With love and faith, we aspire and achieve
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome to St Matthew’s Primary School. I hope you take the time to read all about the things going on in our school and realise, like we do, that St Matthew’s is a brilliant school to send your children to. The best way to really get to know us is to come and visit, and see all the amazing learning that is going on. In the meantime, here’s a little bit about how we work and why we are the right choice for you for your child.
With Love & Faith We Aspire & Achieve
Jesus said: I have come so you may have life, life in all its fullness: John 10:10
At the heart of St Matthew’s School is our community, our family, where we all show kindness and compassion to all. In the hearts of our children are love, respect, resilience and perseverance, we nurture each other so we can learn and flourish together, living life in all its fullness.
As you can see, our vision is to support your child to flourish and thrive. We know that, for our children and school community to live life in all its fullness, we need to be the wider family, to nurture and support all in the St Matthew’s family, to raise aspirations so all can fully embrace their successful futures. We want all in our school community to live life in all its fullness.
Love: we want our children, families and staff to feel loved and cared for, and to feel compassion and kindness towards others. At the heart of St Matthew’s is our nurturing approach where we want all our stakeholders to feel a part of our St Matthew’s family; where everyone feels valued and shows care for themselves, others and their environment. Being a part of the St Matthew’s family is important to our children, staff and wider community. This reflects the close-knit community of Cainscross where many families have continued to live and work in the same area for generations. Family brings us closer together and supports us all to show consideration and compassion for each other.
Faith: St Matthew’s is fully inclusive to those with a Christian faith, different faith and for those of no faith. We have faith in our self and others, to help us all succeed. St Matthew’s church continues to be a close part of who we are. Local leaders from the Church are regular visitors to school, leading Collective Worship and working in school. Collective worship helps our children to reflect on big questions and learn how those with faith have overcome challenges in their lives. Staff and governors have positive interactions so that children feel safe and well cared for. Our 7-values are linked to scripture and Bible stories so children can reflect on positive behaviours through the teachings of Jesus. Leaders have faith in all staff to realise their potential and flourish.
Aspire: we have aspirational goals for our children and staff. Our curriculum is based on key drivers to raise children’s horizons. We want our children to look beyond the immediate locality, and to learn about the wider world, learning about and from other cultures and faiths, showing respect for all. Literature and quality books are a key part of our curriculum delivery so that children receive a rich, diverse language as part of their daily educational diet. We want our children to persevere and stick at tasks, achieving a sense of fulfilment. We build resilience in our children so they do not give up as the going gets tough, but they keep going until the job is done.
Achieve: the core subjects of reading, writing and maths are strong across the school. Children achieve well. Our challenging curriculum matches the aspirations of the National Curriculum. We look at developing the whole child through a particular focus on sport and drama so that our children can go on and be the best they can be, and be ready for the next stage of their education. We want our children, families and staff to learn and flourish, and live life in all its fullness.
I hope you come and visit the school and see all the amazing things that happens when you come to be a part of the St Matthew’s family. We look forward to seeing you at school soon
Yours sincerely
Kelly Osborne-James
Headteacher