting relationship and good communication between children, staff, families and governors to develop and support children’s learning
“I love how diverse the school is and the fact that the senior leaders are always on the gate each morning to meet and greet parents. This shows their presence and awareness of the parents, school and surroundings.”
Our broad and balanced curriculum, combined with dynamic teaching, engages and challenges children in their learning, thereby nurturing the self-motivation and independence required for success.
Children are provided with a range of rich, meaningful first-hand experiences in which they are encouraged to be curious, creative and active learners. We aim to foster positive attitudes towards learning, as well as develop confidence, communication skills and physical development.
Staff work together to develop children’s self-esteem and confidence to enable every child to reach their full potential. We recognise that the early years are critical in a child’s development and will ensure that our children have the very best start to lifelong learning by establishing solid foundations on which they can continue to build throughout their school years and beyond.
We recognise that every child is a competent learner who can be capable, confident and self-assured. We know that children develop in individual ways and at varying rates. Children’s attitudes to learning are influenced by their school and home environments and we begin to build links with our families right from the start.
We observe how each child learns in order to gain an understanding of the characteristics they develop to become effective learners. We use questioning, praise and encouragement to develop a positive attitude to learning and high self-esteem.
“The school expects that every child should receive an excellent education without exception”
We put our children at the centre of their own learning and place great emphasis on nurturing skills and attitudes such as being resilient, responsible and reflective.
We want our children to become effective and confident readers and writers. Pupils engage in regular high quality phonics sessions, starting in early years throughout KS1, to help children grasp the foundations of letters and sounds and develop their reading confidence throughout their primary years. We provide opportunities to write in a range of styles and contexts to build their ability to write powerful pieces of text.
We love reading. High quality texts ensure our children have excellent individual and group reading experiences while being motivated to write about and discuss a range of themes and genres.
Our Maths ‘Teaching for Mastery’ approach ensures that all children grow in confidence and are able to deepen their mathematical understanding, make links and apply skills and strategies in a range of contexts. This approach makes Maths fun and ensures every child has the opportunity to excel.
We understand how important it is for children to have fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with numbers from the early years. In EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2, we use Mastering Number (NCETM) in
order to develop pupils’ number sense and secure firm foundations in mathematics, allowing them to be successful mathematicians in KS1 and beyond.
Our teachers bring the National Curriculum alive by enriching the subjects through our ‘Wow’ days. Children have an opportunity to immerse themselves in areas of learning with exciting visits, special visitors and hands on learning.
Parents also have an opportunity to observe and share in some of this learning through our assemblies and through takeaway homework. These exciting and stimulating areas of learning provide the basis for the teaching of all foundation subjects including Science, History, Geography, Computing, RE and PSHE and Art and Design. Teachers and specialist coaches teach specific skills for Music and a range of sports while also developing the children’s understanding of the benefits of leading an active and healthy life.
We believe in the power of the creative subjects to develop children’s confidence and the ability to express themselves. Music, Art, Dance and Drama are each taught discretely in our curriculum both as specific subject lessons as well as part of our half termly themes.
Goldfinch nursery is a warm, welcoming and nurturing environment where all children can be confident, resourceful and independent learners. We have an excellent outside learning environment and spacious classrooms where the children can learn through purposeful play experiences, build friendships, take risks, explore and experiment, and be reflective.
Our broad and balanced curriculum allows the children to grow and achieve their individual potential. The curriculum is organised into seven areas of learning: personal, social and emotional development, communication and language, physical development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design.
Your child will engage in a range of activities including sessions with our sports coach and music teacher and daily opportunities to develop their phonic skills using the Read, Write Inc. programme. We recognise that young children need active involvement in acquiring and remembering knowledge and skills through first hand experiences. We provide quality adult directed and independent learning opportunities, which allow children to explore with a hands-on approach.
The nursery has 26 places, organised into morning and full-time sessions. We offer a range of part-time and full-time places and families can also access our After-School Club facility, extending the nursery hours (for an additional fee).
Families can also apply for a free 30-hour place using the eligibility code. Children can enter the nursery in the term after their third birthday and can spend a maximum of five terms before they transfer to Reception. Unfortunately, a place in our nursery does not guarantee automatic transfer to Reception at Goldfinch.
We are always available to help and support you in any way that we can. Our staff are keen to develop positive relationships with our families and value your contributions to your child’s learning journey. We work together to further your child’s development and your encouragement and help play an important part in your child’s education. We will endeavour to keep you involved every step of the way.
