At Steeple Morden, we’re not just about education; we’re about transformation and unlocking every child’s full potential. Underpinning this is our three core values, Resilience, Compassion and Excellence. This isn’t about adding more to a student’s plate; it’s about enriching their educational journey.

 

We believe that learning shouldn’t be confined to classrooms but extend into the vibrant tapestry of real-world experiences to foster skills transferable for life long success.

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At Steeple Morden Primary School, our Personal Development program is at the heart of the children’s learning journey.  It encourages children to, ‘Be brave, be kind, be the best you can be’. This is our school motto. We believe that every child is a unique individual with immense potential waiting to be unlocked.  We strive to cultivate not only academic excellence but also the personal growth and well-being of each student. We foster a nurturing environment where students are encouraged to develop vital life skills to help them build a strong foundation for their future success. We are aware every interaction with a child is a chance for their personal development.

Parents, Governors, Staff and Children worked together to develop 50 things that we think are important for children to experience before they leave primary school and this helped us to develop our curriculum around the drivers of: Arts, Environment, Independence and Spirituality.

 

One key aspect of personal development that we prioritise at Steeple Morden is resilience. We recognise that life does present various challenges, and we believe that resilience is a crucial skill for our students to develop. Through a range of carefully designed programs and activities, we empower our students to face difficulties with courage and determination. Our teachers guide them in developing a ‘growth mind-set’, where they learn to embrace setbacks as opportunities for learning and growth. We provide a supportive and inclusive environment that encourages students to persevere, problem-solve, and bounce back from adversity. We aim to help children understand when they don’t succeed at a task straight away it just means they can’t do it…YET and rather than giving up, they focus their energies on spending more time practicing and gaining feedback and breaking the task down into steps to help them succeed. By instilling resilience, we equip our students with a valuable life skill that will serve them well throughout their academic journey and beyond.

 

Children have opportunities to voice their views in the operation of the school and support the community through pupil led groups such as School Council, Planet Protectors, Junior Travel Ambassadors, Play Leaders and Peer Mediators.

 

School Council

Each class have two representatives, who are elected by our peers and serve a year long term. We meet once a month representing the views of our class on issues such as classroom displays, play equipment and motivations for reading. Last year we created an ongoing book wish list, this has resulted in us receiving hundreds of new up-do-date books that ourselves and our teachers have requested, that we enjoy and did not have previously have in school.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/MR5YPP3QSVM5

We have also helped to raise money for our school and our nominated charity (Water Aid) by holding bake sales and treasure hunts.

 

Planet Protectors

One child from each class from Year 1 to Year 6 meet monthly to think about how we can reduce our impact on the environment. Last year we ran a Cut Your Carbon campaign, which resulted in reduced energy consumption focusing on turning off devices when not in use. We also reduce litter in our playground and published environmental tips for parents in Star.

In 2023 we were pleased to apply for and be awarded our eco-schools green flag award, with merit.

 

Junior Travel Ambassadors

A group of children in Year 5 make their own decisions about what they think needs to change to improve road safety for their school. They encourage pupils to get more active and lead healthier lifestyles. Recently we ran a whole school competition to help design a sign to remind cars not to park outside the school making it safer for children to cross the road.

 

Play Leaders

We are a group of children in Year 6, who work with younger children to play games with them to act as positive role models and to make break times more interesting.

 

Peer Mediators

We are a group of children in Year 6 who have been trained to mediate disputes on the playground and we are supported by members of staff.

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