Aims & Ethos
We aim to provide a safe, caring, supportive and stimulating environment, built on a foundation of high-quality teaching.
We aspire to be the Primary School of choice in Crowborough, providing the best place for the children of our community to come to learn.
Mission Statement
We value every child for what they are and prepare them for everything they could be.
Vision
Our vision is based on what we believe children will leave Ashdown School Knowing, Being and Having Done.
1. Children are prepared for their future learning because of an effective and appropriate curriculum that equips them with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to succeed. They learn and develop meaningful connections to use the key and functional skills that underpin the curriculum, applying these skills in new contexts and see their relevance to their future learning, life choices and possible careers.
2. Children’s progress and attainment (in terms of nationally measured knowledge and skills) is consistently above national year on year standards.
3. Children possess knowledge and awareness of the world they live in, together with the steps they can take to make a positive impact on it. Children experience Ashdown Primary School as an integral part of its local community. Children express informed attitudes and opinions on current global issues such as pollution, climate change, plastics use and health etc. and consider these in terms of their own actions and the impacts they have as global citizens.
4. Children demonstrate positive behaviours and attitudes to keeping themselves and others safe, because of both their taught curriculum and in school experiences designed to build personal resilience.
5. Children understand and express British values, attitudes, and behaviours towards fellow citizens, both within our local community and importantly, across the whole nation, recognising that our local community does not reflect the full ethnic and cultural diversity of the UK.
6. Children and adults experience a safe learning environment in which their safety, welfare and wellbeing is paramount.
7. Children engage in a wide range of enrichment activities. These include the arts, music, sport, dance and other after school teams and clubs.
8. Because we have two sites children experience a developmentally appropriate ‘two stage culture’, that first nurtures them at the beginning of their school lives and then prepares them for the next step into secondary education at the end of their time at Ashdown.
9. Children are taught by and interact with highly trained and well-motivated staff who benefit from high quality, relevant continuing professional development, aligning with the requirements of the curriculum, pupil progress, attainment, safeguarding, their professional performance and career pathways.
10. Children have the best possible education due to our effective management and use of resources.
Values
- For all of us to understand our role as a citizen of the school, the town, the country and the world, and the responsibilities this carries towards ourselves, each other and the environment we live in.
- Our whole school community will treat everybody in the way they would wish to be treated with mutual respect for each other and our environment.
- We (the community) will develop resilience in ourselves and others by creating a stable and safe culture and climate where we understand that everyone makes mistakes and that we will achieve more by learning from them.
- We will provide everybody with a secure and creative environment to achieve their full potential, by offering a broad range of engaging and challenging opportunities.
- Our whole school community will be supported in all aspects of school life enabling them to achieve, feel included, and belong
- Our whole school community will understand, develop and show mutual trust, confidence in each other, and ensure that all stakeholders feel listened to and valued.
- As a school community, we hold many values dear and recognise the importance of these in the holistic development of our children. We therefore explore key aspects of them by focussing on each one in turn. They are:
- • Respect – earning, receiving and giving
- • Resilience – both developing it and helping build it in others
- • Opportunity – both having and providing
- • Support – for ourselves, each other, and those who need our help
- • Trust – from all to all
Equal Opportunities
At Ashdown Primary School we believe that all children, regardless of first language, disability, race, gender, cultural or socio-economic background, should receive equal access to the full school curriculum.
Disability Statement
Ashdown Primary School is proud to be an inclusive school. We are able to offer access to the full curriculum for children who have a physical disability.
We have full access to the infant building, partial access (full access to all areas for compulsory learning eg IT suite and swimming pool) and have disabled toilet facilities at both sites.
As with any additional needs the schools work closely with parents and appropriate outside agencies