An admissions booklet is available online explaining Wandsworth admissions procedures and criteria. Nursery Teacher
“We are thrilled to be able to provide our new interactive outdoor area for our nursey children. It is a wonderful space”
We believe that parents have a fundamental role to play in helping children to learn effectively at school. We do all we can to inform parents about what and how their children are learning by:
• Sharing information at the start of each term, which outlines the topic that the children will be studying.
• Holding parents’ evenings each term.
• Sending parents annual reports.
• Keeping the website and Twitter up to date.
• Explaining to parents how they can support their children with homework.
• Sending a newsletter to parents.
• Inviting parents to share class assemblies and whole school events.
• Holding workshops to inform and involve parents in their child’s learning.
Parents support their child’s learning in school by:
• Promoting a positive attitude towards school and learning.
• Ensuring that their child has the best attendance record possible.
• Ensuring that their child is equipped for school with the correct uniform and PE kit.
• Informing school if there are matters outside of school that are likely to affect a child’s performance or behaviour.
• Supporting their child in extending their learning beyond the classroom, e.g. though home learning.
“Despite the school’s good outcome from its relatively recent Ofsted inspection, school leaders are pressing ahead with energy and drive to continue their work on school improvement.”
Link
Adviser 2022
Children thrive in an environment that has clear boundaries and is fair. An environment where they are given the tools to recognise when they have really tried hard and also when they have made a poor choice. Children behave well when they are stimulated and engaged in quality learning opportunities and when they are appropriately challenged.
We use our ‘5 Rs’ to be respectful towards one another, to take responsibility for our actions, to be resourceful in how to manage situations, to be resilient in times of difficulty and challenge and to reflect on our actions. Effective communication between all staff members and a consistent approach ensures that positive behaviour is promoted and celebrated.
Children recognise our high expectations for behaviour. We use the ‘Good to be Green’ scheme to encourage the best behaviour for learning. We celebrate the achievements of children during weekly assemblies highlighting outstanding learning and linking it to our school aims.
Persistent poor behaviour is always discussed with families in order to agree an effective approach to resolving the problem. Experience shows that when families work in partnership with the school, the outcome for children is always more successful.
At The Aviary we provide a breakfast club every day from 7.30 am and an after school club to 6.00 pm. At our after school club, children can take part in a wide range of activities including cooking, outdoor play, games, gardening and role-play. We strive to support our families as well as our children and will do our best to meet requests for support.
We also offer a range of clubs at lunch time and after school including football, film, gardening, coding, choir, recorder club, drama, dance and art.
“Relationships among staff and pupils are extremely positive. They show respect towards each other”
Ofsted May 2022
“Behaviour is exemplary”
We are committed to being an inclusive school. We foster an ethos in which every student is motivated to strive for excellence and achieve his or her best, regardless of ability or background. We believe in great teaching to ensure children’s needs are met in the classroom in the first instance.
We meet the needs of all children by building on what children already know and can do, working together with parents and other agencies and providing additional adult support when needed. We believe in early intervention to provide the right support for our children.
We are committed to providing equality of opportunity in a community that values and celebrates its ethnic and cultural diversity. By getting to know your child really well, we understand how each individual learns best. Our SENCo is Angela O’Connor.
We value children’s wellbeing and mental health and have been a flagship school for over 10 years for Place2Be. Our children, families and our staff can access 1:1 sessions with counsellors and our School Project Manager for Place2Be. Children can also self-refer and attend lunchtime Place2Talk sessions with friends.
“When you go to Place2Talk with a friend, you can both share your feelings and understand what they’re going through and then be a little bit more supportive to them”
The deadline to submit Reception applications is Monday 15 January 2024. Applications are made using the Common Application Form for your home Local Authority. Families are encouraged to submit Nursery applications by Friday 12 January 2024. Applications are available at the school office.
See the Admissions Policy or our school website www.goldfinchprimary.org.uk for details.
Head Teacher
Mrs E Haston
Deputy Head
Mrs A O’Connor
Chair of Governors
Mrs Kate Bower
CEO
Mr D Boyle CBE
Goldfinch Primary Cunliffe Street, London SW16 6DS
info@goldfinch.det.org.uk 020 8769 6486
www.goldfinchprimary.org.uk
Follow us on Twitter @GoldfinchPrmry
